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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she made of the adequacy of the Animal Plant and Health Agency’s veterinary resources within Lancashire; and if she will make a statement.

For a current overview of the Animal Plant and Health Agency’s (APHA) veterinary resource, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 June 2023 to the hon. Member for Witney, PQ 189875.

APHA has a team of seven field veterinary posts which provide veterinary resource for Lancashire and West Yorkshire. Recruitment is in progress to fill one vacancy in this team. APHA adopts flexible resourcing at a national level to meet delivery needs and works with veterinary delivery partners when needed to meet fluctuating demands. APHA also offers a free farm animal carcase collection service to most of Lancashire to enable diagnostic post-mortem examinations to be carried out by veterinary pathologists at the APHA laboratory in Penrith or at the University of Liverpool.