BVA appears before House of Commons select committees
Following the merger of Animal Health and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency into one body (AHVLA) and subsequent proposed changes to structures and working practices two select committees of the House of Commons held evidence sessions to explore the impact of the changes.
On 29 November 2011 BVA President Carl Padgett gave oral evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee as part of its one-off evidence session to investigate the future of AHVLA regional laboratories in Wales. The invitation to address the committee came following the submission of written evidence by BVA.
On 31 January 2012 the BVA and BCVA Presidents appeared before the House of Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EfraCom) as part of its inquiry into ‘The rationalisation of the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA)’, including plans to introduce competitive tendering for Official Veterinarian services.
BVA and BCVA were invited to give oral evidence after submitting written evidence at the start of the year.
During the session the Associations raised concern over the speed with which the AHVLA was implementing changes, which could threaten the surveillance infrastructure in England and Wales.
BVA President Carl Padgett used the recent emergence of Schmallenberg virus in Europe as a good example of the importance of the links between vets on the ground and national surveillance structures.
The corrected transcript of the Welsh Affairs Committee session and the uncorrected transcript of the EfraCom session are available on the Parliament website. The EfraCom transcript will be replaced with the approved record at a later date.