The Veterinary Laboratories Agency's (VLA) budget for 2007-08 has remained static. The only area this is likely to impact on is research and it is more likely that it will result in delays in commencing work rather than work actually being cut.
The State Veterinary Service (SVS) 2007-08 budget has been reviewed to reflect Defra's wider business needs and also to reflect changes in the SVS's business needs. The budget changes have been reviewed for their impact on the SVS's capacity and capability to deliver, ensuring that disease risks are not increased. In particular, the changes to the SVS budget will not affect safety or the efficacy of investigative work. The SVS does not undertake research.
The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) expenditure is not a matter for my Department. We pay the MLC to carry out certain functions and cuts are planned in some of these work areas. These are not related to the MLC's safety, research or investigative work.
With regards to the Pesticides Safety Directorate, the savings were focused on lower priority activities and were achieved by improving efficiency and also reducing support service costs. The primary aim throughout has been to protect key services and ensure they continue to be delivered to appropriate standards. The savings put in place will, therefore, have no impact on pesticides safety which is the Directorate's top priority. Some research projects, particularly on the behaviour of pesticides in the environment, will have to be postponed. There should be no significant impact on investigative and surveillance work, particularly since efficiency gains from new technology have allowed the number of samples tested within the key pesticide residues surveillance programme to be maintained at lower costs.