Volume 11: Scientists after Southwood
4. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC)
Terms of reference
Membership
Chairman
Members
Observers
Secretariat

4.11 In a minute to the CMO dated 7 December 1989, Dr Pickles suggested that the terms of reference of the new group might be 'a combination of Southwood and the earlier Tyrrell group on research'. She set out a first attempt:

To advise the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Health on matters relating to spongiform encephalopathies. ¹

4.12 Dr Pickles noted that the words 'including periodic assessments of research priorities' could be added to this, although she observed that 'we could also argue that the shortened version could be taken to include research'. ²

4.13 In the event, Dr Pickles's original version remained unchanged throughout the resulting correspondence between the Departments, and was adopted in Mr Gummer's 3 April 1990 announcement to the House. The terms of reference were referred to briefly at SEAC's inaugural meeting on 1 May 1990, where the Committee agreed that its 'remit . . . was very wide'. ³

4.14 In accordance with its terms of reference, SEAC reported to both MAFF and DH. Mr Lowson explained in his statement to the Inquiry that:

[SEAC's] wide terms of reference enabled it to operate with the necessary flexibility in a changing situation. Advice about public safety was addressed to the CMO (notably their paper on the Safety of Beef of 24 July 1990 ⁴ . . .). Advice about control measures was directed at MAFF as the Department responsible for operating them, and it was mainly this advice which gave rise to specific operational steps (eg, when evidence about the transmission of BSE to pigs led SEAC to advise about the removal of SBOs [Specified Bovine Offal] from feed for all farm animals). ⁵

Membership

Chairman

4.15 A table of SEAC members, observers and the secretariat up to the period ending 20 March 1996 can be found at Annex 1 of this volume. As noted above, membership of SEAC was primarily based, 'for the sake of administrative simplicity', on the Tyrrell Committee, with Dr Tyrrell continuing in his role as chairman.

4.16 In October 1993, both DH and MAFF sent parallel submissions to Ministers raising the need for a deputy chairman on SEAC, who, as noted in the MAFF submission, 'could issue statements on urgent topics in the absence of Dr Tyrrell'. ⁶ Following discussion with officials, Dr Tyrrell, with the Committee's support, recommended Dr Robert Will, on the basis that the nature of emergency meetings required a medical input. ⁷ The Ministers' approval was duly obtained. ⁸ Dr Will first attended as Deputy Chairman at the 17th SEAC meeting on 30 August 1994.

4.17 MAFF and DH also reviewed the composition of SEAC in 1994, because it was anticipated that Dr Tyrrell, who was nearly 70, would retire from his position as chairman in 1995. It was suggested that Professor John Pattison, Vice-Provost of University College London, Dean of UCL Medical School and Professor of Medical Microbiology, should become a SEAC member with a view to replacing Dr Tyrrell in 6 to 12 months' time. ⁹ Dr Kenneth Calman, the CMO at the time, expressed support for Professor Pattison over other candidates: 'He has a well justified reputation as a good committee chairman and his scientific credentials are first class'. ¹⁰ Another factor identified by both DH and MAFF was Professor Pattison's ability to provide 'effective public presentation of the committee's deliberations and recommendations'. ¹¹ Professor Pattison attended his first meeting as a member of SEAC on 10 February 1995 and succeeded Dr Tyrrell as Chairman on 1 November 1995.

