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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections of poultry farms for compliancy with avian flu measures were undertaken by (a) the Animal and Plant Health Agency and (b) local trading standards in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2021.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not undertake specific compliance inspections for Avian Influenza. This is the responsibility of local authorities under the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ), which ensures birds are housed or kept separate from wild birds. Local authorities are currently completing reactive inspections following complaints, and using a risk based approach during such inspections.

There is no requirement for local authorities to record or inform the Scottish Government, Defra or the Welsh Government of any inspections they have conducted. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the local authority to provide the details requested.

APHA does hold data as part of its disease management response. This is on behalf of Defra, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government and relates to disease surveillance visits in the 3km Protection Zones and 10km Surveillance Zones, and any direct and indirect contact tracing visits which are identified upon confirmation of disease.

This includes a census of premises and stock within the zones, and subsequent inspection and sampling to prove freedom from disease prior to lifting the legal Declaratory Orders in place around infected premises (usually 3km and 10km). An interactive map of current zones can be found on GOV.UK: https://defra.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8cb1883eda5547c6b91b5d5e6aeba90d

Outside of avian influenza outbreaks, APHA undertakes a routine avian influenza survey on a random and risk-based stratification of registered premises.