Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Greyhound welfare boosted through multi-million pound deal with gambling industry, published in January 2019, whether (a) a full audit of the requirements needed has been made in relation to capital costs for repairs to trainers' kennels and tracks and (b) all revenue expenses have been calculated to ensure that no greyhound suffers (i) on the track and (ii) through lack of a good home.

On 10th January 2019, Government announced a new funding commitment from bookmakers worth an estimated £3m this year to ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. We expect thousands of racing greyhounds are to be better cared for as a result of this new deal. The commitment is set to increase the total amount of funding from bookmakers to the British Greyhound Racing Fund to an estimated £10m this year.

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), responsible for the governance, regulation and management of the sport of licensed greyhound racing in England, Scotland and Wales, has committed to improve licensing and inspection standards on and off track. I look forward to meeting with them and the Greyhound Forum in the coming weeks to discuss this work further. A full audit of trainers’ residential kennels is underway to prioritise upgrades and GBGB has allocated £400,000 specifically for kennel upgrades in 2019. A further £160,000 has been allocated to support tracks which do not currently have air-conditioning in their kennel areas.

This commitment will further support greyhounds both before and after racing by helping to fund the GBGBs Injury Recovery Scheme and providing £1.4m to the The Greyhound Trust to help find homes for retired greyhounds, ensuring where possible they go on to enjoy a full and active life in retirement.