VETERINARY POLICY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

ANNUAL REPORT 2013-14

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Introduction_______________________________________________________________________________________________1

Basic Information_________________________________________________________________________________________3

Review of Activities_______________________________________________________________________________________4

Financial Statements____________________________________________________________________________________14

Contact Information_____________________________________________________________________________________15

Company Information___________________________________________________________________________________15

Appendix 1_______________________________________________________________________________________________16

Appendix 2_______________________________________________________________________________________________17

Appendix 3_______________________________________________________________________________________________18

ACRONYMS

AGM Annual General Meeting

AJT Alexander John Trees (Lord Trees)

APGAW Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare

APPG All-Party Parliamentary Group

BCG Bacille de Calmette et Guérin

BSAVA British Small Animal Veterinary Association

BVA British Veterinary Association

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

DIVA Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals

FST Foundation for Science and Technology

HOL House of Lords

NSAID Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug

P&SC Parliamentary & Scientific Committee

PVI Parliamentary Veterinary Intern

RCVS Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

VMD Veterinary Medicines Directorate

VPRF Veterinary Policy Research Foundation

VPRF ANNUAL REPORT 2013-14

Introduction

TO OUR SPONSORSThe Veterinary Policy Research Foundation would like to present the 2013-14 Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended September 30th 2014.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS The VPRF was set up to provide a legal and financial vehicle which was transparent, subject to good governance and independent of Lord Trees’ finances, with the purpose of employing an intern/researcher. It appears to be a novel if not unique initiative in the House of Lords. In addition to providing research and administrative support to Lord Trees, it is intended that the internship provides a career development opportunity for young vets. Thus, the post has been advertised for either veterinary students from year three onwards or for qualified vets.

Through the work of the Parliamentary Veterinary Intern and Lord Trees, as a crossbench peer and one of only two veterinary scientists in the House of Lords, the VPRF aims to inform, advise and revise, and perhaps initiate, UK Government and, in so far as is possible, EU legislation in matters related to Lord Trees’ areas of expertise and interest. Currently, Lord Trees’ portfolio of interests is listed on the House of Lords website and focuses on UK and EU policy relating to agriculture, animals, food and rural affairs; higher education; energy and environment; health services and medicine; international development; professional regulation; science and technology; tropical medicine; and veterinary matters. Lord Trees also has an interest in policy affecting the North of England and Scotland, and Africa and the Middle East.

PARLIAMENTARY VETERINARY INTERNSHIPFollowing the successful promise of funding from a variety of sources approached in early 2013 and with the help of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (and particularly Lesley Evans, HR Director) the internship was advertised in spring 2013 to veterinary surgeons and veterinary students from year 3 onwards for a one year term with a possibility of a second year renewal. The job description is attached in Appendix 1. There was an excellent response to the advertisement with approximately 47 applications and 7 very good candidates were interviewed by a panel chaired by Lord Trees and comprising Nick Stace - CEO of RCVS, Peter Harlech-Jones - Senior Vice-President BVA, and Lesley Evans. The post was offered to Hannah Jordan, at that time a final year student at the Royal Veterinary College, who subsequently qualified in July 2013 and took up the post in October 2013. In the light of her excellent performance, and the complexity of both the development of the Foundation and of the role it was agreed with both Hannah and the Trustees to offer her a second year’s contract, which is due to expire on September 30th 2015.

The creation of the internship has been hugely beneficial to Lord Trees’ role, particularly in being able to be more proactive. The nature of the House of Lords, and in particular the Crossbenches, requires that all contributions are well researched and supported by evidence. The research role of the intern has proved

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invaluable in this respect as our outputs in speeches, questions and publications attests (see review of activities).

OBJECTIVES FOR THE YEARIn addition to the broad aims outlined above and following the Veterinary Policy Research Foundation AGM on 27/02/14 the following specific objectives were set for 2014:

To investigate charitable status. To set up a business bank account. To recruit two further Trustees who are not sponsors of the Foundation. To become a member of a relevant House of Lords committee, either the EU (Agriculture, Fisheries,

Environment and Energy) or Science & Technology committees. To produce an Annual report on the first year.

