It was good to visit the Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge site last month to discuss the recent Public Accounts Committee report. This looked into the UK’s animal health infrastructure and raised concerns regarding the deterioration of the site and need for substantial redevelopment of this incredibly important national scientific asset. While substantial Government investment into the site has been announced, concerns remain over the timescale this may take to deliver the necessary improvements.
I was given a tour of the site and saw first-hand for myself how much of the redevelopment in the past had been piecemeal and why a more strategic, holistic approach to the future of the site’s development is needed.
We are extremely lucky that the APHA Lab is situated in our constituency and that it is renowned for its specialist research and laboratory facilities. Its animal health, science and disease control capabilities are on the front line in tackling and eradicating high-risk animal diseases and the work done at APHA locally is absolutely vital to ensuring this country’s animal health, including a major role in ensuring the smooth and healthy functioning of the food chain. It is also an international reference laboratory for many animal diseases. It is imperative that the site is brought up to the necessary infrastructure standards and provided with the resources it needs to carry out such an important nationally strategic role and allow the UK to maintain a position as a world leader in science and biosecurity.
I will be arranging further meetings with colleagues in Government to discuss the situation at the site and long-term funding and redevelopment plans, and look forward to the APHA’s formal response to the PAC report as a basis for how we move forward in backing and tackling the issues at APHA Weybridge.
