Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group Meeting 17 March 2005 Minutes and Papers

Members:
Charles Milne - Chief Veterinary Officer (Scotland) (chair)
Ian Anderson - Head of SEERAD Animal Health and Welfare Division
Kay Driver - Chief Executive, Scottish SPCA
Julie Fitzpatrick - Chief Executive, Moredun Research Institute
Bill McKelvey - Chief Executive, SAC
Jan Polley - Chief Executive, Quality Meat Scotland
Stuart Reid - Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow
Andy Robertson - Chief Executive, NFU Scotland
Mike Robson - President, Scottish Branch British Veterinary Association

Secretariat:
Neil Ritchie - SEERAD, Animal Health and Welfare Division
Anthony Bates - SEERAD, Animal Health and Welfare Division
Alex Young - SEERAD, Animal Health and Welfare Division

Agenda Item 1 - Introduction

1. Members were welcomed to the first meeting of the Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group. Some background into developments with the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy was given, including the publication of the Scottish Implementation Plan in December 2003, the launch of the GB Strategy in June 2004, and the Scottish Conference in October 2004.

Agenda Item 2 - Terms of Reference and Modus Operandum

2. The role and remit of SAHWAG were discussed. Members felt it represented a good start, but would like the remit to be redrafted taking into account:

· formal external links with other work ongoing, such as the Agricultural Strategy and the Science Strategy;

· partnership with stakeholders in ownership of the Strategy;

· outcomes SAHWAG would expect to achieve;

· the rationale behind the makeup of SAHWAG.

3. In order to support the theme of working in partnership, it should be made clear that the Strategy is owned by all animal keepers and stakeholders, and not just by SEERAD or SAHWAG, although they will of course have a role in driving it forward. It is only animal keepers who can make a difference on the ground, and if action is to be achieved then animal keepers will need to be shown a clear course of action and the benefits of doing so.

ACTION: SEERAD to produce a new draft remit for circulation to members.

Agenda Item 3 - Animal Health and Welfare Strategy Next Steps

Context

4. A discussion took place where Members gave their views about how the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy should be taken forward in Scotland. This built on the 4 pillars for delivery that Mr Finnie set out at the Scottish Conference, which are to:

i) establish targets for the eradication of endemic diseases such as TB and reduction of avoidable conditions such as lameness.

ii) further develop our framework to prevent outbreaks of exotic diseases such as FMD.

iii) promote farm-level benchmarking and targets to raise health and welfare standards and improve quality.

iv) bring together industry, vets, animal welfare groups, and scientists in a Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group to advise on the delivery of the Strategy in Scotland.

Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes

5. A summary was given of developments with Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes, which were seen as one of the key developments in helping to deliver the Strategy. This will be part of the Land Management Contract Menu. It will allow the farmer to discuss issues relevant to their farm with their local vet and plan actions for making improvements.

6. Farmers will have the option to join a benchmarking scheme, which will anonymously capture data about the disease status of the farm. This will feed into a national database, which will also draw in data from other sources. The database will allow information to be seen about the disease status of Scotland as a whole, and to compare various systems and geographical areas. Only the individual farmer and their vet practice will be able to see information about their own farm, and they will also be able to benchmark their performance against their/other systems, and across the vet practice/region/country. The national database should go a long way to allowing a baseline of current standards to be developed.

7. Achievement of agreed actions is recognised as being vital to the success of Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes, and work is ongoing to ensure that commitments made under this scheme are adhered to.

Targets

8. The Pillars are to a great extent interlinked and dependent on each other for success; for example, data obtained from Pillar 3 will feed into targets in Pillar 1. Targets are essential to be able to measure and demonstrate progress with the Strategy. Given current data, several targets should be able to be drawn up in the short term, but it must be recognised up front that much of the data necessary for their formulation is not in our possession. Welfare targets will need to be given careful consideration. Whilst it was recognised that targets could be set to gain quick wins there also need to be some more long term goals. We also need to ensure that targets are realistic and achievable. Further consideration will also need to be given to reporting mechanisms for progress with the Strategy, whether through a document, annual conference or other means.

Infrastructure

9. Concerns were raised about the number of large animal veterinary practitioners in Scotland. For Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes to be successful, there must be sufficient vets to deliver them. It was recognised that there is a potential shortage in the future in remote areas, and work is ongoing through the Veterinary Working Group to address this issue with vets and their clients. The next meeting is scheduled for April.

