Bill suggests emphasis is shifting away from responsibility sharing

Defra’s animal health policy reforms have always been portrayed as being about sharing costs AND responsibility.

While most farmers have viewed Responsibility and Cost Sharing (RCS) as simply a means of Government dumping its costs on them, advocates of the policy have always insisted there could be something in it for farmers.

Their argument is that if the changes give farmers a genuine say in setting animal health policy and how the budget is spent, the benefits could justify taking on board a greater share of the costs.

This argument is being severely tested following the publication of Defra’s Draft Animal Health Bill last week.

It indicates, according to the NFU’s Kevin Pearce, who has been involved in the policy discussions for many years, that the responsibility sharing side of the equation could end up falling far short of what the industry was expecting.

What will be the new body’s legal status?

The Draft Bill will establish a new Animal Health Organisation to take over animal health policy and delivery in England from Defra.

However, it will be a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), like Natural England, funded through and answerable to Defra, with Defra Ministers taking ultimate responsibility for it.

Responses to the RCS consultation were split between an NDPB and a more independent Non-Ministerial Government Department (NMDs), which, like the Food Standards Agency, is part of central Government and funded through the Treasury.

Defra said an NDPB would be ‘more streamlined to run and would benefit from the support of a parent department’.

Who would run the new organisation?

The new body will be run by a chairman, chief executive and board reflecting a ‘wide range of interests’ in the area of animal health, including the protection of public health.

The board will be appointed by the Defra Secretary. Defra stressed appointments would be made ‘on merit and in consultation with the industry’. The process will be in accordance with the Nolan principles, which emphasise ‘openness and transparency’.

Where will it be based?

All the indications are that the ‘arm’s length, independent’ body will be based at Defra’s London headquarters, although officially ‘no final decision has been made’.

Responses to the last RCS consultation favoured moving the body out of London, but Defra pointed out in the Draft Bill that retaining it in London would involve ‘the least disruption, cost and staff turnover’.

What diseases will it cover?

The new body will be cover all animal health responsibilities currently exercised by Defra. Its scope includes mammals (except humans) and birds and ‘wild animals only in so far as they harm kept animals and humans’.

It will cover both exotic livestock diseases, such as foot-and-mouth, and endemic diseases, like bTB, as well as diseases of horses and pets.

It would be precluded from making decisions on a badger cull. Defra said legislation relating to wild animals, including badgers, would remain the responsibility of Ministers.

Will it cover animal welfare?

Animal welfare will remain the responsibility of Defra. This decision has been criticised by some organisations, including the British Veterinary Association, which argues animal health and welfare policy cannot be separated.

Defra said animal welfare is ‘of wide public interest and direct Ministerial accountability to Parliament is important’.

How much will it cost?

The Impact Assessment accompanying the Draft Bill estimates the new body, assuming it is located in London, will cost £2.5 million to set up and an additional £400,000 to run annually. It would cost an estimated £15m to set it up outside London.

It is estimated the new body would save taxpayers anything from nothing to £21m a year in reduced costs of disease outbreaks.

Who will the CVO be answerable to?

The Draft Bill gets over this problem by proposing the statutory establishment of a UK chief veterinary officer (CVO) based at Defra, as well as a CVO for England, who would be part of the new body.

The former would co-ordinate disease policy across the UK and represents all regions in EU discussions. The England CVO would advise the chair and chief executive of the new board.

Who will make the key decisions in a disease outbreak?

The current role of Ministers in making decisions during a major disease outbreak would be ‘largely fulfiled’ by the board of the new body.

Board decisions will be made on the advice of the England CVO, but also in consultation with the UK CVO, stakeholders and the devolved administrations. The UK CVO will ensure policy is co-ordinated across the devolved administrations.

What does the Bill say on disease compensation?

The Bill will include provisions to reduce compensation payments where a farmer is deemed to have contributed to the spread of the disease, or broken rules, such as movement restrictions.

Defra said this would be a ‘fairer’ system which encouraged and rewarded good behaviour and penalised those who acted ‘inappropriately’.

The NFU vowed to fight the ‘unworkable’ proposal, although RABDF said it was a ‘sensible approach’.

What does the Bill say on vaccination?

The Bill gives the authorities additional powers to collect and test veterinary samples and vaccinate animals.

Defra said this would ensure it had the necessary powers to ‘monitor, control and prevent’ animal diseases, including those which threaten public health.

What is happening with cost sharing?

It had been widely assumed that responsibility and cost sharing would be covered in the same Bill, so it came as a shock when Defra revealed cost sharing proposals would come later in a separate Treasury Finance Bill.

This development, described as ‘extremely concerning’ by the NFU, has raised a number of questions.

It appears the Treasury may have assumed control of the cost sharing plans, after Defra’s RCS consultation last summer demonstrated confusion over this element of the policy.

According to the NFU, the separation of the Bills could mean the new body will not have its own fund-raising powers,as was anticipated, potentially leaving Defra and Treasury in control of the budget and cost sharing policies.

Defra’s RCS consultation included proposals for a £22m livestock levy to cover exotic disease surveillance and preparedness and compulsory insurance to cover the costs of disease outbreaks.

The unworkable insurance plan has been dropped, but what the Government has planned in terms of disease levies, including their scale and scope, is now anyone’s guess.

Will the General Election scupper the Bill?

The Draft Bill has been published for pre-legislative scrutiny to enable further consultation and improvements to made before the Bill is formally published. A three month consultation, ending on April 19, is under way.

The outcome of the General Election, likely to take place in May, will then determine what happens next.

A Labour victory could see the Bill published in the autumn, in keeping with a legislative timetable which aims to establish the new body in April 2012.

The Conservatives have stressed they are not committed to this Bill. They are under the same budget pressures and acknowledge the potential benefits of sharing costs and responsibility in principle.

They are likely to want to put their own stamp on the Bill and could seek to make significant changes before proceeding, or even drop it altogether.

One obvious point of tension is how these plans for a brand new animal health body would tie in with the Tories’ stated aim of slimming down Government quangos.

Where does Rosemary Radcliffe’s group fit in?

Defra has been accused of being premature in publishing the Draft Bill when Rosemary Radcliffe’s RCS advisory group is not due to report until December on its work in

developing details of the policy.

Defra said there would still be time for the RCS group to provide its views before the Bill was laid out in Parliament, while much of the detail would be added subsequently through secondary legislation.

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