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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing its Animal Welfare Strategy; and if she will make it her policy to ensure that the Animal Welfare Strategy includes steps to end the use of cages for farmed animals.

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 for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.

This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.