Clause 2 - Duty to assess, plan and advise
Civil Contingencies Bill
3:30 pm
Mr John Horam (Orpington, Conservative)
That is precisely the point. There was no time framework. In a normal situation, plans are taken out and reviewed and some thought is given to whether they are satisfactory and up to date and whether account has been taken of more recent trends. If that had happened before the latest foot and mouth outbreak, the story might have taken a different turn from the tragic one it took. In essence, we are suggesting three months, which is a nominal period to enable us to have a debate, but no one is stuck on that period. We are discussing terrorism, not just foot and mouth disease, and we must have a framework that forces civil servants—even new civil servants who are unaware of what happened in the past—to consider such matters regularly.