Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Animal Sentience Committee has reviewed non-stun slaughter; and whether they consider that this practice conforms to their policies on animal welfare.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Sentience Committee has statutory powers to produce reports containing its views on whether, or to what extent, this Government has appropriately considered how its policy decisions might affect the welfare of sentient animals. The Committee has not considered Government policy decisions on non-stun slaughter.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands; and what discussions they have had with the governments of the Faroe Islands and Demark about banning their slaughter.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK ministers and officials regularly raise concerns about the welfare and sustainability implications of cetacean hunts directly with Faroese counterparts. The free trade agreement with the Faroe Islands allows us to raise crucial issues like animal welfare.
UK Ministers and officials highlight our strong opposition to the practice at every appropriate opportunity, including at the last meeting of the UK-Faroe Islands Joint Committee in June 2026, and through our diplomatic channels with the Faroese Representation in London.
UK officials also raised the UK's opposition to cetacean hunting in June 2025 as part of the UK-Faroe Islands fisheries intersessional, and again at head of delegation level during formal UK-Faroe Islands bilateral fisheries negotiations in November 2025. By having strong diplomatic and economic relationships, Defra are able to have frank discussions on this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the timetable is for implementing dynamic alignment on export certification with the EU-UK SPS agreement; and what assessment they have made of whether current certification capacity can be sustained throughout that timetable.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and veterinary sector representatives on export certification workforce planning for the transition period to dynamic alignment.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of Official Veterinarians currently undertaking export certification on a full-time basis; and the risk of experienced Official Veterinarians leaving export certification roles before any reduction in certification requirements takes effect.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the UK egg industry about implementing a trial of in-ovo sexing technology to prevent the culling of male chicks; and when they anticipate such a trial to take place.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A commercial in-ovo sexing system was trialed at a UK hatchery last year to help the egg industry understand the logistics of in-ovo sexing. This Government will engage with the egg industry and technology companies on this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to enforce the commitment made in the Animal welfare strategy for England, published on 22 December 2025, to end the culling of male chicks in the egg industry.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, this Government would like to see an end to the practice of culling male chicks. The Government is monitoring the rapid progress currently being made with in-ovo sexing and has funded research into the use of dual breed chickens that remove the need to kill male chicks.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many badgers were culled in 2024 and 2025 in an effort to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in cattle; and of those badgers, how many were subsequently confirmed to have had tuberculosis.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of badgers culled under licence for bovine TB control purposes is published annually on GOV. UK. In 2024, the published total was 17,150.
Data on the numbers culled under licence in 2025 will be published in due course.
Badgers removed through intensive culling in the High Risk Area and Edge Area are not routinely submitted for M. bovis testing. No badgers were tested in these areas in 2024. Although some badgers were tested in 2025, the results are not yet known, as the study has not yet been completed.
Subject to capacity, badgers removed through culling operations in the Low Risk Area are sent to APHA laboratories for M. bovis testing. Not every badger removed through Low Risk Area operations may be tested for M. bovis.
Area name (year) | Number of badgers removed | Number of badgers tested | Number of positive badgers |
Area 54 – Lincolnshire (2024) | 54 | 46 | 3 |
Area 73 – Cumbria (2024) | 576 | 449 | 24 |
Area 73 – Cumbria (2025) | 175 | 173 | 1 |
Table 1: Number of badgers removed and tested for M. bovis in the Low Risk Area.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are (1) developing, or (2) supporting the development of, a vaccine to prevent tuberculosis in cattle; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is actively supporting the development of a CattleBCG vaccine to help protect cattle against bovine TB. Government-funded field trials of the CattleBCG vaccine and companion Detect Infected amongst Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) skin test have been running since 2021, with the final planned phase now underway and due to complete by 2027. Evidence from these trials is supporting the regulatory process needed for future deployment. This Government remains committed to progressing cattle vaccination as an important component of long-term bovine TB control.
The recently published recommended Bovine TB Control Strategy for England (https://tbhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-Recommended-Bovine-TB-Strategy.pdf) (see attached) sets a clear ambition to deploy a cattle vaccine and DIVA test by 2030. This Government will now carefully consider the recommendations in the proposed strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cattle were slaughtered because of suspected bovine tuberculosis in 2024 and 2025; and of those cattle, how many were subsequently confirmed to have had tuberculosis.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of cattle slaughtered for TB control purposes in Great Britain in 2024 and 2025 were as follows:
Year | England | Scotland | Wales | TOTAL |
2024 | 21,586 | 13,033 | 246 | 34,865 |
2025 | 20,494 | 11,257 | 290 | 32,041 |
The comparative format of the tuberculin skin test used in the UK is very specific (99.98% at the standard interpretation), so the probability of a false positive result is roughly 1 in 5,000 to 6,000 uninfected cattle tested. This means the department can be confident that the vast majority of skin test-positive cattle (i.e. test reactors) are truly infected with TB, irrespective of post-mortem and laboratory findings.
Bovine TB statistics are published on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb.