Horseracing Industry

Lord Trees Excerpts

Thursday 17th November 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a veterinary surgeon as laid out in the register. I am very grateful, as others are, to the noble Lord, Lord Risby, for securing this debate. He and others have emphasised the considerable value of the equine industry to the UK economy. As noble Lords may expect from my interests, the points I wish to make are in respect of measures of support for equine health, disease prevention and veterinary education.

I hope it is self-evident that the whole horseracing industry is critically underpinned by maintaining the health of horses, which are imperilled by infectious disease and traumatic injury. The Horserace Betting Levy Board has historically provided, as determined by statute, substantial financial support for equine health and welfare in three main ways. The first is its important financial support for research into the epidemiology of infectious disease and into non-infectious trauma injuries, which has led, for example, to improvements in the preparation of racing surfaces and the design of fences to reduce injury from falls and lameness.

The second is the levy board’s support of disease surveillance, which is hugely important to help monitor and prevent the incursion of devastating infections, such as equine flu, which could paralyse not only the horseracing industry but the wider horse sport industry as a whole. The important issue of equine disease surveillance was formerly located at the Animal Health Trust, but, following its unfortunate closure, surveillance activities have fortunately managed to continue with help from the levy board. They have relocated to the University of Cambridge and a major veterinary practice in Newmarket. The third main support that the levy board has given is to veterinary education and for specialist postgraduate training in equine health and welfare to ensure that we have an unrivalled cohort of appropriate professional expertise.

Moreover, I should emphasise that assurance about the welfare of horses, including, of course, freedom from disease and injury, underpins the social contract between the industry and the British public, who accept and support the racing of horses. I need hardly stress that this cannot be taken for granted in a public who increasingly question and value animal welfare.

Therefore, funding for the issues I have mentioned is absolutely vital and the role of the HBLB is critical. Although a small proportion of its overall income is devoted to horse health and welfare, that is hugely important and has amounted to more than £40 million over the past 22 years. It currently amounts to about £1.5 million to £2 million per annum. I stress that this support is particularly important because alternative sources for funding equine health, welfare and research are relatively limited. The research councils and the Wellcome Trust, which are very important supporters of biomedical research in general, do not include funding for equine research. There are a few other charities and organisations which help—I should mention the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, the Racing Foundation and the Horse Welfare Board, among others—but the support flowing from the levy board is quantitively the most important in this respect.

It is thus of some concern that there has been continuing uncertainty about the future of the HBLB. Whether or why it might be replaced is not something for me to comment on, but I want to emphasise that any current or alternative mechanism helping to support the racing industry in general must surely take account of the fact that the whole industry, directly or indirectly, is totally reliant on maintaining the health and welfare of the horses on which it depends. Finally, will His Majesty’s Government ensure that any future changes to the statutory mechanisms which provide funding for the racing industry include adequate support for equine health and welfare?