Members

4.18 In addition to Dr Tyrrell as Chairman, the inaugural members of SEAC comprised Dr Will, Director of the CJD Surveillance Unit, Dr Watson, Director of the CVL, 1986-90, and Dr Kimberlin, independent TSE consultant since 1988, from the existing Tyrrell Committee, with the addition of Professor Fred Brown, a virologist, former member of the ARC Committee on Scrapie 1977-87, and former Deputy Director (Scientific) of the Animal Virus Research Institute (Pirbright). However, one exception to the transfer of membership from the Tyrrell Committee to SEAC was that of Professor John Bourne, Director of the Institute of Animal Health (IAH). When asked in oral evidence to the Inquiry if he knew why he was not appointed, Professor Bourne replied:

Well, no, I do not really. It was explained to me by MAFF that ARC would be represented by an observer and that was adequate for MAFF's purposes . . . The other suggestion, which I found rather strange, was that as I would be competing for resource it would put me in too favourable a situation had I been a member of SEAC. I did not really understand that at the time. The bottom line, I was not given a sensible reason why I was not a member of SEAC. ¹²

4.19 The minutes of SEAC's first meeting recorded that: 'Although the core membership was small, additional experts could be involved for particular topics as necessary'. ¹³

4.20 The composition of SEAC changed and enlarged over time. Shortly after its formation, Professor Ingrid Allen, a neuropathologist, was appointed to strengthen the Committee's human health expertise. Likewise, Professor Richard Barlow of the Royal Veterinary College, an expert pathologist and veterinarian who had successfully conducted the first BSE oral transmission experiments to mice, was also confirmed as a member in September 1990. In response to Dr Tyrrell's request for a 'practising' veterinary surgeon, ¹⁴ Mr David Pepper, a veterinary surgeon in private practice, was subsequently nominated by MAFF and attended the sixth meeting on 1 November 1990.

4.21 SEAC's membership did not change again until 1994 when Dr William Hueston was invited to join upon Professor Barlow's resignation. Dr Tyrrell had requested an epidemiologist of 'high calibre specialising in the field of spongiform encephalopathies' ¹⁵ to fill the vacancy. Dr Hueston was an American scientist trained in veterinary medicine and epidemiology. Acting on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture, he had spent approximately six months in the UK [at CVL] in the period following the identification of BSE, to make an independent assessment of the disease and to evaluate possible dangers to agriculture in the US. ¹⁶ Dr Hueston attended his first SEAC meeting on 26 January 1994.

4.22 In September 1994 Dr Calman, the Chief Medical Officer, suggested that there was a need to 'strengthen the clinical membership of SEAC' because of increasing concerns about the risks posed by BSE for human health. As a consequence it was agreed that Professor Pattison would be recommended as an additional appointment to the Committee. As described above, Professor Pattison was appointed Chairman of SEAC from November 1995. He felt that SEAC would benefit from additional members, particularly on the human health side, to balance the Committee 'in terms of those coming from a veterinary or animal background and those coming from a human background'. ¹⁷ This led to the appointment to SEAC of Professor John Collinge, Head of the Neurogenetics Unit at St Mary's Imperial College School of Medicine; Dr Michael Painter, a consultant in communicable disease control, with a public health background and perspective; Professor Peter Smith, an expert on human epidemiology and statistics of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and Professor Jeff Almond of the School of Animal and Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading, an expert in virology and immunology. ¹⁸

4.23 At the same meeting, Mr Ray Bradley, the MAFF observer since SEAC's inception, was appointed as a member of SEAC, having officially retired from the Department. ¹⁹ All new members attended their first SEAC meeting on 5 January 1996.

Observers

4.24 It was recorded in the minutes of SEAC's first meeting that additional observers were to be invited when appropriate from the MRC, AFRC (later the BBSRC), and CVL. ²⁰ Although Sir Donald Acheson had desired the inclusion of Mr John Wilesmith, Head of Epidemiology Department at the CVL, as observer for his veterinary epidemiological expertise, it was eventually agreed with MAFF thatMr Bradley's position as CVL's BSE Research Coordinator meant he was the mostappropriate CVL member to act as MAFF observer. ²¹

4.25 Mr Bradley attended as the MAFF observer from the establishment of SEAC until 1 January 1996, when he became a member. Similarly, Dr Pickles became the DH observer from SEAC's fifth meeting, and Mr Thomas Murray replaced her in SEAC's secretariat. Previously, Dr Jeremy Metters had attended as the DH observer for the third meeting of SEAC. Dr Ailsa Wight, a medical officer at DH, took over from Dr Pickles as the DH observer from 6 September 1991.

