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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with relevant authorities to prevent cold-related deaths of farm animals in (a) Romford constituency and (b) England.

All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation whether on-farm, during transport or at slaughter, with the Animal Welfare Act 2006 making it an offence either to cause any captive animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide the welfare needs of the animal.

It is the responsibility of livestock keepers and authorised transporters to have contingency plans in place to ensure their animals' welfare in extreme weather, including advice on checking on animals more regularly and ensuring all animals have easy access to water on a daily basis, and not transporting animals in temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius. We also publish advice on GOV.UK specifically for keepers: Keeping farm animals and horses in extreme weather

Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) also closely monitors weather forecasts and issues guidance to all authorised transporters on key actions that can be taken when transporting animals to help mitigate the impact of extreme temperatures.