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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with animal welfare organisations on the potential merits of phasing out the use of enriched cages for laying hens.

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.

The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations, as part of the development of an animal welfare strategy to be published later this year.