All five objectives have been achieved.

With respect to charitable status, a proposal was developed with Penningtons Solicitors and submitted to the Charities Commission. The Commission replied (4th April 2014) with a detailed and fair set of questions, primarily questioning the satisfaction of the ‘public benefit’ criteria. After careful consideration, and consultation with our Trustees, we decided that we could not easily satisfy their questions regarding public benefit without compromising our primary objectives. Given that the charitable status was of marginal benefit we withdrew the application. This may be something we could review in the future.

Setting up a business bank account was not easy and took over four months (application: 23rd September 2013 & setup: 5th February 2014). This meant that there was a delay in invoicing and receiving donations from sponsors, which we regret, but which was beyond our control.

With respect to Trustees, Dr Wendy Harrison and Lord Richard Best have kindly agreed to serve from 2014. Wendy Harrison is a veterinary surgeon who served on the RCVS council for some years as a recent graduate and who is now a research scientist at Imperial College. Lord Best is a Crossbench peer, an expert on housing and local government, with no veterinary connections, but he has considerable experience with trusts, foundations and charities. Both of these Trustees are independent of donors to the VPRF. For further information on these new Trustees see Appendix 2.

In May 2014 Lord Trees was invited to apply for membership as a Crossbench member of the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee for Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy and was subsequently appointed. The Committee meets weekly when Parliament is sitting and occasionally in recess. Its main functions are twofold: firstly, to scrutinize legislative proposals from the EU to Member State Governments and to comment on those proposals to the Government; secondly, to initiate investigations of its own, with the capability to question witnesses, including ministers, in public and to produce reports. These may be influential both to the UK Government and the EU.

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Basic Information

VPRF TRUSTEES

NAME ORGANISATION ROLE

Professor the Lord Trees House of Lords Crossbenches Chair

Mr. Nick Stace RCVS Trustee

Mr. Peter Harlech-Jones BVA Trustee

Mr. Brian Pound CVS UK Ltd Trustee

Mr. Phillip Sketchley NOAH Trustee

Dr. Wendy Harrison Imperial College London Trustee from 2014

Lord Richard Best House of Lords Crossbenches Trustee from 2014

2013-14 VPRF SPONSORS

ORGANISATION

British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA)

British Veterinary Association (BVA)

CVS UK Ltd

Goddard Vet Group

Medivet Group Ltd

National Office of Animal Health (NOAH)

Professor the Lord Trees of the Ross

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS)

The Royal Veterinary College

University of Liverpool, School of Veterinary Science

University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

Willows Veterinary Group Ltd

Lord Trees would like to express his gratitude to the sponsors who have made the Veterinary Policy Research Foundation and the Parliamentary Veterinary Internship possible.

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Review of Activities

October 2013 was the beginning of Lord Trees’ second year in the House of Lords and was the inaugural year of the Parliamentary Veterinary Internship (PVI). Lord Trees (AJT) usually attends Parliament for 3 days a week from Tuesday to Thursday when the House is sitting. The House of Lords does not usually sit on a Friday.

AJT attended 58/105 (55.2%) possible attendances from May 2012-201383/149 (55.7%) possible attendances from May 2013-201438/72 (52.8%) possible attendances from May 2014-Dec 2014 (ongoing)

PVI attended 103 working days from October 2013-201438 working days thus far from October 2014-2015

HOUSE OF LORDS BUSINESSThere are a number of ways in which a member of the House of Lords can exert influence on Government and its legislation. These include speaking in debates; tabling amendments; initiating debates; tabling written questions; tabling oral questions; and participating in committee business. In addition, there are a number of informal means of influence such as private meetings with Government or Shadow Ministers, participating in All-Party Parliamentary Group meetings and writing in appropriate publications. In this year we have done all of these things.

