Written questions by Jones.

Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of a) farms and b) slaughterhouses are inspected each year; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that proportion on animal welfare standards.

a). In 2023, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertook 1381 visits, inspecting 3001 herd and flocks. APHA operates an intelligence- and risk-based inspection regime, prioritising cases where significant animal suffering has been identified. There is no prescribed proportion of farms inspected solely for welfare purposes. When inspections are carried out for other purposes, such as disease control, any welfare concerns identified are addressed immediately or escalated for further action. b) All approved slaughterhouses have Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials present during operations and receive at least one dedicated welfare inspection annually. These inspections are supplemented by risk-based audits, ensuring a high level of compliance with animal welfare standards. Overall compliance with animal welfare requirements in slaughterhouses remains very high across the sector.Risk-based and intelligence-led inspections remain the most effective means of targeting resources to tackle serious animal welfare breaches. The FSA monitors large numbers of animals and reports any welfare concerns to APHA, which forms part of this integrated, risk-based approach.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of ending the routine culling of day-old male chicks in the UK egg industry; and whether the forthcoming Animal Welfare Strategy will consider the use of in-ovo sexing technology.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 July 2025 to the hon. Member for Stockport, PQ UIN 64121.

Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to publish the Animal Welfare Strategy.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. As set out by the Prime Minister, we will publish our Animal Welfare Strategy this year which will set out our priorities for animal welfare.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will consult on legislative steps to strengthen provisions in the Hunting Act 2004.

The Government recognises that concerns persist around illegal hunting being carried out under the guise of trail hunting; that is why we have already committed in our manifesto to put an end to trail hunting. The Government will launch a consultation in the new year on how to develop proposals for an effective ban on trail hunting.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will create new regulatory protections from hazardous chemicals similar to those of the EU in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.

The revised Environmental Improvement Plan will set out our approach to chemicals management. The ‘UK REACH Rationale for Prioritising Substances in the UK REACH Work Programme: 2025 to 2026’ policy paper set out our strategic approach to chemicals regulation. Notably that we are seeking to draw more from regulatory decision-making in other jurisdictions, and that this should enable new protections to be applied more quickly, more efficiently, and in a way which is more aligned with our closest trading partners.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Animal and Plant Health Agency procedures on providing farms with advanced notice of an inspection on the enforcement of animal welfare standards.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation. The Animal and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority. Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Animal and Plant Health Agency's guidance entitled Animal welfare on farms inspection, published on 12 January 2016, requiring complaints to be lodged before inspection of a farm.

APHA carries out inspections for a number of different reasons, including (but not limited to) in case of allegation of poor animal welfare on farm. Any allegations of poor animal welfare are logged and assessed. Where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken, this includes unannounced inspections carried out within 24 hours and follow-up inspections at a later date to confirm compliance. Information on how to report an animal welfare concern is available on this page:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-farm-animal-welfare-concerns.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to apply lessons learned from the use of mandated CCTV footage in slaughterhouses to the enforcement of animal welfare standards on farms.

There are key differences between farms and slaughterhouses in terms of numbers and this affects the type of inspections that are practical. All slaughterhouses in England have Official Veterinarians from the Food Standards Agency present on-site when operating to monitor and enforce animal welfare legislation. Since 2018 it has been mandatory for all 180 operational slaughterhouses in England to have CCTV and to provide access to it. Official Veterinarians carry out a daily review of CCTV footage. There are around 60,000 commercial livestock holdings in England. Monitoring and enforcement of animal welfare on farm is carried out on a risk basis by inspectors of the Animal and Plant Health Agency and local authorities. We continue to explore ways to strengthen compliance with animal welfare regulations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the compliance by farms with animal welfare requirements.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation. The Animal and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority. Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many reports the Animal and Plant Health Agency has received of alleged animal welfare breaches on farms in each of the last five years.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation. The Animal and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority. Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that the Animal and Plant Health Agency acts on reports of animal welfare breaches on farms by animal protection groups.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation. The Animal and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority. Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to require the Animal and Plant Health Agency to publish the (a) outcomes of inspections, (b) rates of compliance and (c) types of non-compliance on farms.

Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB, which the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) contributes to. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm inspections were conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency following a complaint of alleged breaches of animal welfare in each of the last five years.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation. The Animal and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority. Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report. MANCP reports are available here.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to increase the significance of improving animal welfare within the work of the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Animal welfare is, and will continue to be, a high priority for the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Through its knowledge and expertise, effective delivery of regulatory functions, and provision of guidance and advice, APHA plays a critical welfare role.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) quality and (b) availability of animal welfare data published by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency hold all the data related to its regulatory activity on animal welfare; they are extrapolated and made available regularly from the databases held by the relevant teams for reporting purposes. APHA has a continuing commitment to quality assurance and there are appropriate checks of the data before it is included in report for England, Scotland and Wales. Defra publish data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within Great Britain. Defra is not considering increasing the amount of official reporting beyond that already published in these annual reports.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is she taking to increase the amount of animal welfare data published by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency hold all the data related to its regulatory activity on animal welfare; they are extrapolated and made available regularly from the databases held by the relevant teams for reporting purposes. APHA has a continuing commitment to quality assurance and there are appropriate checks of the data before it is included in report for England, Scotland and Wales. Defra publish data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within Great Britain. Defra is not considering increasing the amount of official reporting beyond that already published in these annual reports.

Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to publish the results of the call for evidence on the fur market in Great Britain, which closed on 28 June 2021.

The call for evidence on the Fur Market in Great Britain was undertaken by the previous Government. A summary of responses will be published in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, when the results of the Animal Welfare Committee's review of the responsible sourcing of fur will be published.

Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to produce a report on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed in 2025 and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. We are also aware that the European Food Safety Authority has published a report on the welfare of fur animals and are reviewing its findings.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the European Food and Safety Authority's recent report on the welfare of American mink, red and arctic foxes, racoon dogs and chinchilla kept for fur production, published in July 2025.

Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to produce a report on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed in 2025 and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. We are also aware that the European Food Safety Authority has published a report on the welfare of fur animals and are reviewing its findings.

Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress her Department has made on building the evidence base on the fur sector.

Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to produce a report on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. This is due to be completed in 2025 and will be published on GOV.UK thereafter. We are also aware that the European Food Safety Authority has published a report on the welfare of fur animals and are reviewing its findings.