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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with insurance companies about their willingness to insure poultry farmers against losses related to bird flu which are not covered by Government compensation schemes.

We are aware that the recent unprecedented outbreak of AI has created problems for some poultry producers in obtaining insurance.

We are considering a number of options to both engage with insurers in explaining the measures that Defra and the industry has put in place, and in working with the industry to improve on-farm biosecurity.