DATE CONTRIBUTION DETAILS11/01/13 Maiden Speech Debate1 - Leveson Inquiry30/01/13 Speech Debate - Health: Neglected Tropical Diseases24/07/13 Speech Debate - Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Infections

29/10/13 Speech2nd Reading: Antisocial behavior, Crime and Policing Bill (Dangerous Dogs Act)

11/11/13 Written question2 Animals: Rabies20/11/13 Speech Debate - Animal Welfare: Cats and Dogs09/12/13 Speech Debate - Badgers: Bovine Tuberculosis

14/01/14Amendment 86B &C (not moved)

Report Stage: Antisocial behavior, Crime and Policing Bill (Dangerous Dogs Act)

16/01/14Question for Short Debate (initiated)

Debate - Animal Welfare: Methods of Slaughter

06/02/14 Speech Debate - Health: Neglected Tropical Diseases25/03/14 Written question Vets: Language controls16/05/14 Email debate House Magazine debate with Lord Sheikh (Non-stun slaughter)25/06/14 Oral question Bovine Tuberculosis03/07/14 Speech Debate - Rural Economy 17/07/14 Written question Birds of prey (Vultures and Diclofenac)

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24/07/14 Speech Debate - Agriculture and Food Industry

06/11/14 Speech Debate - EU: Counting the Cost of Food Waste (EUC Report)

18/11/14Amendment 92A (withdrawn)

Committee Stage: Deregulation Bill (Breeding of Dogs Act 1973)1 These are non-legislative debates.2 See Appendix 3

Figure 1: Lord Trees' debate on Slaughter Welfare in the Moses Room, January 2014.

Particular contributions to note were speaking in the debate and moving an amendment to introduce dog control notices on Dangerous dogs within the Anti-social behavior, Crime and Policing Bill (amendment rejected by the Government); moving an amendment at Committee stage of the Deregulation Bill on the Breeding of Dogs Act (1973) and Breeding and Welfare of Dogs Act (1999) licensing requirements – to retain the requirement to maintain breeding records of bitches held by licensed breeders (this probing amendment was withdrawn because it was moved in Committee stage where divisions do not occur. We had a follow-up meeting with the Minister Lord Wallace and have been assured that this matter will go to public consultation and the Government will reconsider in the light of the responses to the consultation); an oral

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question on bovine tuberculosis, which evinced an assurance from the Minister that the development of an oral vaccine for badgers, the development and registration of BCG vaccination for cattle and the development of an appropriate DIVA test to distinguish vaccinates from naturally infected cattle would not be constrained by a lack of resources. Probably the most significant single activity was initiating a debate on non-stun slaughter in January, which stimulated considerable media interest and subsequent activity.

Other current issues of some political prominence to which we have given considerable attention in various ways have been antimicrobial resistance – where we have tried to present a balanced, evidence-based viewpoint in response to some of the opinions voiced; global control of rabies – where we questioned Mr. Bill Gates about his Foundation’s attitude to this neglected tropical disease and important zoonosis; the importance of agriculture – in particular livestock production to the UK food security agenda – and the role livestock veterinary services play; and the licensing of diclofenac (an NSAID) in the EU, given its toxicity to carrion feeding birds, especially vultures. Of current ongoing activity, our role in the EU Sub-Committee on Agriculture is considering the EU commission’s proposal on veterinary medicines regulation, which are of considerable importance – especially with regard to antibiotics, and on which the Sub-Committee is looking to us for critical review. A continuing strategic issue is the overall planning of land use in the UK and at the Rural Economy Research Group meeting which we helped plan and later chaired in Oct 2014, we invited Oliver Letwin MP, the Cabinet Minister for Government Policy, in addition to academic experts to speak on the subject. The meeting sought to promote a holistic national approach to land use planning, which appropriately recognises food and livestock production.

OTHER EVENTS AND MEETINGSIn addition to direct contributions to HOL business, we are committed to providing a parliamentary platform for veterinary activities (see below). Much of our time is necessarily devoted to other meetings and functions, both within the Parliamentary estate and elsewhere, which fulfil the twin objectives of informing ourselves and influencing others. A summary list follows. Of particular note are the meetings of the Foundation for Science and Technology, the council of which Lord Trees has been invited to join. The FST is an independent, but influential body, which holds meetings for parliamentarians, leading scientists and business people and other stakeholders, usually held at the Royal Society, to discuss important current science and technology issues of relevance to policy-making. Also important are the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGS; of which there are some 650 in Westminster!) and we are on the meetings list for approximately 10 of the most relevant.

EVENTS ATTENDED DATE EVENTOct 2013 10 Downing Street Energy Bill Briefing

Regulating Higher Education Report LaunchAPPG for International DevelopmentBVA Discussion Forum: Too many vetsBVA Parliamentary Briefing

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Veterinary Marketing Association Conference (Chaired)Rural Economy Research Group: Megafarms (Chaired)

Nov 2013 World Horse Welfare Annual ConferenceRCVS Strategy & Queen’s Medal LaunchParliamentary & Scientific Committee (P&SC): Immigration Policy for ScienceBVA Congress – Too many vets?Foundation for Science and Technology (FST): Economics of decarbonisation of the UK electricity supplyRCVS President’s receptionBVA Congress: Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine session (Speaker)

Jan 2014 P&SC: Badgers and Bovine TuberculosisAPPG for Beef & Lamb

Feb 2014 FST: Communicating uncertainty in risk estimates to decision makersVPRF Trustees meeting, AGM & Dinner (Hosted & Chaired)Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW): ExoticsBritish & Irish Assoc. of Zoos and Aquariums ReceptionBVA London DinnerAngela Merkel address to Parliament

Mar 2014 APPG Malaria & NTDs

APPG for AntibioticsDEFRA Brief: Badgers & Bovine TB

Apr 2014 Reimagining the Rural ConferenceFST: Policy choices for the reduction of Bovine TuberculosisBSAVA CongressAPPG for Universities

May 2014 APGAW: Welfare at slaughterFST CouncilBVA AWF Discussion ForumAPPG for Beef and LambWorld Animal Protection (previously WSPA) reception: TurtlesMedical Detection Dogs receptionAPPG for Agriculture and FoodBVA Scotland DinnerRCVS Knowledge launchCryptosporidium conference at Wellcome Trust (Chaired)Opened new Vet Nursing teaching building at Myerscough College, Lancashire

Jun 2014 State Opening of ParliamentAPPG for Beef & Lamb met twiceFST: Antimicrobial resistanceRSPCA reception

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Holyrood Garden partyAPPG for Antibiotics

Jul 2014 RCVS DayOct 2014 Dogs Trust reception

APPG for Eggs, Pigs and Poultry1st International Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine ConferenceRural Economy Research Group: Land use strategy (Hosted & Chaired)

Nov 2014 BVA Parliamentary BriefingBVA Ethics and Welfare CommitteeLord Speakers’ Lecture: Bill GatesWorld Horse Welfare Annual ConferenceDEFRA/VMD Antimicrobial Resistance Summit (Co-Chaired)BVA Congress – Overseas experience (Speaker)Vet Schools Council Launch (Hosted)

Figure 2: Lord Trees chairing the Veterinary Marketing Association meeting in the Moses room.