ACTION: SEERAD to keep SAHWAG up to date with developments with the veterinary working group.

Costs and Benefits of Disease Control

10. More information on the costs and benefits of disease control is highly desirable. In order to effectively sell the idea of "prevention is better than cure" to animal keepers, there must a clear financial incentive. Animal keepers need to know the risks of getting disease, the costs of that disease, and the costs of control.

11. As data on the costs and benefits of disease control becomes available, it needs to be widely publicised and disseminated to animal keepers. All SAHWAG members were committed to assisting in this dissemination, and several methods were discussed. Regional roadshows involving SEERAD, vets and farmers could be useful. On farm demonstrations, monitor farms, and pilot studies are other methods. Farmers do like to learn from other farmers, so including them as speakers, possibly with case studies, would be helpful. It is fairly difficult for farmers to travel long distances due to work commitments, so as much as possible the message should be brought to them.

12. SEERAD confirmed that a literary review of research currently available on the costs and benefits of disease control was recently undertaken, and committed to circulating this to SAHWAG members. This issue is to be picked up at a future meeting.

ACTION: SEERAD to circulate "Costs and Benefits of Preventing Animal Disease: A Review Focusing on Endemic Disease" (available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Agriculture/animal-welfare/AHWStrategy/CBAEndemicDisease).

ACTION: SAHWAG to discuss the costs and benefits of disease control as a future agenda item.

Learning From Others

13. In terms of promotion of a more proactive approach, it was felt that lessons could be learned from other countries. Work is ongoing on a GB basis for this, and SAHWAG would be keen to hear an update.

ACTION: SEERAD to arrange a presentation on lessons learned from other countries.

14. England and Wales have their own Implementation Groups and SAHWAG's links with these bodies will need to be considered, reflecting the importance of sharing best practice and not duplicating work.

Exotic Disease

15. It is vital that outbreaks of exotic disease are managed effectively, and SEERAD must ensure that contingency planning arrangements are as robust as possible.

Agenda Item 4 - Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference Report

16. The report of the Scottish Conference, held last October, was discussed, and reactions were taken to the key thoughts and conclusions given by stakeholders.

Inclusiveness

17. It was felt that, although around 100 stakeholders attended, not enough practising animal keepers were involved for the conclusions to be a truly representative picture of Scottish priorities. In order to get a more representative sample, a questionnaire will be produced. All SAHWAG members will commit their organisations to dispersing the questionnaire to as many of those involved in animal health and welfare in Scotland as possible. The responses should help us better understand what are the key priority areas for action.

ACTION: SEERAD to produce a draft questionnaire for circulation.

Welfare

18. A discussion took place on key priorities from the welfare sector, where potential exists for better integration into the Strategy. It was felt one of the key areas of difficulty is caused by the demands of numbers and time on stockmen. Handling systems are in some cases dangerous and outdated. To address this problem, SEERAD is looking at Tier 3 of Land Management Contracts to make money available for capital programmes, such as new handling equipment. Moreover, LANTRA accredited training courses for stockmen will be eligible for funding.Agenda Item 5 - Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme.

Agenda Item 5 - Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme

19. The Scottish Implementation Plan was published in December 2003, and set out the range of work taking place by government and stakeholders to deliver the Strategy. The merits of updating this document were discussed. It was felt that the Implementation Plan was a useful document for organisations, but that the target of any future communications should be animal keepers themselves. As such, these should be short, snappy, and relevant to the audience (possibly sector specific).

20. Any future communications should outline:

· what we are going to do as a country. This will be ascertained from the questionnaire about priorities;

· short term and long term actions we are going to take;

· what the opportunities are for the animal keeper, and what the benefits are;

· the infrastructure we have put in place to allow the animal keeper to take advantage of these opportunities.

21. Rather than producing a large document for general distribution, the group considered targeting the Programme material at separate sectors or groupings of animal keepers. This would depend on the greater understanding of industry priorities emerging from the survey and the Group's discussions about taking this forward on a Scotland wide basis.

Agenda Items 6 - Future Agenda Items

22. Potential future items were discussed, and SEERAD committed to circulating a draft agenda for comment.

ACTION: SEERAD to circulate a draft agenda for the next meeting.

