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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure sufficient income in greyhound racing to safeguard the welfare of greyhounds throughout their career and into retirement.

On 10 January 2019, the Government announced a new funding commitment from bookmakers worth an estimated £3 million to ensure the welfare of greyhounds is protected and improved. The agreement was reached following discussions chaired by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) and is set to increase the total amount of funding from bookmakers to the British Greyhound Racing Fund (BGRF) to an estimated £10 million this year. We expect thousands of racing greyhounds are to be better cared for as a result of this new commitment.

Defra and DCMS will continue to work with the bookmaking industry to encourage all remaining bookmakers who take bets on greyhound racing, and who do not currently contribute, to commence payments to the BGRF to support the sport. The Ministers for Animal Welfare and Sport will soon be meeting to discuss what more can be done to secure the funding needed to ensure greyhound welfare.