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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times each local authority in England and Wales has used its powers to detain a horse under section 7A of the Animals Act 1971 since that Act came into force; and when each such use of those powers took place.

The Government does not hold records on the frequency of use of the powers available under the Animals Act 1971, as amended by the Control of Horses Act 2015 to make it easier to detain and manage unlawfully placed horses on land in England. Nevertheless, local authorities, land owner representatives and animal welfare organisations welcomed the new measures introduced in 2015.