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COMMITTEES & ALL-PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP MEETINGSDETAILSHouse of Lords EU Sub-Committee for Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and EnergyFoundation for Science and Technology CouncilParliamentary & Scientific CommitteeCommons Science & Technology CommitteeAPG for Animal Welfare (APGAW)APPG for AntibioticsAPPG for Beef and LambAPPG for Eggs, Pigs and PoultryAPPG for International DevelopmentAPPG for Malaria and NTDsAPPG for Universities

AD-HOC MEETINGSDETAILSBritish Veterinary AssociationRoyal College of Veterinary SurgeonsChief Veterinary Officer – Nigel GibbensDEFRA Chief Scientist – Ian BoydHead of Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit – Judy MacArthur ClarkDEFRA Under-Secretary of State – Lord DeMauleyHouse of Lords Ministers/Shadow MinistersDEFRA Animal Welfare team

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 15/04/14 Crieff PROBUS talk 24/09/14 Comrie over-50s talk 10/12/14 Central Veterinary Society, London

PUBLICATIONS

Animal Welfare and Non-stun Slaughter Factfile

A major output to inform and assist the debate on non-stun slaughter has been a well-researched, fully referenced Factfile published on our website.

Animal Welfare and Non-stun Slaughter Factfile

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Diary of a Parliamentary Intern – Vet Record

Each month the Parliamentary Veterinary Intern has written a diary piece on their experience in the House of Lords. These are published in the Vet Record Careers section in paper copy and online.

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/1/ii.full.pdf+html

Veterinary Policy Research Foundation Blog & Website

The VPRF blog got up and running midway through 2014. It has several fixed pages informing readers about the Foundation, Lord Trees, the Parliamentary Veterinary Internship, and our Sponsors and Trustees. We aim to post briefly about what we get up to in Parliament and in more depth on certain issues.

https://vprf.wordpress.com

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Lords of the Blog

Lord Trees joined Lords of the blog in February 2014. Launched in early 2008 and run by Hansard, Lords of the Blog is the place for Peers from across the political spectrum to talk about life and work in the House of Lords. We have a number of regular contributors, as well as guest appearances. Members of the Lords tend to focus blog posts on their specialist areas. Despite a slow start we aim to make a post once a month for the 2014-15 session.

http://lordsoftheblog.net http://lordsoftheblog.net/author/lordtrees/

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Twitter

You can now find the VPRF on Twitter making contributions when Lord Trees is active in the House of Lords or from events VPRF and conferences we attend.

https://twitter.com/Vet_Policy @Vet_Policy

GOING FORWARDOur future activities will be influenced by Government legislative proposals set out in the Queen’s speech at the beginning of the next Parliament in May 2015. We shall scrutinize the proposals and identify matters and issues of relevance to our interests in preparation for gathering evidence and contributing to their debate.

In addition, proactively, we shall continue to focus our attention on non-stun slaughter; antimicrobial resistance; bovine tuberculosis; companion animal issues, particularly related to dog breeding and welfare, dangerous dogs, and microchipping regulations; legislation and regulation of the veterinary profession and veterinary nursing; veterinary surveillance and our veterinary capability to deal with new disease threats; environmental issues with a veterinary dimension; the importance of livestock production, to ensure food

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security in the UK and globally; the role of livestock in greenhouse gas emissions; safeguarding high standards of veterinary provision in the UK; maintaining and strengthening our pre-eminent position in research on animal health and welfare, and public health; promoting the one health concept and the valuable role that vets pay in contributing to human health and wellbeing.

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Financial Statements

A spreadsheet showing donors and their contributions is included below. A formal, un-audited financial report produced by our accountant, Kelly Accounting, is supplementary to this report.

SPONSORSHIP OUTLOOKDonors Pledge date2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 Total pledge (£)British Small Animal Veterinary Association 2013- 5000 5000British Veterinary Association 2013- 4000 4000 4000 4000 16000CVS UK Ltd 2013- 2500 2500 2500 7500Goddard Veterinary Group 2013- 1000 1000 1000 3000Liverpool Veterinary School 2013- 2000 2000 2000 6000Lord Trees of the Ross in Perth and Kinross 2013- 1000 1500 1500 1500 1500 7000Medivet 2013- 2500 2500 2500 2500 10000National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) 2013- 5000 5000 4000 4000 4000 22000Nottingham Veterinary School 2013- 1000 1000 1000 1000 4000Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons 2013- 10000 10000 10000 30000Royal Veterinary College 2013- 1000 1000Willows Veterinary Group 2013- 1000 1000 1000 3000

Annual total 36000 30500 29500 13000 5500 114500Red: Pledged, but not yet received.Black: Pledged and received.

