Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopment of Defra’s animal health infrastructure

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 42 16 November 2022
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 36 items (15 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 35 of 36 classified)
Accepted 24
Acknowledged 5
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 3
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty fourth report from Session 2022-23 · published 24 Feb 2023
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Clear

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results
8 Recommendation Rejected
While the APHA and the Chief Veterinary Officer said that animal diseases had not gone...
Recommendation
While the APHA and the Chief Veterinary Officer said that animal diseases had not gone down in their priorities, the Department and the APHA said that animal disease is one amongst a range of national risks that need to be … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating that Defra already highlights the threat from animal diseases in the National Risk Register and participates in other risk assessment processes.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Rejected
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that animal disease outbreaks are ranked on a scale from...
Conclusion
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that animal disease outbreaks are ranked on a scale from one to five with five being the most severe outbreak level and that the current assessment is that the UK has the capacity to cope … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly disagrees, stating that Defra already highlights animal disease threats in the National Risk Register, contributes to the National Security Risk Assessment, and has its own risk assessment processes, including chairing the HAIRS group and co-funding international monitoring.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Rejected
The APHA and Chief Veterinary Officer cited the recent example of Avian Influenza.
Conclusion
The APHA and Chief Veterinary Officer cited the recent example of Avian Influenza. This is likely to be categorised as a level three outbreak. While the APHA said that it had coped well in managing this outbreak it had to … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the committee’s conclusion, stating that Defra already highlights animal disease threats in the National Risk Register and National Security Risk Assessment, and has various existing risk assessment and surveillance mechanisms in place.
HM Treasury
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