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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the powers available to local authorities to intervene on privately-owned land to (a) monitor and (b) protect the welfare of horses; and if she will make a statement.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 provides appropriate powers to allow Local Authority inspectors to investigate allegations of poor welfare of horses. The 2006 Act was reviewed in 2010 and the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made no recommendation to change the powers available to Local Authorities.