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Contact Information

HANNAH JORDAN LORD TREES

Tel 0207 219 7294

Email jordanhl@parliament.uk

Tel 0207 219 7278

Email treesa@parliament.uk

Company Information

Veterinary Policy Research Foundation

Office of Lord Trees, House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW

Tel 0207 219 7294

Web http://wordpress.vprf.com

Reg. Company Address: Penningtons Solicitors, Abacus House, 33 Gutter Lane, LONDON, EC2V 8AR

Company No.: 8680372

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Appendix 1

PARLIAMENTARY VETERINARY INTERN JOB DESCRIPTIONFOR THE OFFICE OF PROFESSOR THE LORD TREES

£15,000 per annum London based – a housing allowance may be available. One year appointment. Part-time (three full days per week whilst Parliament is sitting (a total of

c.150 days per annum). Commencement date: October 2013. This new position is open to veterinary graduates and to veterinary undergraduates at any UK

veterinary school who have completed the third year of the undergraduate course. Candidates must demonstrate a commitment to the advancement of the veterinary profession in the UK. The intern will support the activities of Professor the Lord Trees. Further details are available at www.rcvs.org.uk/about-us/work-for-us/

Interviews will take place in late May/early June 2013. To apply: Please send a covering letter and curriculum vitae to Lesley Evans, Royal College of

Veterinary Surgeons, 62/64 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2AF or email l.evans@rcvs.org.uk Closing date for applications: Monday, 22nd April 2013

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Appendix 2

DR WENDY HARRISON Wendy Harrison joined the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative as Deputy Director in April 2009 from the Comparative Medicine and Biology Unit at GlaxoSmithKline where she worked in an advisory role across a range of therapeutic drug development areas including inflammation and infection.

Wendy has a Veterinary Degree from the Royal Veterinary College and worked in mixed animal practice prior to completing a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at St. Georges Hospital Medical School and a post doc in comparative vascular biology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia. Wendy has a particular

interested in integrated multi-disciplinary approaches to public health in developing countries with a focus on capitalizing on potential synergies between human and animal health programs.

Wendy completed a Masters in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2008 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene From 2000- 2008 Wendy served as a Council member on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and is currently on the Council of the Comparative Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine.

LORD RICHARD BEST OBELord Best retired at the end of 2006 after 18 years as the Director of both the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

He is Chair of the Hanover Housing Association, Vice-Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Urban Development and Hon. Treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Homelessness and Housing Need.

He is President of the Local Government Association and Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of the LGA. He is also Chair of the Giving Forum and President of the Continuing Care Conference.

Some of his previous posts have included: Chairman of the Westminster Housing Commission (2005-2006); Commissioner, Rural Development Commission (1989-1998); Chair, Inquiry into Social Inclusion in Glasgow (1998-2000); Secretary, Duke of Edinburgh’s Inquiry into British Housing (1984-1991). Between 1973 and 1988 he was Director of the National Federation of Housing Associations. He was a member of the Commission on the Future of Birmingham’s Council Housing and chaired the Hull Partnership Liaison Board (2002-2004).

Richard Best was created a Life Peer in 2001 and sits on the crossbenches.

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Appendix 3

WRITTEN QUESTIONSAnimals: Rabies

Asked by Lord Trees

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the relaxation of the Pet Travel Scheme and the two recent cases of rabies in dogs in Holland, they have considered free pre-exposure rabies vaccination for veterinarians in the United Kingdom. [HL3106]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord De Mauley) (Con): Employers should assess the rabies risk to their staff and determine whether vaccination is the appropriate response to that risk. Immunisation policy is based on independent, expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Department of Health. Detailed guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rabies-the-green-book-chapter-27. Public Health England issues vaccines in line with this advice. All staff from Defra and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) who handle imported animals as part of their day-to-day job are offered pre-exposure rabies immunisation.