Agenda Item 7 - AOB

23. No other business was discussed.

Paper 1.1 - Terms of reference and modus operandum

1. This paper sets out - for agreement by Group members - a suggested remit, objectives, composition, working arrangements and support management for the Advisory Group.

Advisory Group Remit

2. The proposed remit of the group is to:

· advise and communicate the opportunities provided by the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy in Scotland to the Scottish Executive, industry and other stakeholders;

· contribute to the production and regular review of a Scottish Programme for Animal Health and Welfare;

· consider appropriate targets for specific actions and review progress against these over time; and

· set the direction for the annual conference to encourage stakeholder buy-in and engage them in process of review and priority setting.

Advisory Group Work

3. There is a division between the long term and short term objectives of the group. In the short term the objectives could be to:

· Advise on the content of the new Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme document;

· Advise on how a clear baseline for current standards of animal health and welfare could be determined;

· Suggest targets to raise standards of animal health and welfare and how this could be measured;

· Agree arrangements for reporting on progress;

· Identify communications opportunities for the Strategy.

4. Over the longer term the objectives of the group could be to:

· Review progress against targets and identify any remedial actions required;

· Contribute to setting the objectives for the annual Scottish conference;

· Take into account views expressed by stakeholders when reviewing the directions of the strategy;

· Identify opportunities for new work for the Strategy;

· Identify communications opportunities for the Strategy;

· Identify research priorities and gaps.

Composition

5. The Advisory group is composed of stakeholders from the government, farming industry, veterinary, welfare and science sectors to provide a broad range of perspectives. Members have been invited because they are capable of providing executive level input, able to understand the technical nature of the discussions and are of suitable stature to be able to influence their organisations and animal keepers on the ground.

6. A balance has been struck with the composition of the Group between ensuring that a wide range of perspectives are included and keeping numbers down to a manageable level. In addition to these permanent members, other organisations will be co-opted to relevant meetings to provide additional expertise to ensure that the decision making process is as well informed as possible.

Chair

7. Mr Finnie has stated that he sees the Scottish Executive having a strong leadership and facilitative role in driving the Strategy forward in Scotland. Charles Milne, CVO (Scotland), will chair the meetings. It is possible that Mr Finnie will participate at some stage.

Frequency Of Meeting

8. It is important that the Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme document is published soon (early summer has been identified as the preferred publication date) in order to keep momentum going. Initially, the Group will need to meet relatively frequently, perhaps every other month. But it is envisaged that after the initial short term targets have been addressed that the group may decide to meet less frequently.

Secretariat Support

9. Secretariat support will be provided to the group by the Animal Health and Welfare Division within the Scottish Executive. The Minutes of the Group will be published externally on the Scottish Executive website.

Conclusion

10. The Group is invited to consider and agree:

i) its remit; and

ii) its short and long term objectives.

Paper 1.2 - Animal Health and Welfare Strategy next steps

Purpose

1. This paper sets out the next steps for the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy in Scotland. It provides some history about what has already taken place and outlines the broad direction of travel. The Advisory Group should consider and agree the next steps.

Great Britain Animal Health and Welfare Strategy

2. Following extensive consultation, the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain was launched in June 2004. The Strategy outlines a high level 10 year vision for raising standards of animal health and welfare. It was written as a strategy for Great Britain reflecting the fact that we are a single epidemiological unit and that there are opportunities to be gained from the sharing of best practice between the 3 countries. It sets out the roles and responsibilities for government and other stakeholders as well as the principles we should adopt in the way we work. Five key strategic outcomes are identified:

· Working in partnership

· Promoting the benefits of animal health and welfare: prevention is better than cure

· Ensuring a clearer understanding of the costs and benefits of animal health and welfare practices

· Understanding and accepting roles and responsibilities

· Delivering and enforcing animal health and welfare standards effectively

Scottish Implementation Plan

3. Whilst it is a Strategy for Great Britain, implementation will take place at the Scotland level reflecting the fact that we have a specific Scottish delivery infrastructure and priorities. A Scottish Implementation Plan was published in December 2003, and it set out the range of work undertaken by government and other stakeholders under the umbrella of the Strategy. This was a useful document in terms of publicising the good work currently going on, and we now need to build on it to provide a truly Scottish vision including specific objectives, aspirations and targets.

