Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) capacity and (b) capability of the Animal and Plant Health Agency to respond to a major outbreak of exotic animal disease.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads Government action on animal disease control and has outbreak response plans in place. These include measures to contract companies to support eradication and cover such matters as the deployment of non-Government vets and experts in culling and disposal. APHA also work closely with other agencies from within the Defra group to provide additional capacity.

Response capabilities are kept under regular review and appropriate action initiated where additional operational support is required, including the potential to make a request for assistance under the military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) process.

Additionally, to safeguard and enhance the internationally recognised position of the APHA Weybridge laboratory as a hub of scientific excellence for high-risk animal diseases, £208 million of funding for the next stage of the laboratory’s redevelopment up to 2026 has been approved.