Farming Minister Lord Whitty has rejected criticism that its handling of the foot-and-mouth crisis in Devon was "lamentable".

He said the Government had been faced with an unprecedented situation, with no warning.

The Devon public inquiry into the foot-and-mouth crisis has called for a national contingency plan to respond to any future outbreak.

It is one of the conclusions in the hard-hitting report which followed Devon County Council's five-day public inquiry - the only public inquiry into the crisis in the country.

Lord Whitty has now admitted such a plan existed - but said it was only known to ministry staff.

Prof Ian Mercer, who chaired the inquiry

The preliminary inquiry report branded the handling of the crisis as "lamentable".

The inquiry panel - chaired by Professor Ian Mercer - said a national contingency plan should "cascade" down via the region to parish level, and should be reviewed, tested and rehearsed up to every five years.

The report states: "We find that in the field there would best be a military command, with police, environmental and veterinary aides at its side from day one of an outbreak."

The report made other suggestions, including:

• The tightening of import controls on meat and livestock products - with new legislation if necessary
  
  
• Greater Government priority into more scientific research into vaccination
  
  
• An immediate ban on animal movements from day one of any future outbreak
  
  
• An end to the use of large scale pyres to dispose of livestock corpses.
  

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Professor Ian Mercer said in his foreword to the report that the decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) not to attend the inquiry had been "deplored by many".

He said that it was clear "that the outbreak and handling of the ensuing crisis was lamentable".

HANDLING WAS "INSENSITIVE"
The report added: "Reports received by the inquiry of insensitive and even belligerent operatives and bungled culls do little to enhance the professional reputation of those involved, from ministers downwards."

"The crisis that a major outbreak generates is not an excuse for Government and its agencies to override the welfare of individuals or communities, or to ignore the long established rules for the management of the environment.

Protesters fought against the widespread slaughter, including in Knowstone - scene of a bungled cull

"As in the contiguous culling operation, the insensitive treatment of ordinary individuals and communities, confronted by events outside their control, did nothing to foster a united front or provide community leadership against the common enemy - the disease itself," the report continued.

One witness at the inquiry, Mid Devon vet Wendy Vere, called the slaughter of livestock by contiguous cull as "carnage by computer".

The inquiry report said that lessons which should have been learned from the outbreak in 1967 did not appear to have been implemented, and recommendations from that official report were ignored.

The 4,500 farmers living under Defra's Form D restrictions on animal movements - with no prospect of trade and pressing welfare problems - were the "forgotten victims of this whole tragedy". The Government must provide "rapid financial assistance" to those farmers and families, said the report.

Defra had provided written answers to questions posed by the Devon inquiry panel, but the report expressed "disappointment" that the Government response was not timely.

The inquiry points to the difficulty in removing carcasses from farms because of a shortage of facilities

The inquiry hearing closed on October 12, and the Government response to its questions, from Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michaels, was sent on October 23.

One of the panel's questions asked Defra what lessons had been learned about the containment of the disease and its eradication. But Mr Michael said it would not be proper to anticipate the findings of the national inquiries into the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The Devon inquiry preliminary findings have been sent to the chairman of the Government's Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food - one of three national inquiries into the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Devon was one of the hardest hit by foot-and-mouth, with 173 confirmed cases and around 400,000 animals destroyed.

IMPORT CONTROLS "INADEQUATE"
The Devon inquiry report said it was "a matter of conjecture" how the foot-and-mouth disease entered Britain. But it was clear that food must be treated differently from other internationally traded commodities, requiring rigorous bio-security.

It had been suggested to the inquiry that import controls of meat and other livestock products at points of entry were inadequate and below the standard in countries free from foot-and-mouth.

"We therefore find that methods of import control must be tightened to the highest international standards, and if necessary, be the subject of new legislation" said the report.

The spread of the disease around the UK was aided by the transportation of livestock around the country. And expansion of the outbreak was "inevitable" following the "regrettable" decision to announce a nationwide livestock ban then delay implementation until March 1 - the outbreak having started in February.

"We find there should be an immediate ban on animal movements from day one of any future outbreak," said the report, which also called for a register of transactions to better control the movement and traceability of sheep.

The state veterinary service was "greatly overstretched" during the outbreak and aftermath. And the inquiry found that the service should be restored to a level "which would enable it to respond more effectively to a future outbreak".

Opinion was divided on the use of vaccination, but the report said the government should give greater priority to more scientific research, adding that "it might replace the present methodology for preventing a future outbreak".

PYRES WERE " BARBARIC"
On the disposal issue, the panel accepted the Environment Agency's preferred order of render, burial and burn - but the availability of all facilities was a "stumbling block" to the speedy removal of carcasses from farms.

The panel did not favour large scale burials - but in case they were required, sites must be identified and published in contingency plans, with full and open consultation with public and local authorities.

Burning of carcasses on pyres was described as "barbaric and medieval," said the report, which went on: "We find that large scale pyres should never be used again."

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS ADMITTED
Lord Whitty said of the report: "Aspects of it are critical.

"It does raise issues of organisation and communication that the Government has to take seriously.

"There were communication problems and insensitivities at the beginning. That is not criticism of our staff, but we do need to improve communication and be better prepared if this happens again."

But he said in some respects, the criticisms were too simplistic.

Lord Whitty said: "We were faced with a rapidly spreading disease that bore no relation to what went before.

"What I wouldn't accept is that the overall strategy was lamentable." He said there had been a contingency plan in place but that it was "not sufficiently shared".

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