3 Working methods
34. As in previous years, we have tried to combine
a programme of strategic long-term inquiries with the ability
to respond to events. In previous years, Defra's areas of responsibility
have included some of the most serious incidents to affect the
UK, such as the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in the spring
and summer of 2001 and the summer 2007 floods. This year we responded
to the collapse of the Dairy Farmers of Britain dairy co-operative.
The inquiry was announced in July and we started taking oral evidence
during the summer recess. Evidence-taking has now concluded and
a report is in preparation.
35. Our forward programme aims to include an inquiry
into the draft National Policy Statement on waste water and pre-legislative
scrutiny of Defra's proposed draft Bill on animal health and cost
sharing, if both documents are published in sufficient time before
the general election.
36. We note that an increasing amount of our work
programme is pre-determined by the obligations on us to conduct
scrutiny in accordance with the House of Commons Standing Orders,
legislation, or through agreement between the Liaison Committee
and the Government. We are happy to carry out such inquiries,
but this does limit the Committee's ability to respond swiftly
to policy developments and recent events.
37. As in the past, we have made use of our power
to establish a sub-committee—enabling us to cover more ground
than would be the case with the full Committee. We have also made
use of the 'rapporteur' system, whereby a designated member of
the Committee undertakes some research on a topic and then reports
back to the main Committee with recommendations on how to proceed.
38. Although, thankfully, this year the UK has not
suffered an animal disease outbreak on the scale of Foot and Mouth
in 2001, there remain significant disease risks to the UK's agriculture,
not least from Bovine TB, Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever.
We maintain a 'watching brief' on animal health through our Notifiable
Animal Disease Observatory—a group of the Committee's members
who receive briefing on the current state of the UK's animal disease
status and risks.
Government Responses
39. The Government is required to reply to our reports
within two months. This year we have not made substantive comments
on the Government response to any of our reports. We include as
an Annex a table showing the Government response to our published
conclusions and recommendations.
Public involvement in the Committee's
work
40. We are committed to including a wide range of
organisations and individuals in the Committee's work. In previous
years we have taken evidence from members of the public affected
by certain circumstances or policy under consideration.
41. This year we launched our Securing Food Supplies
up to 2050 inquiry with an event at Borough Market, London's oldest
food market on the south side of the Thames near London Bridge.
We invited a range of speakers to talk about food security and
the future of the UK's food. The event was open to the public,
and flyers were prepared to tell people the event was taking place.
Media coverage
42. We have continued to maintain a strong media
profile throughout the 2008-09 Session. At the start of the year
our report into the English Pig Industry caught the public mood
and it enjoyed widespread coverage in the print and broadcast
media. In July our next major report looked at issues affecting
the security of UK food supplies. This provoked widespread coverage
in much of the national, regional, local and specialist print
media (thanks partly to the efforts of the Press Association's
Westminster reporting) and was used by BBC Farming Today as a
base from which to build a week of programmes around the report's
key findings.
43. More generally, the food and farming press continues
to cover many of our evidence sessions. In addition, where reports
have a more specialist focus—such as that examining the
Ofwat Price Review 2009—our work continues to enjoy solid
coverage in a range of trade titles or web outlets that cover
the more technical part of the environmental management agenda.
44. Sadly, our report on Energy Efficiency and Fuel
Poverty did not get the kind of coverage that we felt an issue
affecting at least 5 million households ought to enjoy. However,
six months later when devastating Government statistics on fuel
poverty were issued to an equal lack of media interest, we had
to accept this was more a reflection of the values dominating
editorial decision-making than it was about the extent to which
this enduring problem blights far too many people's lives.
45. Lastly, we were encouraged to see our pre-legislative
scrutiny of the Draft Flood and Water Management Bill strongly
reported, not least in those parts of the country affected in
recent years by extreme flooding. It was also gratifying when
this report came back into the news two months later once the
subsequent Bill was read for the first time to the House—just
a week after disastrous flooding swept through Cumbria.
Reducing our own environmental
impact
46. We strive to reduce our own impact on the environment.
Our travel for visits in the UK or to European institutions is
by train as far as possible. In previous reports we have noted
with regret that the House of Commons continues to use bottled
water and plastic cups in meeting rooms. Unfortunately this remains
the case and so we again urge the House to provide jugs of tap
water and glasses in meeting rooms without delay. Failure to make
this small change is damaging to the reputation of the House as
whole and is particularly unhelpful for a Committee examining
environmental and sustainability policy, including that of the
water industry.
Sources of information and assistance
47. Over the course of the Session we have been assisted
by several specialist advisers. They are listed in Annex A. We
are most grateful to them for their assistance. Help was also
received from the National Audit Office, the House of Commons
Scrutiny Unit, and the research services directorate of the Department
of Information Services in the House of Commons. In addition,
we recognise the contribution to our work made by the main specialist
and trade publications that report on a wide range of matters
of interest to the Committee. We have continued to enjoy positive
relations with Defra and have had private briefings from officials
on occasion. Ministers and officials have attended evidence sessions
when requested.
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