The Scottish Government

On notification of any case of HPAI/ ND in GB the Scottish Minister for Environment and Rural Development will be informed and a Disease Strategy Group ( DSG) will be created. The DSG will report to the Minister, and will meet in Pentland House, Edinburgh, with phone and/ or video links to the LDCC as appropriate.

Role:

To co-ordinate and manage the Scottish disease control response at a strategic level, taking account of local conditions, farming practices in Scotland, and other potential impacts on the Scottish economy.

Membership:

Head of SEERAD
Head of Food and Agriculture Group
CVO Scotland
Chief Agricultural Officer ( CAO)
Head of the Animal Health and Welfare Division
Representative from Scottish Executive Health Department
Regional Operations Director ( ROD) (based in the field)
Head of SVS Operations Scotland ( HOS) (based in the field)

The Group will liaise closely, as appropriate, with other interests e.g. SEERAD Environment Group, FSA, SEPA, and HPS.

The HPAI/ ND Strategy Unit in the Animal Health and Welfare Division will provide secretariat support.

A flow chart of key actions is attached at Annex H

On notification of an outbreak of HPAI/ ND in GB the NDCC will be established and be based at the SVS London Headquarters.

Role:

The logistical support for any Scottish disease control effort will be managed from the NDCC. It will implement an agreed GB disease control framework.

Membership:

The NDCC is composed of various "cells", each with clear operational responsibility, for certain areas. For full details, see the Defra Generic Contingency Plan. Liaison Officers from the Scottish Executive/ SVS in Scotland will be based at the NDCC to ensure that Scotland's situation and Scottish policy are fully reflected in all decision making.

Alongside the creation of the DSG, regular meetings will also be held with stakeholders and key agencies, at Pentland House.

Role (group):

To provide a sounding board to inform policy decisions being taken.
To provide stakeholders with a mechanism for directly communicating with the Department.

Role (individuals):

To help keep their members informed.
To alert the Scottish Executive to any particular issues they may be facing.

Membership:

National Farmers Union Scotland ( NFU Scotland)
Scottish Retail Consortium
Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA)
SAC
British Veterinary Association ( BVA)
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB)
Road Haulage Association ( RHA)
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA)
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals ( SSPCA)
Scottish Egg Producer and Retail Association ( SEPRA)
Police
Aviagen Ltd
Grampian Country Chickens (Rearing Ltd)
Joseph Mitchell (Letham) Ltd
R & E Chapman
Deans Foods (Thornton) Ltd
Glenrath Farms Ltd
PD Hook (Hatcheries) Ltd
British Poultry Council
British Egg Council

Initial focus: to explain the current disease position.

Each stakeholder will be limited to a maximum of two representatives per meeting (contact details are included in Annex N).

Sub-groups may be considered to address specific issues e.g. movement controls.

Established initially by the DVM but chaired by the ROD once in place. This Team will meet daily or at greater or lesser frequency as determined by the disease situation.

Role:

To enable an integrated management and control response at local level to deal with disease control measures by the inclusion of key enforcement agencies of local and central Government and others.

Responsibilities:

Each representative will bring specific expertise and the ability to mobilise resources from their parent organisation. They will have a forum to raise issues and a means of keeping their parent organisations informed of the current situation.

Membership:

Regional Operations Director ( ROD)
Divisional Veterinary Manager ( DVM)
Principal Agricultural Officer ( PAO)
Local Authorities (e.g. Emergency Planning Officer and Head of Trading Standards or equivalent)
Police
Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA)
Consultant in Public Health Medicine, local NHS Board
In attendance: SE Press Officer

There is an SCG for each of Scotland's eight police areas, which co-ordinates the responses of blue-light emergency services, local authorities and other relevant partners ⁵. Each has groups at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. The SCGs will be notified by the DVM in the event of confirmed AI/ ND in wild birds or suspected AI/ ND in domestic poultry via the local police control centre, who will notify members.