Scottish Conference

4. The Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference was held on October, 2004 at the Birnam Institute, Perthshire. It was attended by around 100 delegates from a variety of organisations with an interest in animal health and welfare from Scotland and other countries. The main objective of the conference was to inform the Executive and other stakeholders about the main priorities for taking the strategy forward in Scotland. Five speakers from the government, farming industry, veterinary, research and welfare sectors were invited to give their views on the key challenges and opportunities arising from the strategy, and stakeholders were invited to give their input through breakout groups.

5. The report of the Conference has been provided for consideration by the Group in paper 1.3. Stakeholders highlighted the importance of taking a proactive approach to raising standards of animal health and welfare, with a particular focus on reducing levels of endemic disease and avoidable conditions and on keeping exotic disease out of the country. A clear baseline of standards and ambitious targets is necessary to be able to measure progress and maintain momentum.

The 4 Pillars for Successful Delivery

6. The importance of having a Scottish specific vision was emphasised by Ross Finnie at the Conference. Mr Finnie outlined 4 pillars in his speech which he sees as being the key ingredients to successful delivery in Scotland. The strategic outcomes identified by the GB Strategy explain the principles of how we all need to work together, and the 4 pillars outline specific actions that will take place in Scotland to raise standards of animal health and welfare. They are as follows:

PILLAR 1: Establish targets for the eradication of endemic diseases such as TB and reduction of avoidable conditions such as lameness.

The Strategy seeks to promote a more proactive approach to raising standards of animal health and welfare. The work carried out under this pillar is vital to achieving the required culture change towards greater use of preventative methods and minimising disease incursion. Endemic diseases and avoidable conditions were highlighted at the Conference as being of paramount importance. They are a major cause of both economic loss to the industry and poor welfare for animals. Targets for reduction of diseases and avoidable conditions are important for demonstrating that progress is being made with the Strategy, and this pillar encompasses the work that is done by government and other stakeholders in this area.

PILLAR 2: Further develop our framework to prevent outbreaks of exotic diseases such as FMD.

Another key objective of the Strategy is for everyone to work together effectively in partnership and to understand their roles and responsibilities. Work under this pillar, such as contingency planning, exercise rehearsals and the promotion of better biosecurity, can help to raise awareness and minimise the likelihood and impact of an incursion of exotic disease. This work is of key importance due to the very high potential impact of an outbreak of exotic disease occurring in this country. It is vital that our emergency preparedness is as high as possible - if there is an outbreak that is perceived to be unnecessary or mishandled, buy-in to the Strategy will be very difficult to achieve making its objectives much more difficult to deliver.

PILLAR 3: Promote farm-level benchmarking and targets to raise health and welfare standards and improve quality.

It is only at the farm level that real progress in raising animal health and welfare standards can be made. As such, attention needs to be paid to making the Strategy relevant to individual animal keepers. Significant work is currently underway to promote Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes, and it is essential that this work is developed on an ongoing basis. To maximise the benefits, the raising of standards must be continual rather than a one off process.

PILLAR 4: Bring together prominent members of industry, the veterinary profession and the science community in a Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group to advise on the delivery of the strategy in Scotland .

The Advisory Group has been set up to provide the technical expertise to help drive forward the Strategy in Scotland. Successful delivery of the Strategy depends on co-operation and realistic standards being set and understood, and effective dissemination of information and good practice.

Next Steps

7. A new document is required to reflect this Scottish vision. The document must reflect and contribute to the delivery of the Strategy through the 4 pillars. What this document will look like is one of the key issues for consideration by the Advisory Group, and is discussed in paper 1.4.

8. It is essential that this new document is seen to be ambitious. It must contain clear targets and a baseline so that we can demonstrate progress with the Strategy and the real difference it is making on the ground. This is also discussed in paper 1.4.

Conclusion

9. The Group is invited to note the background and agree the next steps for the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy in Scotland.