4.26 On 31 August 1990, Dr Deirdre Hine, the CMO at the Welsh Office, raised the prospect of the Territorial Departments attending SEAC as observers at a meeting with her fellow CMOs. ²² This proposal was initially favoured by Sir Donald Acheson. ²³ However, as reported by Dr Metters, Dr Tyrrell was opposed to having 'serried ranks of officials present'. ²⁴ Dr Tyrrell believed that the presence of additional observers might stifle the scientific discussion of the Committee, and considered that there were adequate alternative ways of keeping Territorial Departments informed via circulation of papers. ²⁵ Similarly, Dr Pickles and Mr Murray of the SEAC secretariat argued that the size of the group would become unwieldy, as corresponding attendance of observers from agricultural departments of the Territorial Offices could not then be refused. ²⁶ Dr Metters communicated Dr Tyrrell's opposition to the proposal to the relevant Territorial CMOs by letter on 8 November 1990. However, Dr Metters noted in his letter that Dr Tyrrell still wished to improve communications between the Committee and interested Departments, and nominated Dr Pickles to ensure that the relevant papers were distributed. ²⁷

4.27 The Welsh Office also expressed concern about the lack of a proper medical epidemiologist on SEAC and questioned the validity of conclusions reached by the Committee on CJD. Dr Hine was concerned that SEAC's conclusions involved 'no detailed discussion of the literature'. ²⁸ She added in her statement to the Inquiry:

It seemed to us that MAFF officials did not understand that whilst both Drs Wilesmith and Will are eminent experts, neither is a medical epidemiologist or human public health expert, Dr Wilesmith being a Veterinary Epidemiologist and Dr Will a neurologist. ²⁹

4.28 DH rejected these criticisms, ³⁰ while Dr Tyrrell opposed the expansion of SEAC, whether in terms of members or observers. ³¹ In her supplementary statement to the Inquiry, Dame Deirdre Hine commented:

I formed the view that formal representations on the risks of possible zoonotic transmission of BSE were likely to be viewed by DH and MAFF as irrelevant, irritating or both. I decided therefore to pursue the lack of a medical epidemiologist and the need for involvement of the PHLS informally through my routine meetings with the other CMOs. I voiced my concern each time the subject of BSE was on the agenda and on each occasion I was listened to with understanding. However, it became clear to me that policy constraints and in particular agreements between the DH and MAFF constrained my DH colleagues from acting on my representations even when they agreed with them.

On the last occasion on which I raised the lack of involvement of the PHLS privately with Sir Kenneth Calman, in the margins of a public health conference at Sunningdale, he told me that the basis of the consistent opposition to the involvement of the PHLS was the anxiety that their involvement would be tantamount to admitting the possibility of a human health risk. ³²

Secretariat

4.29 As the Committee reported to both DH and MAFF, SEAC's secretariat comprised representatives from both, initially Dr Pickles from DH and Mr Lowson from MAFF. Dr Pickles was a Principal Medical Officer (PMO) who also had responsibilities for providing medical and scientific advice on pathology services. She had served as the DH representative on the secretariats of both the Southwood Working Party and Tyrrell Committee. Mr Lowson was Head of MAFF's Animal Health (Disease Control) Division.

DH representatives

4.30 In her statement to the Inquiry, Dr Pickles explained her role: ³³

As joint secretary [of the Southwood Working Party and the Tyrrell Committee], I shared responsibility with my MAFF counterpart for preparing and agreeing the agenda, collating relevant papers, and preparing and circulating the Minutes for agreement. We dealt with action points arising from the committees as appropriate, for example, drafting correspondence for the Chair or bringing the committee's advice to the attention of the relevant people. I drafted a number of the background and discussion papers, which were placed before SEAC. We also supported the committees in the production of reports and bringing them into the public domain. ³⁴

4.31 Dr Pickles's draft contributions included the following:

The statement from SEAC on the safety of beef was largely drafted by me in the light of the Committee's comments, although Dr Tyrrell drafted much of the covering letter. I also played a part in drafting the statement from SEAC on breeding from BSE offspring. I prepared considerable text for the second research report as a final gesture of support before handing over policy responsibility for the subject area in September 1991. ³⁵

4.32 Dr Pickles worked closely with Sir Donald Acheson on BSE. In her statement to the Inquiry, she said:

I felt that reporting through to CMO was very helpful, as was holding the entire brief [for BSE] for the Department of Health (other than specialist areas like medicines). This enabled me to act as a single focal point and deal with matters efficiently, and have no doubt that the prime concern was the protection of public health. ³⁶

4.33 Early on, Dr Pickles reported directly to Sir Donald Acheson, but when Dr Metters became Deputy CMO in August 1989, she reported to him. ³⁷ Dr Pickles was succeeded as the SEAC DH secretary by Mr Murray for SEAC's fifth meeting on 19 September 1990, although she continued to attend meetings as an observer. ³⁸

4.34 Mr Murray described his role in much the same fashion as Dr Pickles and her MAFF counterparts. He was responsible for ensuring that 'the Committee ran effectively . . . that the Committee was convened in line with their wishes and that they had access to appropriate information and documents'. ³⁹ He was also responsible for ensuring that SEAC's views 'were properly recorded and passed on to Ministers or Senior Civil Servants for action to be taken'. ⁴⁰ Like Dr Pickles, Mr Murray communicated directly with Sir Donald Acheson and Dr Metters, as both took a personal interest in SEAC matters. ⁴¹

4.35 Mr Murray continued to consult Dr Pickles throughout his time in the secretariat as she continued to attend meetings as an observer until 1991. Thereafter, he worked in close partnership with Dr Wight, who succeeded Dr Pickles as observer. Mr Murray was succeeded as joint secretary of SEAC by Mr Charles Lister of the DH Health Aspects of Environment and Food (HEF) Division in 1993, in time for SEAC's 14th meeting on 22 April 1993. In his statement to the Inquiry, Mr Lister stated that his work for the Committee involved drafting the minutes, and also the SEAC statement following the fourth case of CJD in a cattle farmer. ⁴² After a three-year term, Mr Lister was succeeded by Mr Michael Skinner of DH, HEF 1C Division, in time for SEAC's 23rd meeting on 5 January 1996.

MAFF representatives

4.36 Mr Lowson told us that his position at MAFF complemented his role in the secretariat and 'contributed to securing a quick and direct response to advice'. ⁴³ According to Mr Lowson, the 'handling of BSE-related issues at the level of my Division followed a constant pattern'. ⁴⁴ His role in relation to SEAC, MAFF, and the DH included ensuring that necessary implementation action was taken (especially when necessary follow-up work fell to MAFF); commissioning, and sometimes drafting, papers for the Committee to consider; drafting minutes; and 'occasionally drafting the advice which the Committee itself wanted to offer'. ⁴⁵

4.37 Mr Lowson was succeeded in the secretariat in 1993 by Mr Thomas Eddy in time for SEAC's 15th meeting on 7 October 1993. Mr Eddy had also succeeded Mr Richard McIvor as MAFF Head of Animal Health (Disease Control) Division in June 1993 (Mr McIvor held this post for 10 weeks, in succession to Mr Lowson), and assumed the same joint responsibilities in respect to SEAC as his predecessor. Mr Eddy said of his duties in relation to SEAC:

I gained the impression, and it was certainly always my practice, that when dealing with SEAC issues I was primarily the servant of the Committee and my responsibility was to ensure that the Committee's views were correctly recorded and were passed on to Ministers and to ensure that anything which I felt that should be drawn to the attention of the Committee which I came across in the course of my work was reported to them. ⁴⁶