14 Accepted

The Department confirmed that there have not been any serious breakdowns at the Weybridge site...

Conclusion
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 buildings. This could have resulted in an escape of a pathogen. Fortunately, this did not happen.27 However, the Department stated that there is a high likelihood of a major breakdown of the Weybridge site and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) confirmed that the Weybridge site has significant challenges. Both the Department’s and the APHA’s corporate risk registers rate the risk of a major breakdown at Weybridge as very high.28
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee’s conclusion, confirming comprehensive business continuity plans that are regularly reviewed and committing to finalizing the Weybridge Development Control Plan by early 2023, running regular critical incident exercises, and further understanding site vulnerabilities.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: June 2023 3.2 The department and APHA have comprehensive business continuity plans which seek to mitigate and minimise the risk inherent in the aging facilities. These plans are regularly reviewed and will be next reviewed once the Weybridge Development Control Plan (WDCP) is finalised in early 2023. 3.3 In addition to business continuity planning, the agency and department run regular critical incident exercises to test business response and readiness for a wide variety of scenarios from fire through power and water supply interruptions and potential loss of facilities. 3.4 The agency is in the process of developing a more detailed understanding of the vulnerabilities at Weybridge site (as distinct from facility condition). This work will identify if and how capabilities can be delivered from alternate locations or facilities. The Weybridge facility and the science that takes place there – and across the country – acts as a strong mitigating factor that controls and reduces the threat to the public and the environment. 3.5 The government is already in conversation with other cross government laboratories and partners to identify opportunities to co-ordinate, utilise or support each other in the face of UK wide critical events, multiple events such as coincident animal disease outbreaks, cascade events, new and exotic zoonotic threats and pandemics and so on. 3.6 The agency also partners to undertake cross-government animal, zoonotic and public health emergency exercises every six months, the next of which is planned in 2023.
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 3.7 yrs
Report published 16 Nov 2022