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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support farmers to reduce the use of antibiotics.

Defra is a co-signatory with the Department of Health and Social Care of the UK's Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) 5-year National Action Plan (2019-2024) and the UK's 20 year Vision to Contain and Control AMR by 2040, documents which set out the UK's short and long term goals for mitigating the threat of AMR. A key ambition of these strategies is the appropriate use of antibiotics in humans and animals so that they continue to be an effective tool to treat infections when needed.

The UK Government is committed to reducing the unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals while safeguarding animal welfare. It has been our position for many years that we do not support the routine or predictable use of antibiotics, including where antibiotics are used to compensate for inadequate farming practices. We seek to reduce veterinary antibiotic prescribing through a combination of approaches, including improved biosecurity, stockmanship and good farming practices, disease prevention (including vaccination) and use of diagnostics. To date in the UK, collaborative working between government, the veterinary profession and the agriculture sectors to focus on these issues has resulted in our national sales of veterinary antibiotics reducing by 55% since 2014, and in 2021 we recorded the lowest antibiotic use to date.

Over the years the Government has supported several stewardship programmes to encourage the responsible use of antibiotics in animals, including Farm Vet Champions, a major collaborative project supported by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and spearheaded by RCVS Knowledge, to empower the veterinary community to tackle AMR by providing resources and continued professional development materials.

Directly linked to our commitment to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals is a commitment to strengthening animal health and welfare standards. Central to this commitment will be delivering practical support to farmers through the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, an initiative co-designed with farmers, vets, academics and national experts in the sector. The first step on the Pathway, the Annual Health and Welfare Review (copy attached) has now launched. Eligible farmers can now register an Expression of Interest in a visit by a vet-led team to carry out a yearly on-farm review of animal health and welfare. This includes carrying out diagnostic testing, reviewing biosecurity and the use of medicines, as well as bespoke advice on actions to improve the health and welfare.