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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will create a Dog Licensing Agency.

We have no plans at this time to reintroduce such a scheme, as it would most likely amount to a database of responsible owners. The old dog licence was repealed by the Local Government Act 1988 because it cost more to administer than the revenue it generated. The old licencing system was in effect an ownership registration scheme. Now that microchipping is mandatory, this is no longer necessary.