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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has updated its contingency plans following foot and mouth disease outbreaks in mainland Europe in 2025.

Defra’s approach to foot and mouth disease (FMD) control is set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England.

Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) keep preparedness under continual review but have refocused efforts following the recent outbreaks of FMD in mainland Europe. To this end, the FMD Control Strategy is being reviewed and will be published on GOV.UK in due course. The Contingency plan for exotic notifiable diseases of animals in England is reviewed annually, and the next update is due to be laid before parliament in late autumn this year.

APHA, which leads Government action on animal disease control in Great Britain, is in the planning stages of a national tier 2 exercise to test and validate our response to an outbreak of FMD, scheduled for late 2025.