Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Critical National Biosecurity Centre at Weybridge is in poor condition, risking UK disease response.
Recommendation
The National Biosecurity Centre at Weybridge is the UK’s primary science laboratory capability for managing threats from animal diseases. It contains 98% of APHA’s high-containment laboratories. The site is in poor condition, with ageing buildings that need major repair and replacement.24 While acknowledging the critical importance of Weybridge, the Department highlighted that it does have other laboratory capacity to draw on such as the Pirbright Institute and APHA’s regional laboratories.25 However, any major failure at Weybridge could have potentially significant impacts on the UK. For example, APHA may not be able to deliver its emergency response during an animal disease outbreak.26
Government response summary AI-generated
The department wrote to the Committee on 18 September 2025 setting out the programme’s strategic plan and will provide the Committee with an annual update on its progress.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 18 5.2 The department wrote to the Committee on 18 September 2025 setting out the programme’s strategic plan. The department will provide the Committee with an annual update on its progress.
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