Site Redevelopment
Site Redevelopment has continued throughout the year to upgrade the animal accommodation at VLA farms. These new facilities should be completed by early 2004 and will provide the Agency with a high standard of livestock accommodation for many years to come.

Promoting VLA at a recruitment fair

Construction work has commenced on the first phase of the redevelopment of the main laboratory site at VLA Weybridge. New facilities will consist of containment level 2 and 3 laboratories for the research and diagnosis of tuberculosis and serological diagnostic testing. These containment laboratories will enable VLA to undertake large-scale blood testing in any future major animal disease emergency.

Safety
The Safety unit’s task of managing safety across the agency is never static as there are always new initiatives and novel challenges. A successful training programme attended by 1,000 VLA colleagues is an example of an initiative that has now become firmly established.

New and re-emerging diseases require carefully considered risk assessments to ensure that scientific staff are not exposed to disease agents such as West Nile Fever virus and human strains of influenza. The unit has also been heavily involved in cross-Government contingency planning for the increasing threat from bioterrorism - a topical subject during the past year!

Consultancy to the Polish authorities for proposed new facilities in Pulawy, as part of the EU’s PHARE project for new EU member states, and representing VLA at European and United States biosafety seminars have also been carried out.

Personnel
A key responsibility for Personnel is recruitment for all of the Agency’s 16 laboratories and includes filling vacancies for veterinarians, scientists, laboratory and animal technicians as well as administrators.
In addition to the normal workload, Personnel played a key co-ordination role in maintaining VLA’s Investors in People standard and introduced a wide-ranging management training programme geared to the needs of the business. They also prepared the VLA Race Equality Scheme (which was published on the VLA website) and the Action Plan arising from the Scheme.

Business Development
The unit provides a marketing and sales service for VLA and a full report of its activities is featured in the Commercial Programme.

Accommodation
The Accommodation unit has continued to provide a wide range of support and facility services to the whole Agency, including the installation of video conferencing facilities, the refurbishment of laboratories, new containment level 3 facilities at several Regional Laboratories and new security and warehousing facilities at VLA Weybridge.
The unit has also liaised with the Safety unit to ensure that the Agency is complying with the latest regulations on Waste Disposal.

Delegates registering for the VLA Conference at Nottingham University

Corporate Planning and Communications
During the year the Library, Events and the Directorate Office were brought together into a new Corporate Planning and Communications Unit.
This recognised the need to bring together a core of information specialists in anticipation of implementing a new knowledge management strategy as part of VLA’s Development Programme.

An important project for the Library has been to anticipate and work through the implications of the Freedom of Information Act for both VLA and its customers. Initially, this has led to the instigation of a Publication Scheme to set out all the information published by VLA. The team has also co-ordinated and developed VLA’s intranet and internet web pages.

The Events unit has organised a wide range of conferences, visits etc. for VLA colleagues, customers and stakeholders including:

• hosting the 5th European Society of Veterinary Virology Pestivirus Symposium for 180 international delegates
• organising a Small Ruminant TSE meeting at Heathrow
• hosting a TSE workshop at VLA Weybridge
• running an Open Day for three local schools
• organising the VLA annual conference at Nottingham University
• assisting over 200 colleagues with their attendance at conferences and visits to other institutes and arranging for over 70 scientists to visit VLA.