Animal Welfare Strategy for England

Leigh Ingham Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Samantha Niblett]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who I know is a big animal lover herself—we certainly have that in common—that the welfare strategy will tackle those concerns. I will address some of those points later in my speech.

We have a moral duty to safeguard animal welfare, and most people agree with us, so I warmly welcome the Labour Government’s recent animal welfare strategy. What a wonderful Christmas present it was for so many of us. The strategy sets out clear ambitions, to be achieved by 2030, on improving the lives of companion animals, wild animals, farmed animals and animals overseas. It commits to addressing loopholes around breeding, to banning snare traps, to delivering on our manifesto commitment to ban trail hunting and to introduce standards for the humane killing of fish.

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

I feel the need to say that, like 52% of the population, I am a dog owner myself—I have the wonderful Nico Ingham—and I was so pleased to see that the Government will consult on introducing a registration scheme for dog breeders to get rid of dodgy breeders and puppy farms, which many of my constituents in Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages have written to me about. Does my hon. Friend agree that the strategy is a crucial first step towards a kinder future for dogs throughout the country?

[Samantha Niblett]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that it is a crucial first step. I cannot understand how anybody in all good conscience can run a puppy farm, but I understand how some people have the wool pulled over their eyes to buy from one. If we take away puppy farms as an option, those people will not be tricked.

The scale of this issue is vast. There are an estimated 35 million pets living in the UK, with the pet care market worth £8.2 billion and forecast to grow by 7% annually. At the same time, there are around 150 million farmed animals in England at any one time, comprising 22 million cattle, sheep and pigs and 133 million poultry. The livestock sector contributes £20.1 billion to the UK economy, thanks to the hard work of our farmers. While strengthening animal welfare standards here in the UK is vital, this must go hand in hand with Baroness Batters’s report and with genuine partnership working with farmers, who are already driving standards upwards. Crucially, we must ensure that they are properly supported and paid for this work.

I welcome the Government’s decision to transition to non-cage systems and to consult on phasing out enriched colony cages for laying hens. I support Compassion in World Farming’s “End the Cage Age” campaign. Cages severely restrict hens’ movement, preventing them from running, flapping their wings, dust bathing and foraging—behaviours that are fundamental to their welfare. At my most recent coffee morning in Burnaston, it was good to speak about farming again with my constituent Angela Sargent, this time about her concerns regarding salmonella in eggs from imported caged birds. I never buy eggs from caged birds, but I fully appreciate that not everyone can afford to make that choice and must take the cheapest option available.

This issue also has serious implications for British farmers, who are placed at a competitive disadvantage by the tariff-free import of eggs from caged Ukrainian hens. The same point applies for meat imports.