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Environment, energy and sustainability

Assessing the cost to public funds of animal diseases

Commentary on cost data provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Advisory Group on Responsibility and Cost Sharing

Cows in a field

    The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Department) has asked the Advisory Group on Responsibility and Cost Sharing, under the independent Chairmanship of Rosemary Radcliffe, CBE, to examine the current use of resources by the Department in meeting the challenges of animal health, and to consider the way in which they should be deployed and prioritised.

    The Committee of Public Accounts has repeatedly recommended that the Department share with farmers more of the cost of dealing with animal diseases, and strengthen incentives to improve biosecurity. The context of the Advisory Group’s work is the proposal, first made by the previous administration, to put in place new arrangements for sharing the responsibility and cost of managing animal disease between government and farmers.

    The Department reported to the Advisory Group that it spent some £357 million on animal health in 2009-10. To support robust financial management and sound decision making, the underlying data must be reliable, complete and relevant, and be reported on a consistent basis across the Department and its delivery bodies. In order to make sound judgements about prioritisation of resources, management teams in the Department responsible for oversight of expenditure will also need to look for evidence that expenditure represents good value for money, 18 October 2010


    The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Department) has asked the Advisory Group on Responsibility and Cost Sharing, under the independent Chairmanship of Rosemary Radcliffe, CBE, to examine the current use of resources by the Department in meeting the challenges of animal health, and to consider the way in which they should be deployed and prioritised.

    The Committee of Public Accounts has repeatedly recommended that the Department share with farmers more of the cost of dealing with animal diseases, and strengthen incentives to improve biosecurity. The context of the Advisory Group’s work is the proposal, first made by the previous administration, to put in place new arrangements for sharing the responsibility and cost of managing animal disease between government and farmers.

    The Department reported to the Advisory Group that it spent some £357 million on animal health in 2009-10. To support robust financial management and sound decision making, the underlying data must be reliable, complete and relevant, and be reported on a consistent basis across the Department and its delivery bodies. In order to make sound judgements about prioritisation of resources, management teams in the Department responsible for oversight of expenditure will also need to look for evidence that expenditure represents good value for money.

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