Defra animal health data criticised
A National Audit Office report released today says Defra does not have sufficiently robust financial or performance information on controlling disease to underpin a transparent and equitable cost-sharing scheme.
The findings support what the NFU has said since the start of cost-sharing discussions.
The report, by the Comptroller and Auditor General, criticises the way Defra presents its financial information in respect of animal health issues.
It says that data is currently focused on internal management structures and cannot readily be used to calculate accurate figures for the full costs of managing specific animal diseases.
The report makes some positive recommendations about how both exotic and endemic animal diseases should be dealt with and says the £33 million spent by Defra and Animal Health managing the avian influenza, foot and mouth disease and bluetongue outbreaks in 2007 represented good value for money.
But it is also critical of the progress made on tackling TB, which it says is now "firmly established" in the South West of England, and of Animal Health’s failure to rigorously enforce routine TB testing.
It also botes the lack of coordination on TB at a local level and recommends a pilot of consultative boards in hotspot areas. Read the report here.
NFU Deputy President Meurig Raymond said: "The comments reflect exactly what we have been saying to Defra since it started discussions on responsibility and cost sharing. We now have the Comptroller and Auditor General saying this and it will be interesting to see how Defra responds.
"I am also not surprised to see that the report highlights the frustration of farmers who believe that cattle testing for TB alone, in the absence of measures to tackle the level of TB in the local wildlife, will not deal with the TB problem.
"However, it is very important farmers present their animals for testing on time. The recommendation of better coordination on TB at a local level is also positive and something the NFU would fully support."