SCGs will work at all levels with the LDCC in managing the consequences of the isolation of AI/ ND.

Membership

Membership is all Category One responders as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 ⁶, plus others as appropriate. In the event of an AI/ ND outbreak membership will be:

• Police
• Fire Services
• Ambulance Service
• SVS
• Local Authorities
• Health Boards
• SEPA
• Utilities
• Local Enterprise Companies

Role

It will be their responsibility to:

• Handle public and press pressures at the locus.
• Co-ordinate consequence management of disease outbreak.
• Police any movement restrictions.

Established by the ROD. Meetings will be held with local stakeholders and agencies as required, but should be convened quickly to tackle initial concerns.

Role:

To ensure that developments in local operations are communicated to all relevant parties.
To allow input from all relevant parties to inform local decisions.

Membership:

To be determined locally in consultation with the ROD and the DVM, but where appropriate will include:

Police
NHS Board
NFU Scotland
Road Haulage
Disposal Industry
Local Authority
Aviagen Ltd*
Grampian Country Chickens (Rearing) Ltd*
R & E Chapman*
Glenrath Farms Ltd*
Ramblers Association
SAC Disease Surveillance Centre
SAC Farm and Rural Business Development Offices
Joseph Mitchell (Letham) Ltd*
Deans Foods (Thornton) Ltd*
Scottish Egg Producer and Retail Association ( SEPRA)

* if appropriate to the infected area

Recognising that an outbreak of HPAI/ ND can have implications for the wider rural economy, the Head of SEERAD Analytical Services Division will consider creating an Economic Impact Assessment Group. This would report to Scottish Ministers.

Role:

To inform any process of immediate hardship relief and longer term recovery.

Membership:

Scottish Executive:
ERAD
Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department ( ELLD)
Tourism Group
Local Government Finance Group

External:
Enterprise Networks
Visitscotland
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA)
Employment Service
Scottish Agricultural College ( SAC)

Other members would be co-opted as appropriate and links would also be established to the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise.

Reflecting the principles outlined in the SEERAD/Defra/ SVS Concordat, which recognises the importance of close co-ordination and communication in responding to notifiable diseases within a single epidemiological unit, the GB approach allows the development of significant specialist veterinary support from the SVS Headquarters. A policy Liaison Officer (Band C level) will be despatched to the NDCC on confirmation of a GB outbreak. A veterinary Liaison Officer from the SVS in Scotland may also attend the NDCC, to ensure that an agreed GB disease control framework is established. The Head of Rural Group, or other senior officials, will attend appropriate Whitehall meetings.

In addition the Scottish Executive European Union Office will keep in contact with the EU Institutions, on the position in Scotland, in co-ordination with the UK's Permanent Representation to the EU.

The over-arching structures for civil contingencies are set out in Preparing Scotland: Guidance on Preparing for Emergencies⁷. This provides for the links between the Scottish Executive and key responders to any emergency.

The DSG can link through internal Scottish Executive structures to the Scottish Emergency Co-ordinating Committee ( SECC) via the Scottish Executive Emergency Room ( SEER), which will also link them into the Emergency Action Team and the Ministerial Groups.

The SECC has a role in both preparing for and responding to specific emergencies. This is a core group of the most senior officers from each of the responding agencies and representatives of the Scottish Executive, the exact membership to be determined by the nature of the emergency.

The DSG should also link to the SCGs at a strategic level, with each group identifying joint or liaison members. This link is of critical importance; the DSG will lead on the disease management while the SCGs will lead on all not-veterinary operational aspects. The relationship is thus one of dual control and the inevitable overlaps should be managed through communication.

The LDCC will link directly into the SCGs through the DVM or a representative sitting on both, and through liaising at all levels on all matters of common concern.

It should be noted that, unlike for most civil emergencies, in the event of an exotic animal disease the lead bodies are not the emergency services. The importance of direct relations at all levels and the avoidance of intra-organisational communications only being conducted at higher levels is paramount.