Memorandum 41
Supplementary evidence from the Institute
for Animal Health following oral evidence session on 31 March
2008
Past discussions on Level 4 facilities at Pirbright
"Q294 Chairman: Level
4 large animal containment facilities; I understood when we went
to Pirbright that that was part of the original plan."
I would like to clarify the status of Level
4 large animal facilities during preparation of the plans for
the Pirbright Site Redevelopment Programme (PSRP). Basically,
Level 4 large animal containment facilities were considered within
the planning and discussion stages of the PSRP but, as far as
I know, were not part of any formal plan or formal design for
the new facility.
During 2004, many discussions were held between
the senior management team within IAH, including the then Senior
Responsible Owner and chair of the PSRP board, and these internal
discussions highlighted both the very significant capital outlay
and the very high recurrent running costs needed to maintain the
physical, intellectual and technical competency in an area of
research requiring large animals maintained within high containment.
Given the limited funding available for PSRP, the internal decision
was taken, possibly mindful of other discussions outside of IAH
on the need for any national facility of this type, that no Level
4 large animal facilities should be included within the detailed
plans for the new facility at Pirbright.
May 2008
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