Animal health and welfare - Find a freedom of information request

Request

1. How many dedicated animal health and welfare staff in your Local Authority (by full time equivalent) in each the following years: 2017, 2018, 2019?

2. How many dedicated on-farm animal health and welfare staff in your authority for these years?

3. How many farm inspections/visits did your Local Authority carry out in each of these years? (If possible, please split between proactive and reactive visits)

4. How many prosecutions for farm animal welfare offences has your Local Authority made in each of these years?

If it does not exceed the time limit, please also provide the following:

5. The amount of resource applied to animal health and welfare in these years.

Decision

1. All staff are generalist officers and as such all are employed to enforce the Animal Health Act.  Please see table below for full time equivalent's (FTE) for each year.

2. We are uncertain as to what is meant by "on-farm staff".  Please see table below for animal health qualified FTE staff for each year.

3. Please see table below.  Proactive visits have been recorded as those planned at the start of the year as part of our annual inspection lists.  

4. Please see table below.

5. Please see table below – there are no specific budgets allocated to animal health activities.  Resources would be allocated if required to respond to a particular event such as a disease outbreak or welfare issue.

 

2017

2018

2019 (to date)

Number of dedicated animal health and welfare staff (FTE)

Trading Standards Officer, FTE = 25.42

Trading Standards Officer, FTE = 25.12

Trading Standards Officer, FTE = 27.12

Number of dedicated on-farm animal health and welfare staff

Animal Health qualified FTE's = 11.10

Animal Health qualified FTE's = 11.25

Animal Health qualified FTE's = 13.25

Number of farm inspections (reactive/proactive)

 164

(of these 115 were proactive planned high risk inspections, determined at the start of the year)

 135

(of these 99 were proactive planned high risk inspections, determined at the start of the year)

 116 (to date)

(of these 90 were proactive planned high risk inspections, determined at the start of the year)

Number of prosecutions for farm animal welfare offences

No prosecutions commenced in 2017. 

One sentenced in 2017 (offences in 2016)

0 commenced / 0 completed

One currently being investigated

Resource applied to animal health (£)

No specific budget allocated for animal health activities

No specific budget allocated for animal health activities

No specific budget allocated for animal health activities

Reference number
FOI0720
Date request received
15 October 2019
Date of decision
02 November 2019