Comprehensive finance and accounting services including reporting financial performance to Ministers, the VLA Senior Management Group and internal budget holders is an important part of the Division’s activities.

VLA finance services

This year has been one of consolidation concentrating on improving the quality and timeliness of the accounting information, which has had a direct impact on the Agency’s key aims by providing enhanced information at a lower cost. Advances have been made in the electronic transmissions of accounting information, which has assisted in the speed of reporting and business process reviews have identified other areas where progress is required.

Administrative support is provided to the VLA Science Directors and Science Programmes, including European Union funded projects and acts as a central contact point for both Defra and non-Defra customers by administering contractual arrangements and financial information. Further improvements to services and support activites are being made by establishing efficient project planning, management and delivery, as part of VLA’s Development Programme.

A Customer Satisfaction Survey was carried out and an ‘action plan’ has been implemented to respond to customer issues. Record maintenance systems have also been put in place to support VLA’s drive towards ISO9001:2000 Quality certification. The drive also includes the provision of a database, recording the quality accreditation and grading status of our principal suppliers.

Further automation of the inventory management system and extending the range of coded products available under our framework agreements with key suppliers, has been a major focus during the year. These activities comprise the essential groundwork for the implementation of an electronic procurement system, which will be our principal objective for 2004/05.

Our main logistics operation was to support various aspects of VLA’s disease surveillance to assemble and distribute sampling kits from our central warehouse at Weybridge. We also managed the contract for time-sensitive transportation of specimens from sampling locations to testing laboratories.

Working with Defra and the industry, we have developed a blood testing kit format suitable for use in the brucellosis eradication scheme (BES) and in the event of any future disease emergency. We have also acquired the reagents and consumables necessary for VLA to provide an effective laboratory response if such an emergency should arise.

A range of business systems including Phase 1 of the TSE Integration programme and a number of Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) based applications have been implemented this year. The development of replacement TB and BSE systems has demonstrated the potential of the latest Microsoft development environments software (.NET) and the outsourced application development from Software for Windows (SfW). SfW also developed the Sample Tracker Database Enhancements and contributed to a number of other IT projects.

The new BES system using the Hamilton robots went live for fast track samples in December 2003. The system will provide a useful sentinel for future projects, and lessons learned will enable rapid set-up for disease situations requiring large volume testing and/or emergency response. Instrument interfacing along with progressing the complex Sample Manager upgrade has been a major theme of the LIMS work. The team has also been helping the TB researchers to evaluate Nautilus LIMS for use in the biomics area. Work commenced on a prototype LIMS for microarray production and represents a major new venture for the LIMS team.

Due to ever-changing EU and Defra requirements for scrapie surveillance, VLA systems have had to be developed in order to ensure a rapid response.

The knowledge gained from Sharepoint and LiveLink pilot schemes has resulted in VLA adopting the LiveLink Electronic Document Management (EDM) system for UKAS Testing Group standard operating procedures.

Further development of the Agency’s information technology strategy has enabled stronger governance and business alignment.

Business

The first phase of redevelopment of the VLA Weybridge site has been one of our major issues and the most visible examples of the Division’s contribution to the work of VLA.

In October 2003 a ‘topping out’ ceremony was held for the new high level containment laboratory which will be used for research and diagnosis of tuberculosis and serological diagnostic testing.
The last brick was laid by Jim Scudamore, Defra’s Chief Veterinary Officer. The building should be ‘up and running’ in spring of 2005. Planning has started on the next phase of redevelopment at VLA Weybridge and a lot of thought has gone into the needs and requirements for this phase.

Another major achievement for the Division, although less ‘visible’ than the redevelopment work, was the successful retention of the Investor in People standard. This was achieved at the beginning of 2004 and it is gratifying to see the principles of Investors in People well embedded within the culture of VLA.

As with any organisation, communication is important to VLA and the Division continues to support the information needs of colleagues across the Agency. The VLA website, www.vla.gov.uk, has been further developed and this review will be available on the site in web format. The Agency’s intranet system ‘intraVet’ has also been evolving and is now incorporated with a new document management tool to improve communications across the Agency. Support for a number of international conferences, open days for schools and visitors were also organised to promote VLA services.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Division was the visit in June by the Health and Safety Executive when they conducted an exhaustive investigation of VLA’s bio-containment facilities. It was gratifying that the Executive gave some encouraging comments, particularly for the Regional Laboratories. The Inspectors were pleased to note the establishment of a network of Departmental Safety Advisers and in response to the suggestion that there should be greater cross-departmental uniformity, the Safety team organised workshops to look at these issues.

Bio-containment facility at VLA Starcross

Finally, the Facility team, in addition to their normal building maintenance support, have been increasingly involved in a number of environmental and sustainability issues including working closely with colleagues to achieve ISO14001, an Environmental Management System quality standard. On a more practical level, bird and bat boxes have been installed at several sites and bee orchids are a protected species at our Regional Laboratory at Bury St Edmunds. The Surrey Wildlife Trust has selected an area of woodland and wet grassland at VLA Weybridge as a site of nature conservation importance.

Bee orchid - Ophrys apifera

Surrey Wildlife Trust designated area of nature conservation