Summary
If animal welfare is your cause, these non-executive committee roles right at the top of UK government would be very influential for you to apply for or suggest someone to apply for.
Closing data 6/6. Thought be interested for some EA people.
Job/roles: About the AWC
The AWC is a non-statutory, expert committee of Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments. The Committee:
• Provides independent, authoritative, impartial and timely expert veterinary and scientific advice to Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments:
o on the welfare of farmed animals (including farmed animals on agricultural land, at market, in transit and at the place of killing), companion animals and wild animals kept by people; and
o on any other matters that might be considered necessary to improve standards of animal welfare.
• Provides independent scientific support and advice, as requested, in line with Article 20 of Council Regulation (EC) No.1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing. The Welfare at Killing standing committee fulfils this role and also advises the Northern Ireland Executive in this respect.
You may be asked to join the Welfare at Killing standing committee if you have the relevant skills and experience in the welfare of animals at the time of killing.
You can find more information about the AWC, including the Committee’s terms of reference and its recent publications, here
Defra and the Scottish and Welsh Governments have ambitious animal welfare programmes underway. Animal welfare is a devolved matter but there is excellent cooperation and collaboration across the administrations. This is an exciting time to join the AWC, with a number of positions available. You will have the opportunity to shape a refreshed AWC, whilst ensuring that the highly regarded expert scientific and veterinary advice the AWC delivers continues to support and guide Government decision making.
AWC Members (7 Vacancies)
Members of the AWC have collective responsibility for the operation of the Committee. Typical responsibilities will include working with Government policy teams, Committee members and external stakeholders to produce expert scientific and veterinary advice in a wide range of formats, contributing to Committee meetings and representing the Committee at external events. They must:
• Engage fully in collective consideration of the issues, taking account of the full range of relevant evidence, including any guidance issued by the sponsor departments.
• Ensure that the Committee works within its terms of reference.
• Ensure that the Committee’s policy on openness is adhered to and that the Committee’s advice is comprehensible to members of the public.
Please refer to the attached Candidate Pack for full details.
About the Animal Sentience Committee
The Animal Sentience Committee is a new Committee, established under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. The Act provides assurance about how the welfare of sentient animals is taken into account in central Government policy decisions. The Committee’s remit does not extend to devolved matters.
The Animal Sentience Committee scrutinises policy decision making. It has statutory powers to produce reports containing its view on whether, or to what extent, the UK Government is having, or has had, all due regard to the ways in which policy decisions might have an adverse effect on the welfare of animals as sentient beings. The Committee ensures that UK Government policy decisions are appropriately informed by a scientific understanding of the impacts of those decisions on the welfare of sentient animals. The Animal Sentience Committee, therefore, is also able to select which UK Government policy decisions it wishes to investigate and needs the capability and capacity to fulfil this function.
You can find the Animal Sentience Committee’s draft Terms of Reference here.
This is an opportunity to help set the direction of a new expert Committee, which will consider how individual central Government policies take account of animal welfare. We are looking for individuals with experience in the animal welfare sector, who would like to be a part of this new Committee.
Animal Sentience Committee Members (7 Vacancies)
Members of the Animal Sentience Committee have collective responsibility for the operation of the Committee. Typical responsibilities will include working with Government policy teams, Committee members and external stakeholders to produce expert reports, contributing to Committee meetings and representing the Committee at external events. They must:
• Engage fully in collective consideration of the issues, taking account of the full range of relevant evidence.
• Ensure that the Committee works within its statutory remit.
• Ensure that the Committee’s policy on transparency is adhered to.
Please refer to the attached Candidate Pack for full details.
Person Specification
AWC Members (7 Vacancies)
We are looking for people with a range of skills and experience, including, but not limited to the criteria below.
In your application, please provide examples, where applicable, of:
• How you have used your written and oral communication skills to put forward views clearly and cogently in discussion and to contribute effectively to the formulation of written advice when presenting complex findings to a generalist audience.
• Your ability to think analytically and creatively when considering evidence and contributing to advice.
• Your ability to understand and value different perspectives and to build productive working relationships both within and outside the Committee.
• Your ability to work as part of a team to deliver agreed objectives.
• Expertise in veterinary or other relevant science, or animal ethics.
• Your understanding of animal welfare legislation.
Desirable criteria
Where applicable, in your application please provide examples of significant current or recent experience of working with animals or keeping animals (e.g. as a farmer, vet, or researcher), in any of the following areas:
• Pig farming, including practical experience of a variety of illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment and the welfare of animals at the time of killing.
• Poultry farming, including practical experience of a variety of illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment and the welfare of animals at the time of killing.
• Equines, including practical experience of a variety of equine illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment and the welfare of animals at the time of killing.
• Dogs and cats, including practical experience of a variety of canine/feline-related illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment.
• Other pets (e.g. rabbits), including related illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment.
• Kept wild animals and exotic pets (e.g. snakes), including related illnesses/issues and the methods of treatment.
• Fish, including the ways in which they are caught and kept for commercial consumption and/or their natural habitats and ecosystems.
• Decapods and cephalopods, including the ways in which they are caught and kept for commercial consumption and/or their natural habitats and ecosystems.
• Practical or academic experience of animal ethics, with an understanding of the concepts of stress, pain and suffering and how these relate to animal welfare.
Please refer to the attached Candidate Pack for full details.
Animal Sentience Committee Members (7 Vacancies)
We are looking for people with a range of skills and experience, including, but not limited to the criteria below.
In your application, please provide examples, where applicable, of:
• How you have used your written and oral communication skills to put forward views clearly and cogently in discussion and to contribute effectively to the formulation of written advice when presenting complex findings to a generalist audience.
• Your ability to think analytically and creatively when contributing to advice for Government.
• Your ability to understand and value different perspectives and to build productive working relationships both within and outside the Committee.
• Your ability to work as part of a team to deliver agreed objectives.
• Expertise in veterinary or other relevant science, or animal ethics.
• How you have used your extensive knowledge and understanding of animal welfare legislation and policy to think analytically and creatively when contributing advice or in your engagement with Government Departments in policy development.
• Your awareness of current research/science in the animal welfare space and the ability to assess to what extent decision making is led by relevant research/science.
Desirable criteria
Where applicable, in your application please provide examples of the below:
• An understanding of domestic and international developments in animal welfare legislation.
• Significant understanding of animal behaviour for a variety of animals and a general knowledge of the welfare of kept animals.
• Practical knowledge of a variety of animals and their welfare needs with regard to caring for and keeping animals, either in private ownership or commercially.
• Academic experience of research into animal welfare and caring for animals.
• Experience in informing the strategic direction of organisations in an advisory capacity.
• Practical knowledge and experience of conservation, ecology, or a biological background.
• Practical or academic experience of animal ethics, with an understanding of the concepts of stress, pain and suffering and how these relate to animal welfare.
Please refer to the attached Candidate Pack for full details.
Additional Information
Committee members are usually be appointed for a term of four years, which may be renewed once (eight years in total). Members will be appointed for no more than two terms, although extensions in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments may be sought under exceptional circumstances.
Nice ... Boosting https://www.impactfulgovcareers.org/ for people who are interested in UK civil service more generally.
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