Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted in Part
Defra's cultural and bureaucratic issues impede timely parliamentary scrutiny and transparency.
Conclusion
It is disappointing that it required persistent questioning from the Committee over a period of three months before the Department provided answers to all our questions regarding the initial response to foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in Europe. This reflected cultural and bureaucratic issues within Defra that impeded effective scrutiny and timely adherence to parliamentary processes, ultimately creating barriers to public transparency. We are encouraged by the Minister’s commitment to improve transparency and the handling of correspondence with the Committee. (Conclusion, Paragraph 20)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges the importance of understanding inspection rates and will work to improve its use of existing data and consider how it can be articulated publicly, while also emphasizing that border checks are not the primary mechanism for managing biosecurity risks; Defra commits to continue collecting inspection data at each port.
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 19 November 2025. No passage in that response could be matched to this conclusion. Read the response document ↗