What would success look like?
Success means a more mature public approach to Public Risk, where it is possible to engage the public in the risk issues rather than having a public storm that forces premature decisions. That involves building trust on both sides. The government has to deserve that trust through holding fast to an evidence-based assessment of the risk issues and it has to educate the public in these issues, sharing the evidence and the assessment. Success would look like a world where Ministers and civil servants have a better understanding of risk so that a proportionate intervention only occurs when the nature and scale of the particular risk has been properly analysed and understood. Success would look like what we have seen in recent times in relation to animal disease outbreaks. The public’s journey in understanding and accepting the risks of bird ‘flu over the last two years and the government’s efforts in controlling outbreaks has shown that both are worthy of more trust and each have gained it
