Recommendation 8

Urgent stakeholder engagement is required to build relationships with key individuals; these stakeholders should have an open invitation to join the Stakeholder Forum and be able to feed into Taskforce decisions through it. The Government should be clear when the Taskforce is expected to provide advice and the influence of that evidence. In cases where the Taskforce’s recommendations are not followed, there should a clear explanation and rationale published by the Government so as to not undermine the Taskforce’s credibility and scientific authority. The Government should publish a protocol with clear guidelines stating when the Taskforce will, and will not, be consulted on reintroduction decisions.