Paper 1.3 - Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference

1. The Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference was held on 25 October with the purpose of identifying the forthcoming challenges and opportunities for the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy. The report of the conference can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Agriculture/animal-welfare/AHWStrategy/Conference

Key Themes

2. The breakout groups highlighted disease prevention as a key priority for action. Endemic diseases and avoidable conditions cause suffering to animals and impact on industry profitability through lower productivity. The benefits to animal welfare if these were to be reduced are considerable. The potential impacts of an incursion of exotic disease cannot be overstated. Reducing the levels of endemic disease and avoidable conditions and minimising the likelihood and impact of an outbreak of exotic disease are of paramount importance. Particular priorities were CLA, CODD, Bovine TB, Johne's and FMD.

3. The conference concluded that there is a strong need for a more proactive approach to raising standards of animal health and welfare. Animal keepers must be educated, on their premises if possible, of the need for preventative measures. More research into the costs and benefits of disease prevention is essential to demonstrate a financial incentive. Animal Health and Welfare Management Programmes were highlighted as an excellent opportunity to drive forward this culture change. Enforcement issues are a potential pitfall and must be given careful consideration.

4. It is essential to establish a baseline for animal health and welfare standards and to have ambitious targets to be able to measure progress. Demonstrating that the Strategy is making a difference is important to achieving buy-in and momentum.

Conclusion

5. The Group is invited to note the conclusions of the Conference and to consider them for the purposes of developing the Programme.

Paper 1.4 - Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme

1. At the Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference, held in October, Mr Finnie identified the need to produce a specific Scottish vision detailing how the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy will be implemented in Scotland. A Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Programme document will be produced to set out that vision This document attempts to outline some thoughts on the content and layout of the proposed document.

Purpose

2. The document hopes to achieve the following:

· communicate our vision for raising standards of animal health and welfare in Scotland;

· communicate the work that is going on to achieve that vision; and

· achieve greater buy-in to our vision and to the targets for higher standards.

The Programme will subsume the current Implementation Plan system.

The 4 Pillars

3. At the Conference, Mr Finnie outlined 4 pillars for the successful delivery of the Strategy, and these will need to play a prominent role in the Programme. All of the work both currently ongoing and newly announced should be able to fit under the 4 pillars. The pillars are as follows:

i) Establish targets for the eradication of endemic diseases such as TB and reduction of avoidable conditions such as lameness.

ii) Further develop our framework to prevent outbreaks of exotic diseases such as FMD.

iii) Promote farm-level benchmarking and targets to raise health and welfare standards and improve quality.

iv) Bring together industry, vets and scientists in a Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Advisory Group to advise on the delivery of the strategy in Scotland.

Targets

4. We envisage targets as being a key aspect of delivering the Strategy. It is essential to be able to demonstrate progress and the difference the Strategy is making on the ground. These targets should be specific, measurable, ambitious, and clear. It is important that they are related to the outcomes of the Strategy - i.e. higher standards of animal health and welfare. This will probably include the most important diseases and avoidable conditions.

5. It is not a simple task to come up with targets that are meaningful, achievable and acceptable to animal keepers. This is the first time many of these targets will have been set, and it must be recognised that for many non-notifiable diseases the evidence base will be sparse. Therefore, for now we are considering broad principles - i.e. which diseases and conditions should be included - and will move on to considering target levels after these have been agreed. A baseline for these targets will also need to be established and clear dates and methods for reporting progress must be considered. Progress must be communicated to stakeholders and there must be support for the direction we are proposing.

Format

6. The Group will need to consider the format of the Programme. One possibility is that the format could resemble the Prevention of Environmental Pollution from Agricultural Activity (PEPFAA) code, which is presented in a ring binder. This allows out of date sections to be easily discarded and replaced without reprinting the whole document. This approach could be useful given the targets are likely to need to be updated on an annual basis. The PEPFAA code also contains a list of "Do's and Don'ts", which could also be a useful addition to the Programme - perhaps as a written page or as a fold out poster.

Delivery Mechanisms

7. Issues regarding delivery will arise during the course of discussing this paper and that will be for later consideration.

Conclusion

8. The Group is invited to to:

i) give its thoughts on what should be included in the new Programme, and what it should look like;

ii) identify high priority diseases and avoidable conditions that should form targets for raising standards; and

iii) consider how a baseline for these targets can be established.

Animal Health and Welfare Division

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

March 2005

Back to Advisory Group page

Page updated: Friday, July 03, 2009

Scottish Government