THE GOVERNMENT has been heavily criticised for its delay in calling in the Army to deal with the foot and mouth crisis in the latest report into the disaster.

The long-awaited findings of the independent 'Lessons to be Learned' Inquiry, which highlights 'gaps' in the plan designed to combat the outbreak, have been welcomed by NFU and council leaders, who say it is the 'best we could have hoped for'.

The findings vindicate many of the conclusions reached by the Devon Foot and Mouth Inquiry — the country's first public investigation of the crisis — which published its report in January.

Dr Iain Anderson's investigation into the lessons learned from the 2001 epidemic, which punched an £8-billion hole in the national economy, is the last of the three national inquiries commissioned by the Government.

The 200-page report criticises:

l The 25-day delay in calling in the Army when the official report into the 1967 outbreak said the military must be involved immediately

l Government under-estimation of the scale of the initial outbreak

l The running down of the State Veterinary Service to the point where it could not hope to cope with a major outbreak

l Government failure to heed the warning of the 1999 Drummond Report which foretold the former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food would be overwhelmed by a major outbreak

l MAFF's contingency plan which assumed a maximum of ten cases at any one time when there were already 57 infected premises by the time the outbreak was confirmed.

l Delays by MAFF in enlisting the help of other Government departments.

As the report was published, the Government had admitted it made serious mistakes in the handling of the epidemic.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Margaret Beckett told Parliament the report contained 'trenchant criticism' of the Government and said ministers were slow to realise what measures were needed to keep foot and mouth under control.

She admitted the Government would have called the Army in sooner if it had grasped the full picture earlier and added that she believed most, if not all, of the recommendations in the report would be accepted.

But West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett has described the report as 'insipid' and not getting to the real detail.

'The object of the exercise was to learn lessons — to find out where the failings lie and where the mistakes were made and you can never get that without a full judicial inquiry,' he said.

'There was no real evidence why there was a crucial five-day gap between when the disease was discovered and the freeze on animal movements and numerous other questions remain unanswered.'

He said Dr Anderson made some useful comments, like, for example, no-one in command understood in sufficient detail what was happening on the ground and he was glad pyres and burial of carcasses had been ruled out in favour of incineration and rendering.

'We ended up with huge bungles like the Ash Moor burial pit as a result of Government departments not liaising properly together or with local Government departments,' he added.

'Margaret Beckett has admitted there were mistakes and we have a number of vague assurances that something will be done about it but we need some flesh on the bones of these assurances — and I will be calling for a debate on the whole issue after the summer recess is over.'

Chairman of Okehampton and Hatherleigh NFU Paul Griffith said it was not an all out hard hitting Government bashing report but the 'best we could have hoped for'.

'The main finding is the importance of the military expertise and why it should be in place right at the beginning if anything like this ever happens again,' he said.

'Vets look after animals, civil servants push paper and the military are trained in organisation and discipline — you have to put the right person in the right job and I think the Government was just too afraid at the time to accept it could not deal with the situation.'

Mr Griffith said he was pleased with Dr Anderson's conclusion that routine vaccination for healthy animals should be ruled out, but emergency vaccination should be an option available.

'The NFU is of the same opinion,' he said. 'At the time of the outbreak the supermarkets were saying they were not going to take meat for 12 months if we vaccinated and the Government indicated that we would not get any compensation,' he said.

'With the uncertainty surrounding vaccination I am glad Dr Anderson has taken a cautious view.'

Deputy leader of Devon County Council Cllr Brian Greenslade said there could only be one possible reaction to Dr Anderson's findings — it must never happen again.

'I welcome Mrs Beckett's commitment to implement the findings. Her acknowledgment that the Government made mistakes and will learn from them is welcome and may help the Government repair some of the trust that has been damaged within rural communities,' he said.