Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a compensation scheme for pig farmers who are unable to sell their animals to slaughter due to a lack of butchers.

We believe that targeting our financial support on incentivising processors to slaughter more pigs thereby reducing the backlog and the animal welfare impacts of pigs backed upon farm is the most effective way of supporting farmers at this time. While a hardship fund or compensation scheme would provide farmers with a financial payment, there would be challenges in ensuring any scheme would reduce the animal welfare impact of those pigs currently backed up on farm, provide value for money and was able to target those in most need.