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AHVLA Chief defends agency
Catherine Brown
EFRACom criticise IT issues

Chief Executive of the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) Catherine Brown has been questioned by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRACom) after failures in upgrading the agency's SAM computer system have led to severe problems for farmers and vets in bTB hotspots.

When asked by EFRACom Chair Anne McIntosh (Conservative) if and when the problems would be resolved, Ms Brown (pictured) replied “They are not resolved yet. We are in the process of resolving them. We should have resolved them already, so my time scale is: it is extremely urgent to resolve the problems.”

“We should have been able to go live in September with it all working properly. There are some things we have done that make it not entirely just another case of us getting stuffed and spending a huge amount of money on something that has not worked.” she added.

However, Mr Neil Parish MP (Conservative), who was a farmer prior to his entry into politics, sharply criticised ‘huge problems getting licences to move cattle that are going to slaughter’ before asking Ms Brown “Bluntly, why is it that, in the 21st century, the Government put in a system that they pay good money for and it does not damn well work?” 

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FIVP announces third series of Practice Matters

News Story 1
 The Federation of Independent Veterinary practices (FIVP) has announced a third season of its podcast, Practice Matters.

Hosted by Ian Wolstenholme, series three will focus on the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation, including a discussion about some of the expected impacts on independent veterinary colleagues.

Episode one launches on 13th January with guests Drs David Reader and Scott Summers, who will draw on their research into the CMA investigation and provide insights into themes such as transparency, pricing and consumer trust.

Ian Wolstenholme said: "In its third series, we will try and hone in on what the changes will mean in reality for independent practices with advice and guidance on implementation and delivery, drawing on the experience of our own team and other experts in the profession. Hope you can join us soon!" 

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News Shorts
Survey seeks ruminant sector views on antimicrobial stewardship

A new survey is seeking views of people working in the UK ruminant sector on how to tackle the challenge of demonstrating responsible antibiotic stewardship.

Forming part of a wider, collaborative initiative, the results will help identify the types of data available so that challenges with data collection can be better understood and addressed.

Anyone working in the UK farming sector, including vets and farmers,is encouraged to complete the survey, which is available at app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk