15 June 2010

Responding to the publication of the Griffin report, into an outbreak of E.Coli at an open farm in Surrey in 2009, Chairman of Local Government Regulation, Cllr Paul Bettison, said:

“No-one who takes their children on a day out expects them to end up with a serious illness, and all the families affected by the E.coli outbreak in 2009 deserve our sympathy. It must have been a very traumatic incident for them and sadly some are still dealing with the effects of it.
 
“The important thing now is to establish the right middle-ground between safety and enjoyment for millions of children. Risks need to be kept to a minimum, but if regulations become too excessive the danger is that many farms will be unwilling to welcome visitors.
 
“Of course everything possible should be done to protect people from infection. It is far easier with hindsight to see how things might have been done differently to prevent ill health, but council teams will be happy to work with the Health Protection Agency and Health and Safety Executive to try to reduce the likelihood of such an outbreak happening again.
 
“Council environmental health teams are already working hard to make sure farms understand their responsibilities and that visitors know about basic hygiene measures like washing their hands. That co-operation will doubtless continue and can go a long way to making sure children can enjoy farm visits in safety.
 
“Children, particularly those who live in our cities, have a great deal to gain from visiting a farm. They learn important lessons about where their food comes from and see animals they might otherwise know nothing about.
 
“The burden of safety inspection mustn’t become so high that children can’t make regular visits to farms, and see animals like pigs and goats up close.“
 
Please note the full report runs to over 250 pages, so colleagues may wish to read the Executive Summary.