Under the EU pet travel rules the risk of rabies entering the UK remains very low, and the risk of rabies being passed from a pet to a person is lower still. The case in the Netherlands does not increase the risk of incursion to the UK. Every suspected case of animal rabies reported to the AHVLA is investigated immediately and tested in our National Reference Laboratory, if required. In the event of a positive result, Public Health England assesses the risk of human exposure and offers appropriate post-exposure treatment.

Asked by Lord Trees

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the obligation of veterinarians to attend to wildlife including bats, they have considered free pre-exposure rabies vaccination for veterinarians in the United Kingdom. [HL3107]

Lord De Mauley: Employers should assess the rabies risk to their staff and determine whether vaccination is the appropriate response to that risk. Immunisation policy is based on independent, expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the Department of Health. Detailed guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/rabies-the-green-book-chapter-27. Public Health England issues vaccines in line with this advice and people who regularly handle bats are included amongst those offered pre-exposure rabies immunisation.

The UK has a very low prevalence of a rabies-like virus, the European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL) in some bats resident in this country. There are two common, but slightly different, EBL viruses found in Europe. Since 2007, through surveillance programmes, 10 bats have been found with the EBLV2 virus in the UK; eight in England and two in Scotland. All were Daubenton’s bats. There have also been three bats that have tested

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positive for EBLV1 antibodies; a Serotine in England and two Natterers in Scotland. Every suspected case of animal rabies reported to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency is investigated immediately and tested in our National Reference Laboratory, if required. In the event of a positive result, Public Health England assesses the risk of human exposure and offers appropriate post-exposure treatment.

Vets: Language Controls

Asked by Lord Trees

To ask Her Majesty’s Government , in the light of the passage of the Draft Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) (Knowledge of English) Order 2014, what plans the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has for the adoption of analogous legislation modifying the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to allow the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, where there are serious and concrete doubts, to check the English language competence of European Union-qualified veterinarians prior to registering them to practice in the United Kingdom.[HL6123]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord De Mauley) (Con): Defra officials will continue to have discussions with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons about how Defra can enable the College to put in place processes to check the language ability of European Union-qualified veterinary surgeons wishing to practise in the UK. Any such testing must meet requirements of EU law, in recognition of the professional qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC.

Birds of Prey

Asked by Lord Trees

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will respond to the recent licensing of the drug diclofenac in two Member States of the European Union; and what assessment they have made of its toxicity to vultures. [HL1051]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to trigger a European Union referral procedure for the drug diclofenac in view of its recent registration in two Member States of the European Union and its toxicity to vultures. [HL1052]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord De Mauley) (Con): Authorisation of a veterinary medicine involves an assessment of the benefits of a product against its risks. Potential risks include risks to the animal, to the user, the consumer and to the environment. The environmental risk is assessed to establish the extent of exposure. If the environmental exposure is not extensive, then no further assessment is required. Without exposure, there is no risk irrespective of the toxicity. If there is information in the public domain to indicate that despite low exposure there may be a potential risk, then the competent authority – the body that authorises veterinary medicines - can request a further assessment of the issues identified.

Products containing Diclofenac are a risk to vultures if there is any exposure of the birds to carcasses of animals containing residues of the veterinary medicine. The toxicity of Diclofenac to vultures is well

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documented. In Europe there are laws which provide for the disposal of fallen stock. The risk of exposure is therefore minimal as dead farmed animals are not left in the fields. Risk mitigation measures (instructions to the users) could be used to eliminate exposure by instructing users not to feed carcasses of animals treated with Diclofenac to vultures. This is something for the competent authorities of those Member States that have authorised the veterinary use of Diclofenac. The Government has no evidence that there is a serious risk to vultures posed by the authorisation of Diclofenac and therefore does not plan to trigger a referral procedure.

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