Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to help encourage the egg industry to end the culling of male chicks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 21 January 2026 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, PQ UIN 105878.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the penalties under the Hunting Act 2004; and whether the planned consultation on trail hunting will include consideration of Part 2 of that Act.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the consultation on hunting with dogs will accept submissions on potential amendments to Schedule 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the definition of hunting under the Hunting Act 2004.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to restrict the (a) import and (b) sale of animal products produced using methods that would be illegal in the UK as part of the negotiations on the UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 February 2026 to PQ UIN 114509.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to seek exemptions from dynamic alignment on animal welfare in the UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement; and when she next plans to report progress on negotiations to Parliament.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders' Summit on May 19, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where the UK needs to retain our own rules. The details of these are subject to negotiation, but the Government has been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards. While those negotiations are ongoing, Defra cannot comment further however parliament will be informed when they are concluded.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms she has put in place to (a) monitor cases of Bovine TB in hunting hounds and (b) adherence to (i) meat hygiene rules and (ii) Bovine TB controls in relation to the safe disposal of fallen cattle stock in farms with any involvement with hunting hounds.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tuberculosis (TB) in dogs caused by the bovine TB bacterium (M. bovis) is extremely rare. Dogs are spill over hosts and are not considered a significant source of infection for cattle, other dogs, or wildlife.
There is no evidence that hunting activities contribute to the spread of TB. While there are no monitoring systems specific to hunting hounds, APHA provides guidance and training to fallen stock collectors, and kennels feeding fallen stock, on identifying TB in livestock carcases.
In addition, in 2017, Defra strengthened the Animal By Product rules that apply to hunt kennels. Offal from livestock may no longer be fed to hounds, and kennels must carry out additional checks for TB lesions in fallen stock from farms with recent TB breakdowns. A reminder of these requirements was issued to all kennels in 2022.
Suspected TB in dogs must be reported immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), including by hunt kennels.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will amend the The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 following the 2024 Post-Implementation Review in order to (a) make the breeding of rabbits a licensable activity, (b) require that all rabbits sold are correctly sexed, (c) provide additional resources to local authorities to strengthen enforcement, and (d) place the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits on a statutory footing, in line with the regulatory frameworks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published its Animal Welfare Strategy in December 2025, which committed to continuing to work with the sector to drive up welfare standards and improve compliance with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (LAIA) licensing regime, as well as working with local authorities to ensure consistent and effective enforcement.
LAIA already require that anyone in the business of breeding and selling rabbits as pets must obtain a valid licence from their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to bring forward a ban on the use of snare traps.
Answered by Mary Creagh - 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 and this included a commitment to bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. This was recently reaffirmed in the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December 2025. Defra is considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Adrian Ramsay (Green Party - Waveney Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's red lines are for negotiations on a UK–EU sanitary and phytosanitary agreement; and what assessment she has made of the the potential merits of retaining the ability to restrict the import and sale of animal products produced using methods that would be illegal in the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and regulatory barriers for British producers and retailers.
The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are subject to negotiation, but the Government has been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards.