PRESS RELEASE : New appointment made to the Animal Health and Welfare Board England [December 2022]
The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 1 December 2022.
Defra Minister Lord Benyon has confirmed the appointment of Julia Wrathall as Non-Executive Director of the Animal Health & Welfare Board for England (AHWBE).
Julia Wrathall has been appointed for three years from 1 December 2022 and will replace Emma Slawinski as a Non-Executive Director.
The appointment has been made in accordance with the Ministerial Governance Code on Public Appointments. There is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if significant) to be declared. Julia has declared that she has not taken part in any significant political activity in the past five years.
The Animal Health & Welfare Board for England (AHWBE) is principal adviser to Defra on all strategic health and welfare matters relating to all kept animals in England. The Board’s role is to set the strategic policy framework, with responsibilities including developing and implementing animal health and welfare policy and ensuring value for money, assessing of the risk of animal disease threats and establishing surveillance and research priorities, monitoring the regulatory framework, approving the operational plans of the Animal and Plant Health Agency and other bodies, and reviewing contingency plans for dealing with new disease outbreaks.
Biographical details
Julia Wrathall
- Julia is an independent animal welfare consultant with a background in applied welfare science and policy development across many species and areas of human-animal interaction.
- She worked for the RSPCA for many years, where her roles included Chief Scientific Officer leading the work of the Society’s Science & Policy team, the development of the RSPCA’s farm animal welfare standards, and the Assurewel on-farm welfare outcome assessment programme.
- She has served on a number of committees in the animal welfare, farming and academic sectors, including the Farm Animal Welfare Forum, Pig Health and Welfare Council, RUMA and Beak Trimming Action Group.
