Key public bodies are “insufficiently prepared” for a major animal disease outbreak and would likely struggle to cope with one, a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.
NAO’s ‘Resilience to animal diseases’ report found that factors such as climate change and anti-microbial resistance mean outbreaks are increasingly frequent and livestock more vulnerable, but NAO stated that Government “lacks a strategy and action plan” for improving resilience to animal diseases.
Past animal disease outbreaks have had significant economic impacts, said NAO. For example, the major foot and mouth disease outbreak of 2001 cost the public and private sectors an estimated £13.8 billion (in 2023-24 prices). Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu have resulted in 7.2 million birds being culled between November 2020 and mid-March 2025.
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said that they had “worked hard to manage recent medium-severity outbreaks”, but the report finds a range of challenges leading to them being insufficiently prepared for a more severe outbreak. These include:
- Significant gaps in Government contingency plans
- Outdated and inefficient operational processes within APHA
- Out of date infrastructure, particularly relating to the Government’s animal science facility at Weybridge. Defra’s programme to redevelop Weybridge is now on track but will not be completed for another 10 years
- No comprehensive livestock movement tracing system, despite attempts to establish one beginning in 2013
- Capacity and skills shortages – for example, APHA’s vet vacancy rate in April 2025 was 20%
Defra and APHA have reportedly introduced initiatives to strengthen resilience, such as the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which aims to provide funding to support improvements in animal health on farms, and research and innovation to improve detection and response to disease.
NAO highlighted that progress was “being undermined” by global issues with supply of animal vaccines and “significant threats” to biosecurity at the border.
Defra revealed that its best estimate for the proportion of live animal imports from the EU and the rest of the world currently undergoing physical checks is 5%, against a Government target of 100% at border control posts by the end of 2024.
“A long-term strategy and action plan are urgently needed, to protect national economic resilience.”
Gareth Davies, NAO
The report found that Defra and APHA have a “good understanding” of new and emerging risks from animal diseases, described as a “core principle of resilience”. It also found they have “robust” arrangements in place to gather intelligence on animal disease risks through ‘horizon scanning’ and international disease monitoring. APHA also conducts surveillance, testing and inspections of premises to help detect infections early and stop their spread.
But, the report stated, responding to increasingly frequent outbreaks has affected Defra’s and APHA’s ability to undertake other important work that would help strengthen resilience in the longer term. Their current approach, where staff switch priority from business-as-usual activities to outbreak response, was described in the report as “unlikely to be fit for purpose” if they are in almost constant outbreak mode.
Gareth Davies, head of NAO, said: “Defra has assessed that the risk of an outbreak to which it would be unable to respond effectively is above the level it considers tolerable, but it has not determined a way to reduce this risk.
“A long-term strategy and action plan are urgently needed, to protect national economic resilience as well as food security, human health and rural communities.”
“Government’s preparations for a future major outbreak are being hampered by a lack of capacity, skills and long-term strategy.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Committee of Public Accounts
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, stated: “Animal disease outbreaks can be devastating for the farming sector and cost taxpayers billions of pounds, as evidenced by past major outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), foot and mouth disease and more recent outbreaks of avian influenza.
“Despite some good work to identify new threats, Government’s preparations for a future major outbreak are being hampered by a lack of capacity, skills and long-term strategy. Government’s failure to carry out checks on animal imports is also threatening biosecurity at the border.
“Resilience to a severe outbreak has not been tested in recent years, but the threat remains ever increasing as our livestock become more susceptible to disease. Without changes to the current operating system, there is a very real risk that Government would not be able to respond effectively.”
