Thursday 4th
September, 10am, Grimond Room, Portcullis House
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold an evidence session
on resilience to threats from animal disease at 10am on
Thursday 4th September.
Outbreaks of animal disease, such as foot and mouth disease and
bird flu, are significant threats to human health and rural
communities, to wildlife, the farming and food sectors, and to
the economy and trade. They have occurred in 16 of the past 20
years, including six consecutive outbreaks of bird flu from 2020
to '25. The foot and mouth crisis in 2001 cost public and private
sectors c.£13.8bn in today's prices.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has found that while government
has worked hard to manage recent medium-severity outbreaks, it
would likely struggle to manage severe or concurrent serious
outbreaks. Government has assessed the risk of an outbreak to
which it would be unable to respond effectively as “very high”
and above tolerable levels.
One particular challenge for government is a shortage of vets for
livestock. The Animal Plant and Health Agency's (APHA) vacancy
rate for vets was 20% in April 2025, which it attributed to lower
salaries than the private sector; vets preferring to work with
domestic animals over livestock; and a post-Brexit reduction in
European workers in the sector.
The PAC will take evidence from senior officials at the
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and
APHA to examine how prepared the country is for major animal
disease outbreaks. Other likely topics include:
- Improving biosecurity at the border, and what live animal
checks will look like following any agreement with the EU;
- Concerns around the main animal disease labs at Weybridge,
which Defra last year gave a maximum rating in its risk
assessment of site failure (25 out of a possible 25);
- How risks from animal diseases are likely to develop over the
next decade.
Witnesses from 10am:
- David Hill, Interim Permanent
Secretary at Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
(Defra)
- Emily Miles, Director General for
Food, Biosecurity & Trade at Defra
- Professor Christine Middlemiss CB,
UK Chief Veterinary Officer at Defra
- Dr , Chief Executive at Animal
and Plant Health Agency
