Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are they considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Since publication of the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report. This co-design work has made good progress on exploring potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are now exploring all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Animal Welfare Strategy will be published.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to update legislation to include species-specific requirements for the slaughter of farmed fish; and what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of such measures for improving animal welfare standards and enhancing the competitiveness of the English aquaculture sector.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing was finalised in 2023. Since then a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report to explore potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. This co-design work has made good progress and we are now exploring all the potential next steps. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry on more detailed welfare at killing requirements.
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme also recently opened for applications. The Scheme offers financial support to catching, processing and aquaculture businesses, including for improvements to animal health and welfare such as equipment to protect farms from wild predators or equipment to kill fish in a more humane way.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 in 2028.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are aware of this significant milestone and the opportunity it represents; both for celebrating women being granted equal voting rights, and inspiring women and girls to get involved in politics.
We will work across Departments to coordinate efforts to mark the occasion.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the summary of responses and Government response to the public consultation on fairer food labelling on 12 June, whether they intend to implement mandatory method-of-production labelling for eggs, pork and chicken.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 12 June 2025 we published the summary of responses and the Government response to the fairer food labelling consultation, which was undertaken last year by the previous Government. The response is available here on GOV.UK.
We recognise the strong support from the public and other stakeholders for clearer information for consumers on welfare standards for their food. We have also heard and understood the views raised on the detail of the consultation proposals by the many interested parties who have responded to this consultation.
We will consider the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the government’s wider animal welfare and food strategies.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic benefits of investing in alternatives to animal testing for the UK life sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will consider economic impacts including benefits.
Building on the UK’s strengths as home to world leading research and pharmaceutical businesses, the strategy will support the UK to capitalise on the global non-animal technologies market, estimated to be worth $29.4 billion by 2030, and on the scientific and economic advantages of more human-relevant methods for product development and testing.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the policy to require government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined in line with the highest animal welfare tiers set out in the consultation on fairer food labelling.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a veterinary agreement with the European Union includes protections to ensure that the UK can implement mandatory animal welfare method-of-production labelling, including on imports.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to resetting our EU relationship, including by seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement. We have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It’s too early to discuss any specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation.
A public consultation on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to phase out the use of cages for farmed animals and to explore introducing animal welfare labelling, following the European Commission's recent announcement on these measures.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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.
A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken between March and May 2024 by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.