Volume 2: Science
Part 2: Commissioning and funding of research, 1986-96
The Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL)
6.116 Before the CVL became an Agency in 1990, 1 its budget was part of MAFF's Vote allocation. 2 It was responsible for all R&D work required by the State Veterinary Service (SVS), and also contributed to work on disease surveillance. The Director reported to the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) who, as head of the SVS, had a major influence on the CVL's work. As Dr Little, the CVL's first Chief Executive, told the Inquiry:
Before 1990 . . . the CVL was part of MAFF. Any 'customer' relationship therefore existed within that one-Ministry context. Funding was provided to fill posts, and the post holders were there to do whatever job was required. The CVL was not expected to be independent or proactive, but rather it was part of the State Veterinary Service, with the CVO as its senior officer. It ran very much on a system of management by 'command and control'. 3
6.117 The CVL's budget covered research and disease surveillance, and it could therefore carry out work at the interface between these two areas. 4 In this way, funds could be provided for initial research into emerging diseases such as BSE. 5 If the CVL needed to secure further research funding outside the PES bidding process, the Director would approach the CVO and MAFF's Chief Scientist (Agriculture and Horticulture). If funding was not available, the research would not be undertaken, or funding would be diverted from lower priority projects at the CVL.
6.118 When the CVL became an Agency, the CVO no longer had management responsibility and it no longer had access to MAFF's Vote. Instead, it 'was required to recover the full cost of all its work by charging its customers for services provided'. Dr Little explained that:
. . . MAFF was responsible for commissioning and paying for the services that it received, as was any other customer. This meant that individual customers were responsible for deciding what work to commission from the CVL. The CVL was not in a position to initiate work of its own volition, as it had neither the funding nor the authority to do so. 6
6.119 However, following the delegation of research funding in 1991, the CVL had access to the 'special fund' held by the Chief Scientist (Agriculture and Horticulture). 7
1 As Chapter 6 of vol. 15: Government and Public Administration explains, Agencies were established to carry out executive functions of government, leaving Departments to focus on policy development and administration. They were conceived as being run along business lines by a Chief Executive who reported directly to the appropriate Minister
2 M56 tab 14 p. 35. In the early days of Agency status, the CVL continued to have its expenditure financed from MAFF's Vote allocation
3 S331B Little para. 4
4 M32 tab 7 p. 3
5 M32 tab 7 p. 3
6 S331A Little p. 4 para. 19
7 S101 Shannon para. 47
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