Written Question·Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs·UIN 109584

Animal and Plant Health Agency

Tabled: 29 January 2026
Answered: 4 February 2026
Named Day

Question

Neil O'Brien

ConservativeHarborough, Oadby and Wigston

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the (a) number of staff and (b) operating expenditure have increased at the Animal Plant Health Agency since April 2017.

Answer

Dame Angela Eagle
The increase in expenditure is mainly due to variable costs for the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) response to exotic disease outbreaks, principally avian influenza. When the UK left the EU, staff and costs increased in APHA to resource additiona...

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