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News & Reports
News & Reports farming
Government says it will ‘do the right thing’ to eradicate bovine TB THE Government will not walk away from the problem of bovine TB and will do whatever it takes to eradicate the disease. This was the message from Elizabeth Truss, the Secretary of State at Defra, in her speech to the Oxford Farming Conference last week. Ms Truss said that the Government was determined to continue to implement all the elements of its comprehensive strategy to eradicate the disease from England by 2038. ‘It is not easy, but we will do the right thing, even if the protest groups don’t like it,’ she said. Animal disease was one of the foremost challenges facing the farming industry, she told delegates, and protecting the country against both animal and plant disease was a top priority for government. Although Defra, like many other areas of government, had had to implement cost savings, she had been clear that the number of frontline vets had to be protected. ‘Since 2010 we have maintained the number of vets in our organisation and we’ve also expanded investigatory capacity. We have also appointed a Chief Plant Health Officer for the first time. And in December the position of Chief Vet was promoted to Director General level to reflect its importance.’ She added that she was determined to maintain the world-class science capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Among other matters, the Secretary of State also discussed the current pressure being experienced by dairy farmers as a result of the reduction in milk prices. She said that the Government was working with the National Farmers’ Union, and that she had met with Dairy UK, to discuss how to help farmers manage the situation. ‘This means doing things like making sure dairy farmers receive full support from the £141 million Countryside Productivity Scheme under the Rural Development Programme, which is targeted specifically at helping farm businesses become more competitive,’ she said. Such assistance could potentially include help with new capital investment for monitoring animal welfare or improving the energy efficiency of cattle housing. Describing the food and farming industry as ‘one of the areas of our national
life that is most burdened with red tape’, she also referred to the Government’s efforts to cut bureaucracy. ‘I want farmers farming, not form filling,’ she said. Commenting on the Secretary of State’s speech, the BVA said it was pleased she had emphasised the critical role of vets and had said that the number of frontline vets had to be protected. However, it said, the commitment had to be backed by resources to ensure that the UK’s veterinary surveillance systems and animal health and welfare services remained robust. John Blackwell, the Association’s President, said: ‘The BVA is pleased that the Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss in her speech in Oxford today has emphasised the critical role vets have in the agricultural economy of the UK and stated her commitment to frontline vets. When BVA met recently with Elizabeth Truss, her commitment to the role of the veterinary surgeon was also clear. We do, however, urge that this commitment is backed by adequate
resource to ensure that vets’ critical work in animal disease prevention, detection and monitoring is in no way undermined and that surveillance systems remain fit for purpose following laboratory closures in 2014.’ The BVA, he said, was committed to working with the Government to ensure that Britain retained its world-class veterinary and agriculture sectors, noting that this was a partnership in which the relationship between local vets and farmers was paramount. ‘A critical example here is TB testing in cattle,’ he said. ‘The role of local vets goes far beyond perfunctory testing and delivers a comprehensive approach to farmers and their herds in disease prevention and detection. As vets throughout the UK wait to hear the detail of how they will engage with Delivery Partners recently awarded contracts for TB testing, BVA hopes that the critical role of local vets on the frontline will continue sustainably.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h175
January 17, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 57
57-65 News.indd 57
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Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 20, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Government says it will 'do the right thing' to eradicate bovine TB Veterinary Record 2015 176: 57
doi: 10.1136/vr.h175 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/3/57.1
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports
News & Reports farming
Government says it will ‘do the right thing’ to eradicate bovine TB THE Government will not walk away from the problem of bovine TB and will do whatever it takes to eradicate the disease. This was the message from Elizabeth Truss, the Secretary of State at Defra, in her speech to the Oxford Farming Conference last week. Ms Truss said that the Government was determined to continue to implement all the elements of its comprehensive strategy to eradicate the disease from England by 2038. ‘It is not easy, but we will do the right thing, even if the protest groups don’t like it,’ she said. Animal disease was one of the foremost challenges facing the farming industry, she told delegates, and protecting the country against both animal and plant disease was a top priority for government. Although Defra, like many other areas of government, had had to implement cost savings, she had been clear that the number of frontline vets had to be protected. ‘Since 2010 we have maintained the number of vets in our organisation and we’ve also expanded investigatory capacity. We have also appointed a Chief Plant Health Officer for the first time. And in December the position of Chief Vet was promoted to Director General level to reflect its importance.’ She added that she was determined to maintain the world-class science capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Among other matters, the Secretary of State also discussed the current pressure being experienced by dairy farmers as a result of the reduction in milk prices. She said that the Government was working with the National Farmers’ Union, and that she had met with Dairy UK, to discuss how to help farmers manage the situation. ‘This means doing things like making sure dairy farmers receive full support from the £141 million Countryside Productivity Scheme under the Rural Development Programme, which is targeted specifically at helping farm businesses become more competitive,’ she said. Such assistance could potentially include help with new capital investment for monitoring animal welfare or improving the energy efficiency of cattle housing. Describing the food and farming industry as ‘one of the areas of our national
life that is most burdened with red tape’, she also referred to the Government’s efforts to cut bureaucracy. ‘I want farmers farming, not form filling,’ she said. Commenting on the Secretary of State’s speech, the BVA said it was pleased she had emphasised the critical role of vets and had said that the number of frontline vets had to be protected. However, it said, the commitment had to be backed by resources to ensure that the UK’s veterinary surveillance systems and animal health and welfare services remained robust. John Blackwell, the Association’s President, said: ‘The BVA is pleased that the Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss in her speech in Oxford today has emphasised the critical role vets have in the agricultural economy of the UK and stated her commitment to frontline vets. When BVA met recently with Elizabeth Truss, her commitment to the role of the veterinary surgeon was also clear. We do, however, urge that this commitment is backed by adequate
resource to ensure that vets’ critical work in animal disease prevention, detection and monitoring is in no way undermined and that surveillance systems remain fit for purpose following laboratory closures in 2014.’ The BVA, he said, was committed to working with the Government to ensure that Britain retained its world-class veterinary and agriculture sectors, noting that this was a partnership in which the relationship between local vets and farmers was paramount. ‘A critical example here is TB testing in cattle,’ he said. ‘The role of local vets goes far beyond perfunctory testing and delivers a comprehensive approach to farmers and their herds in disease prevention and detection. As vets throughout the UK wait to hear the detail of how they will engage with Delivery Partners recently awarded contracts for TB testing, BVA hopes that the critical role of local vets on the frontline will continue sustainably.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h175
January 17, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 57
57-65 News.indd 57
14/01/2015 16:42
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on June 20, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Government says it will 'do the right thing' to eradicate bovine TB Veterinary Record 2015 176: 57
doi: 10.1136/vr.h175 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/3/57.1
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
