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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of phasing out the use of (a) enriched cages and (b) farrowing crates on English farms.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.