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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of his Department's publication entitled Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021, on animal welfare in (a) Dewsbury, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) the UK.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has an ambitious agenda for animal welfare and conservation reforms, which we continue to take forward during this Parliamentary session. We will continue to introduce and support legislative and non-legislative reforms where possible.

Since the publication of the Action Plan, we have delivered on key manifesto commitments: we have increased the penalties for those convicted of animal cruelty, passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 and launched the Animal Sentience Committee. We have made cat microchipping compulsory and have announced the extension of the Ivory Act (2018) to cover five endangered species. In addition, we have provided for penalty notices to apply to animal welfare offences, introduced new police powers to tackle hare coursing, and banned glue traps.

We are pleased to have introduced the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill to deliver our manifesto commitment to end this trade. The Bill will ban the export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses for slaughter and fattening from Great Britain, stopping unnecessary stress, exhaustion and injury caused by exporting live animals.

In December 2023, the Government laid the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2023 in Parliament and published the summary of responses to its 2023 consultation on Licensing of specialist private primate keepers in England.

Defra maintains a close working relationship with the zoo sector, and we will continue to build upon this to identify non-legislative improvements.  We aim to publish updated zoo standards early this year, which we have developed in collaboration with the sector and the Zoos Expert Committee, which raise standards and support enforcement.

Whilst no specific analysis has been undertaken for individual locations, policies regularly undergo evaluation or post implementation reviews to assess their effectiveness in meeting their animal welfare objectives.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to undertake post-legislative review of (1) the Ivory Act 2018, (2) the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019, (3) the Agriculture Act 2020, and (4) the Fisheries Act 2020, in line with the policy of reviewing Acts three to five years after enactment.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Together with other initiatives, post-legislative scrutiny promotes the delivery of meaningful and effective legislation. Post-legislative reviews are tailored for each Act and should be proportional in scope.

The Ivory Act 2018 came into force on 6 June 2022 when the ban on dealing in elephant ivory commenced. To allow an effective assessment to be made of how the Act is working in practice, we are recommending that a post-legislative review be undertaken in due course in line with the three-to-five-year timeframe from when the Act came into effect rather than the date of Royal Assent.

Defra, as the Act's enforcement authority, monitors routinely the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019 and will discuss the most appropriate way to review the 2019 Act with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

Defra intends to undertake post-legislative review of the Agriculture Act 2020 by no later than November 2025.

Post-legislative scrutiny of the Fisheries Act 2020 will be taken forward within the three to five years’ timeframe after Royal Assent. In planning the timing of the post-legislative scrutiny, we need to consider that the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) required by the Act was published in November 2022, the first Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) as required by both the Act and the JFS, were published at the end of December 2023. The Act also requires review of the JFS and FMPs. We are considering the most appropriate point for the post-legislative review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the illegal trade of ivory.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK Government is committed to protecting endangered animals and plants from poaching and illegal trade to benefit wildlife, local communities and the economy while protecting global security.

The UK Ivory Act 2018 came into force in June 2022, making it illegal to deal in items made of or containing elephant ivory, and in May this year we announced that the Act will be extended to other ivory bearing species. The Act contains offences for those who breach the ban, with a mix of civil and criminal sanctions, with a maximum fine of £250,000 or five years’ imprisonment.

The UK Government plays a leading role in tackling illegal wildlife trade and we are increasing funding by a further £30 million between 2022 and 2025. We have committed funding through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund on multiple projects to support protections for elephants, including £1 million to PAMS Foundation to strengthen law enforcement in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Malawi to secure effective wildlife criminal prosecutions.

Found: welfare”.53 He pointed to other animal welfare legislation passed in the last five years, including the Ivory

Found: welfare”.53 He pointed to other animal welfare legislation passed in the last five years, including the Ivory

Found: the Home Office, such as downloadable pro forma and then registered in a similar way to the Ivory

Found: the Home Office, such as downloadable pro forma and then registered in a similar way to the Ivory

Found: journeySNMSummary non-motoringOther summary non-motoring offences1084110841 - Summary offences relating to the Ivory