Redevelopment of Defra’s animal health infrastructure

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 9 Jun 2022 Closed: 24 Feb 2023 Parliament page
The UK faces a significant threat from animal diseases, such as Bovine Tuberculosis - which is the subject of controversy over the badger culling that has traditionally been used to control it - and ‘zoonotic’ diseases which can transmit from animals to humans – as is believed to have been … Read more
15 Recommendations
21 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
24 Feb
2023
Report published
16 Nov
2022
Report published
13 Jul
2022
Oral evidence
13 Jul
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
13 Jul 2022
View on parliament.uk
Redevelopment of Defra’s animal health infrastructure
Colin Dingwall · Animal and Plant Health Agency David Holdsworth · Animal and Plant Health Agency Professor Christine Middlemiss · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sarah Homer · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Tamara Finkelstein · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopment of Defra’s animal health in… HC 42 16 Nov 2022 36 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
18 results
Clear
9 Conclusion Not Addressed
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The APHA’s Weybridge site is the UK’s primary science capability for managing threats from animal...
The APHA’s Weybridge site is the UK’s primary science capability for managing threats from animal diseases. It houses 98% of the APHA’s high containment laboratories. It is the APHA’s main site for running long-term animal health studies and the only … Read more
Government Response
The government response only includes a restatement of the committee's conclusion and doesn't provide any additional information.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Chief Veterinary Officer and the APHA emphasised that the Weybridge site is also the...
The Chief Veterinary Officer and the APHA emphasised that the Weybridge site is also the centre for an important programme of research.19 There are currently seven research programmes at Weybridge. These programmes include the development of a Bovine Tuberculosis vaccine … Read more
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department recognised that it had failed to manage the Weybridge site properly given its...
The Department recognised that it had failed to manage the Weybridge site properly given its importance as a national asset. It said that it had approached the management of the site as if it was just a property asset, and … Read more
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
An illustration of the poor long-term management of the Weybridge site is the inappropriate facilities...
An illustration of the poor long-term management of the Weybridge site is the inappropriate facilities management contract. The Department explained that in 2009 it consolidated a number of facilities management contracts across its estate resulting in one contract covering a … Read more
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
We questioned the Department about why it has taken such a long time to put...
We questioned the Department about why it has taken such a long time to put in place a redevelopment programme for Weybridge given the importance of the site. The Department explained that it first recognised there were significant problems in … Read more
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department confirmed that there have not been any serious breakdowns at the Weybridge site...
The Department confirmed that there have not been any serious breakdowns at the Weybridge site in recent years. The last major incident was in 2014 when backup generators failed, resulting in a loss of power to some of the high-containment … Read more
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The National Audit Office highlighted that a review of the Weybridge site in 2021 found...
The National Audit Office highlighted that a review of the Weybridge site in 2021 found more than 1,000 examples of “single points of failure – where loss of the system or asset will cause major catastrophic disruption to operations”.29 The … Read more
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department stated that it has a structure where risks are managed across the Weybridge...
The Department stated that it has a structure where risks are managed across the Weybridge site through its Science Facilities Joint Management Board. It also stated that the Department’s board and executive committee scrutinise the risks and mitigations at the … Read more
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that a major breakdown, resulting in reduced high containment laboratory...
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that a major breakdown, resulting in reduced high containment laboratory capacity at the Weybridge site, would make it more difficult to respond to a major animal disease outbreak. For example, a major Foot and Mouth … Read more
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department and the APHA set out how the Weybridge redevelopment programme will provide the...
The Department and the APHA set out how the Weybridge redevelopment programme will provide the flexible laboratory facilities to improve the UK’s resilience to animal diseases in the long-term.35 However, it also recognised that it needs to mitigate the risks … Read more
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Chief Veterinary Officer clearly set out the importance of having modern, flexible laboratory facilities...
The Chief Veterinary Officer clearly set out the importance of having modern, flexible laboratory facilities to ensure the UK is resilient to animal diseases. The Department and the APHA highlighted the importance of the redevelopment of Weybridge to ensure this … Read more
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that animal disease outbreaks are ranked on a scale from...
The Chief Veterinary Officer explained that animal disease outbreaks are ranked on a scale from one to five with five being the most severe outbreak level and that the current assessment is that the UK has the capacity to cope … Read more
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The APHA and Chief Veterinary Officer cited the recent example of Avian Influenza.
The APHA and Chief Veterinary Officer cited the recent example of Avian Influenza. This is likely to be categorised as a level three outbreak. While the APHA said that it had coped well in managing this outbreak it had to … Read more
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Chief Veterinary Officer and the APHA confirmed that the Weybridge site does not have...
The Chief Veterinary Officer and the APHA confirmed that the Weybridge site does not have ACDP (Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens) level four high containment laboratory facilities. This is the highest containment level relating to diseases where there is a … Read more
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department started work on its Weybridge redevelopment programme in 2017, but has changed the...
The Department started work on its Weybridge redevelopment programme in 2017, but has changed the scope of the programme over time. Its Strategic Outline Case (June 2018) and Outline Business Case (March 2020) were focused on a construction programme to … Read more
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The National Audit Office set out that HM Treasury approved funding of £1.2 billion for...
The National Audit Office set out that HM Treasury approved funding of £1.2 billion for the Weybridge redevelopment programme in March 2020, below the Department’s current cost estimate of £2.8 billion. The Department confirmed that this includes agreed funding of … Read more
HM Treasury
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27 Conclusion Not Addressed
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The Department explained that in developing the Programme Business Case for the Weybridge redevelopment it...
The Department explained that in developing the Programme Business Case for the Weybridge redevelopment it did significant additional work on its cost estimate. This was based on a more developed design for the Weybridge redevelopment than the Outline Business Case … Read more
Government Response
The government response only includes a restatement of the committee's conclusion and doesn't provide any additional information.
HM Treasury
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31 Conclusion Not Addressed
Twenty-Fourth Report - Redevelopme…
The National Audit Office found that the Department has put in place many of the...
The National Audit Office found that the Department has put in place many of the elements for managing the Weybridge redevelopment programme well.57 The National Audit Office also highlighted that the redevelopment programme is high risk due to a range … Read more
Government Response
The government response only includes a restatement of the committee's conclusion and doesn't provide any additional information.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 21 of 15 classified
Accepted 13
Acknowledged 4
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 1
Total 15 recs + 21 conclusions