Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the level of compliance among individuals offering pet services via online platforms with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 regulate commercial activity in relation to selling animals as pets; providing for, or arranging for, the provision of boarding for cats or dogs; hiring out horses; dog breeding and keeping or training animals for exhibition. Anyone conducting these activities as a business needs a valid licence. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences.
Local authorities provide a statutory annual data return including information on the number of licences issued, varied and revoked by local authorities for each activity. Returns are published here.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 ensure timely reporting of suspected animal cruelty incidents to the Animal and Plant Health Agency; and whether guidance is issued to (a) industry and (b) the public on how and when to report.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is newly published guidance on what and how to report animal welfare
concerns in England (Report farm animal welfare concerns - GOV.UK); additional contact details are available at the top of the APHA contact list on GOV.UK.
For England and Wales, there is a telephone number which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In Scotland, people can call their local APHA field service office.
People should contact APHA immediately with concerns about farm animals being neglected, abused or mistreated. If the concern about the welfare of farm animals is not urgent, they can email APHA at customeradvice@apha.gov.uk.
APHA leads on responding to animal welfare concerns in livestock. For concerns about wild animals or pets, people can contact their local council, private veterinary surgeon or wildlife rescue centre.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to launch a public consultation on the future use of farrowing crates in the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ 41698.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of sows in the UK kept in farrowing crates in each of the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold official data, however, for the last five years estimates have consistently maintained that 60% of the UK breeding herd were kept indoors with the vast majority of sows using farrowing crates to give birth. The remaining 40% farrow freely on outdoor units with no option for confinement.
Recent industry estimates suggest that the number of sows kept indoors has declined to 50%. Of these, around 8% of the British indoor pig herd were reported to be flexibly farrowed where the sow can be confined on a temporary basis and for a limited period.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications have been received under the 2025 round of animal health and welfare grants; and what proportion of these applications have been approved in Wiltshire.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF 25) opened for applications on the 29 May this year and will close at midday on 10 July 2025. The application process is ongoing; therefore, applications have not been approved at this stage.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department provides to support pig farmers in transitioning away from farrowing crates to free-farrowing systems.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The use of farrowing crates and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which the department is currently considering very carefully. At present there is no Government funding available to support pig farmers in transitioning away from farrowing crates to free-farrowing systems.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of grants for farmers to support (a) sustainable and (b) regenerative agricultural practices in Wiltshire.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further details about the reformed SFI offer will be announced following the spending review in summer 2025.
We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome; and we are making £110 million available for new grant competitions to support research and innovation, technology and equipment for farmers.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 support flood resilience in (a) Chippenham and (b) other towns; and whether his Department is taking steps to work with local authorities to develop climate adaptation plans for rural areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is working with local partners on options to take forward the Chippenham Avon Project. In addition, the EA is working with Wiltshire Council on the Wiltshire Rural Runoff Project to improve understanding of the causes of flooding and to look for potential interventions to reduce the impacts of rural flooding.
In 2024, as part of the fourth round of reporting under the Adaptation Reporting Power, we worked with 18 English local authorities to support local reporting of climate risks and adaptation.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the level of risk of insolvency to Thames Water following the withdrawal of KKR; and whether he has made an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of this event.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The company remains stable, and the Government is closely monitoring the situation. As the company has set out, it will continue to work with its creditors and stakeholders as part of its equity raise to improve its financial position.
The Government is prepared for all eventualities across our regulated industries- including water - as any responsible Government would be, and stands ready to intervene through the use of a Special Administration Regime, should this be required to ensure the continued provision of vital public services.
It would be inappropriate to comment further on the financial matters of a private company.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what contingency plans his Department has in place following the collapse of the proposed equity injection into Thames Water by KKR.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The company remains stable, and the Government is closely monitoring the situation. As the company has set out, it will continue to work with its creditors and stakeholders as part of its equity raise to improve its financial position.
The Government is prepared for all eventualities across our regulated industries- including water - as any responsible Government would be, and stands ready to intervene through the use of a Special Administration Regime, should this be required to ensure the continued provision of vital public services.
It would be inappropriate to comment further on the financial matters of a private company.