Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Renters Rights Bill on the number of renters who will not be able to request a pet.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Renters’ Rights Bill will give all private rented sector tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential impact of measures in the Autumn Budget 2025 on the farming sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer holds regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a range of issues.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the Floods Resilience Taskforce has met since September 2024; and on what dates.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Flood Resilience Taskforce meets quarterly to coordinate and drive forward work on national flood resilience by national and local government and partners including the emergency services, environment and farming sectors and community groups.
Since its launch, it has met four times: on 12 September 2024, 5 February 2025, 21 May 2025, and 8 September 2025 and discussed matters including preparations for autumn and winter flooding, flood insurance and reform of the floods funding formula. The fourth meeting is scheduled for 8 September 2025.
Taskforce members also meet frequently on specific issues. Examples include events on flood forecasting and warning, held on 19 December 2024, a briefing on the National Flood and Erosion Risk Assessment on 17 January 2025, and a roundtable on 20 January 2025 on delivering natural flood management.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the designer breeding of (a) brachycephalic cats, (b) bully cats, (c) hybrid cats and (d) other cats.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to examine the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. The report can be found here. The Government is carefully considering its recommendations.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support responsible dog ownership.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to encourage responsible dog ownership, to ensure dog control issues are addressed before they escalate and to make sure the full force of the law is applied. As part of this work, we have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce to explore measures to promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. The taskforce is considering four themes: education, training for both dogs and their owners, enforcement, and improving data on dog attacks. We look forward to receiving the findings and recommendations from the taskforce in due course.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the welfare of farm animals transported within the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
All farm animals transported in the UK are protected by comprehensive legal requirements aimed at protecting their welfare. These include the provision of sufficient space, feed and water, ensuring that vehicles used are fit for purpose and secure and that all drivers/attendants are appropriately trained to maintain the welfare of animals in their care. Animals must be fit for transport, and all transporters are required to ensure that, when transporting animals, they do so in a way that avoids causing pain, suffering or distress. The legislation is supplemented by guidance on GOV.UK, including specific advice on transporting animals in extreme weather.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will confirm whether it plans to maintain the Smaller Abattoir Fund.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra recognises the vital role smaller abattoirs play in supporting local livestock producers and maintaining a resilient and competitive food supply chain.
The Government will continue to work to simplify and rationalise our grant funding from 2026 onwards following the Spending Review and subsequent business planning to ensure our grants are targeted towards those who need them most and where they can deliver the most benefit for food security and nature.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in Food Security Agency charges for the 2025/26 financial year on small and medium-sized abattoirs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) conducts and charges for official controls, inspections, in abattoirs, which help to ensure that food hygiene and animal welfare standards are met. The controls are an intrinsic component in our food system which provide reassurance for the wider food industry and consumers, as well as trading partners to facilitate meat exports. Information on the 2025/26 charge rates is available on the FSA’s website at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/charges-for-controls-in-meat-premises
As in previous years, the impact of charges is offset by a taxpayer-funded discount which provides the greatest proportional support to smaller businesses. The impact of the support on different sized food businesses in England and Wales for 2025/26 is set out in the Cost Data Slides which the FSA has published at the following link:
The FSA is currently conducting an evaluation of the support provided via the discount and will assess the impact of any changes it might propose in the light of this evaluation.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether zoo animals being transferred between the UK and EU countries will be covered by the new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Our priority is to secure a long-term UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement aimed at reducing trade barriers to enable the safe and efficient movement of goods, including zoo animals. As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. With the principles and framework of a deal agreed, we will now negotiate the detail of an agreement that reduces administrative burden by streamlining SPS checks and certification, while upholding the UK’s commitment to ensure its biosecurity is protected within this future framework.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to produce updated public guidance on the ban on primates from April 2026.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Accompanying guidance to the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024 was published on 10 July 2025.
The guidance can be found at: