Corporate report

APHA quality policy (online HTML version)

Updated 10 January 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apha-quality-policy-statement/apha-quality-policy

Document reference: POL15

Author: Sharon Fowler

Issue date: 9 January 2025

Approver: Jenny Stewart

Policy aims and scope

  1. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an Executive Agency working on behalf of the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish Government and Welsh Government.

  2. The role of APHA is to protect animal and plant health to benefit people, the economy and the environment. This links in with the APHA Sustainable Futures strategy, underpinned by the strategic pillars of Protect, Innovate and Promote, and our One APHA principles of People and Place.

  3. This Quality Policy explains the quality objective of APHA and the duties to ensure quality, which are defined as ’efficiently, effectively and consistently satisfying customer requirements and the delivery of services.’

Satisfying customer requirements

  1. APHA will ensure that its products and services fully meet the agreed needs of its customers, including those defined by statutory and regulatory requirements.

  2. APHA is committed to good professional practice and aims to support this commitment using a quality management framework that will be reviewed to assess effectiveness and to foster continual improvement.

Performance management and performance review

The following are intrinsic to the successful fulfilment of APHA’s Quality Policy:

  1. Having policies, procedures and instructions in place that ensure correct, safe and consistent processes are used consistently by staff to achieve a quality product.

  2. Having a document control system that is accessible and ensures content is published in a controlled manner to prevent the use of unauthorised or out-of-date instruction documents.

  3. Having a robust internal audit programme designed to provide assurance that procedures are being used correctly and appropriately; and that problems are investigated promptly and effectively to prevent, where practicable, any recurrence.

  4. Having systems in place that capture risks and opportunities across the Agency to support early mitigation where required and drive continual improvement.

  5. Staff training and competence; procedures will be performed by staff that are suitably trained and qualified; and supported to extend their knowledge through appropriate training.

  6. The maintenance of relevant third-party assessed APHA accreditations, certifications and approvals to an extent that benefits APHA, its stakeholders and supports delivery of the above.

  7. Aligning staff behaviours and culture with relevant professional, national and international good practices embodied in standards, regulations and codes of practice.

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