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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 60563 on Livestock: Death, what resources his Department has made available to the Animal and Plant Health Agency to monitor compliance with animal welfare standards during periods of extreme heat.

APHA does not receive additional resources to monitor compliance with animal welfare legal requirements during periods of extreme heat. However, the Agency has provided guidance on how to care for animals on farm and in transport in case of extreme weather since 2013; the guidance has been regularly reviewed and updated and it is available on the following page Keeping farm animals and horses in extreme weather - GOV.UK. In addition, The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) issues guidance to transporters on transporting animals in extreme hot and cold weather. The guidance ensures that transporters consider the particular risks that extreme weather presents to animal welfare and that animals are transported in a way that avoids any pain, suffering or distress.

APHA continues to monitor reports of animals being transported in extreme weather conditions. Where incidents of unnecessary suffering caused by transporting animals in extreme weather are identified, APHA will take appropriate regulatory action which may include the suspension of transporter authorisations. The Local Authority will be notified and will consider any appropriate enforcement action.