§ Lord Inglewoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the appropriate local authority (the county council where that applies) should hold sole responsibility for closures of rights of way or other pathways under the Foot and Mouth Order 1983, replacing the present arrangements whereby powers are held by the local authority and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [HL29]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)We have reviewed the handling of rights of way closures during the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease, informed by Dr Ian Anderson's Lessons Learned Inquiry and other reports. As a result, we shall shortly issue for consultation a draft protocol, for inclusion in the Defra Foot and Mouth ]Disease Contingency Plan, setting out how rights of way closures would be handled in any future outbreak. We do not propose to change the current legal framework under which local highway authorities or Defra inspectors may close footpaths within infected areas (normally a minimum of 10km radius around infected premises), and local authorities may close them with Defra consent outside those areas. However, guidance will make clear that closures are normally justified only within a 3km radius around infected premises as a precautionary measure.