Crisis and Opportunity - The Report

APPENDIX 8

DEFRA's Response to Supplementary Questions (December 2001)

Mr Brian Wilkinson FMD Inquiry Co-ordinator Devon County Council County Hall Topsham Road Exeter Devon EX2 4QD

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR Tel: 020 7238/5387/5790/5385/5386 Fax: 020 7238 1100 email: pus.lords@defra.gsi.gov.uk 20 December 2001

THE DEVON FOOT AND MOUTH INQUIRY

Thank you for your letter of 9 November passing on some further questions from the Chairman of Devon FMD Inquiry, Professor Mercer.

Several of these seek our views on general issues that have arisen from the recent outbreak or on future action that we might take. However, we expect that these matters will be considered by the two national Inquiries that have been established by the Government and to which Alun Michael referred in his letter of 23 October to your Chief Executive, Philip Jenkinson. While I am happy to reply fully to those questions that relate specifically to the present outbreak, I do not think that it would be right to pre-empt the results of the Inquiries.

The attached replies (Annex to Lord Whitty's Letter) therefore answer Professor Mercer's questions as far as possible but not where we expect the matter to be considered by the national Inquiries and where it would therefore be premature to reply until we have received their reports. Questions 2, 10 (as regards future policy), 11 and 12 fall into this category. The Inquiry reports are also likely to influence our future actions in respect of other issues such as communications and again reference is made to this in the relevant replies.

Finally, I am also attaching some material that we have prepared for the use of local authority inquiries. This is intended to provide some general information on various topics, which the Inquiry may wish to take into account. The information given is correct to the best of our knowledge and belief but it is not, and is not intended to be, a comprehensive account of what happened during the outbreak. Nor does it seek to draw any conclusions about the future, for which we await the reports of the national Inquiries It is simply intended to be of assistance to your Inquiry although I appreciate that the Devon team may have already covered a lot of this ground.

The information should predominantly already be in the public domain although it has been grouped together here for convenience under the following headings:

• Contingency planning (including the role of the army)
• Slaughter policy
• Vaccination
• Communications/openness
• Local discretion
• Scientific advice on FMD
• Source of the outbreak
• Disposal issues
• Biosecurity
• Welfare of animals
• Compensation for the compulsory slaughter of livestock
• Cleansing and disinfection of premises
• Import controls
• Impact on agriculture
• Movement of animals
• Impact on the rural economy
• Access to the countryside

LORD WHITTY
(approved by the Minister and signed in his absence)

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© Devon County Council, 2002.