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 effect of the decision to remove veterinary workers from the critical workers list on the provision of animal welfare services.

Although veterinary workers providing emergency care in England in non-food chain related roles were removed from the critical workers list when the latest lockdown was announced this January, vets providing services in the food chain are still included as critical workers and have been able to send their children to school. This includes veterinary surgeons working in abattoirs and meat processing plants, at border control posts, and attending to livestock production. Schools in England are scheduled to reopen for all pupils from 8 March 2021. We are not aware of major animal welfare issues arising in relation to the provision of veterinary services during the lockdown.