Draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023

Alex Sobel Excerpts

Monday 17th April 2023 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rebecca Pow)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023.

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Graham. I know that my two cats at home are delighted that I am here today.

[Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)]

Are they microchipped?

[Rebecca Pow]

They are—Rafa and Mr Tipps. The purpose of the instrument is to introduce compulsory cat microchipping in England, delivering on one of the Government’s key manifesto pledges. The measure was supported by 99% of respondents to our public consultation, which received over 33,000 responses—a measure of just how important people think this is.

Microchipping improves animal welfare by increasing the traceability of pets, making it easier for lost, stray or stolen pets to be reunited with their keepers and returned home safely. Microchipping is a safe procedure involving the insertion of a chip, generally around the size of a grain of rice, under the skin of a pet. Once the microchip has been inserted, contact details are registered with a compliant database. The microchip contains a lot of numbers, with I think up to 15 numbers unique to the particular cat.

The draft regulations also include provisions to ensure that microchips are inserted by competent people. Since the Government introduced compulsory dog microchipping in England in 2016, around 90% of dogs are now microchipped. Evidence suggests that stray dogs that are microchipped and have up-to-date microchip records are more than twice as likely to be reunited with their keeper than stray dogs without a microchip. There are more than 9 million owned cats in England, but as many as 2.3 million are currently not microchipped, so the measures are intended to address that.

From 10 June 2024, any owned cat over the age of 20 weeks must be microchipped and the keeper’s contact details registered on a compliant database. That 20-week date was included because it coincides with when a cat should be neutered. There is an exception where a vet certifies that the procedure should not be carried out for animal health reasons; however, hon. Members can be reassured that that exception is rarely used.

The requirements apply only to owned cats, and not to free-living cats that live with little or no human interaction or dependency, such as on a farm. We had absolutely loads of those when I was very young, growing up—they do not have any now, I have to say. Feral or community cats are not within scope.

As with the existing requirements for dogs, keepers found not to have microchipped their cat may be served with a notice by the enforcement body, which will usually be the local authority. If they do not comply, they may face a fine of up to £500 and the enforcement body can arrange for the cat to be microchipped at the keeper’s expense. The offending person has up to 21 days to get their cat microchipped and to register it with a compliant database.

The instrument also repeals and replaces the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015, bringing all the measures into a single instrument covering dogs and cats. There are no substantive changes to the existing provisions covering the requirement for keepers to have their dog microchipped, although we have made technical drafting changes where we considered that the existing text would benefit from further clarity. Animal welfare is a devolved issue, and the regulations therefore apply to England only.

Colleagues may be aware that the Government consulted last year on wider pet microchipping reform designed to improve the operation of the existing regime, including plans to make it easier for approved users to access microchip records, to improve the accuracy of the records and to standardise database operator processes. There is a range of databases, and that would all be standardised. We will issue our responses to the consultation shortly, but I absolutely assure colleagues that we plan to introduce amending regulations in due course to implement those improvements. I commend the regulations to the Committee.

[Alex Sobel]

It is an honour to serve under you in the Chair, Sir Graham. I am grateful to the Minister for outlining the contents of the draft regulations and pleased that the Government have heeded the calls to legislate for the compulsory microchipping of pet cats over 20 weeks old. That is a positive step towards better identifying lost or stolen cats and dogs and reuniting them with their owners. She will be pleased to hear that the Opposition will support the regulations.

I commend a number of organisations who do excellent work for cat welfare, including Battersea Dogs and Cats Home—I am pleased to see my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea in her place—the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Cats Protection. Cats Protection estimates that 2.3 million owned cats in England are not microchipped—I believe the Minister quoted that figure—which can lead to thousands of cats being lost or abandoned without proper identification. The regulations will help to ensure that cats can be traced back to their owners more easily and reduce the burden on rescue organisations.

While I support the regulations, I have some concerns about their implementation. First, there is a lack of distinction between owned, feral and community cats, which could lead to ownership disputes, particularly for cats that do not have a single owner. It is essential that we provide further clarification on that issue to help enforcement officers and the public, particularly in defining the keeper of a cat. In addition, the regulations do not stipulate a waiting period before rescuers or enforcement bodies can rehome a cat. That creates uncertainty about how long rescuers should house stray cats for and raises concerns about their welfare.

Furthermore, there are concerns about the ability and capacity of local authorities to enforce the law and whether they will receive adequate training. It is essential that we provide clear and robust guidance on how cat microchipping should be enforced, considering the differences between cats and dogs, and provide clarity on the straying period before rehoming can occur.

The RSPCA wants to see a single point of access for authorised users to check all compliant databases at once. Is the Minister considering that? A review of the microchipping database should be carried out to ensure that it is effective in enhancing the traceability of animals and improving access to medical records for vets.

While the regulations for cats largely mirror those for dogs, we must consider the differences between the two species. Cats, unlike dogs, are free-roaming, and that could make enforcement regulations for them more challenging. I support Battersea’s recommendation that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs produces clear and robust guidance on how cat microchipping should be enforced, taking into account the differences between cats and dogs. Will the Minister clarify whether the dog databases will accept data on cats and whether the regulations mandate compulsory scanning of dead cats on all roads by local authorities and National Highways?

Microchipping will help to ensure that we can reunite cats swiftly and reduce the number of stray and abandoned cats. The Opposition support the regulations because they will increase the chances of lost cats being reunited with their owners, reduce the burden on rescue organisations and prevent instances of cat theft and ownership disputes. However, it is essential to address the issues that have been highlighted to ensure the regulations’ effectiveness in safeguarding the welfare of our beloved cats and dogs.

[Rebecca Pow]

I thank the shadow Minister for his support. Indeed, there is wide cross-party support in the House on this issue. As we cannot disagree on this, we can be very constructive, and I believe that the regulations will greatly benefit the welfare of cats. I very much support that.

I reiterate the shadow Minister’s thanks to the various organisations who have been so involved, including Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and Cats Protection, which made helpful comments, including on support where necessary for vulnerable people who may struggle with the cost of getting their cat microchipped. There is an estimated cost of £25, and it has a support system that can be operated if necessary. We would definitely all welcome that.

The shadow Minister raised a range of issues, including: when is a cat feral, when is it owned and when is it a community cat? I cannot give him a definitive answer to that, but to be honest, one knows if one owns a cat, and it is those cats that the legislation is for and that we want to get microchipped. At the moment, just over 2 million owned cats are not microchipped; we will be tackling that category of cats. This matter was consulted on widely, and there was a general consensus that pet cats that lived with people should come under the legislation, and feral cats and what we call community cats should not.

There are 22 different databases, as the shadow Minister will be aware. That is why the second consultation, which took place last year, asked wide questions about how they could be better operated, and about how vets could be helped to look up whether a cat that they are scanning is registered on a database and to determine whether it is a stray or has come in as a result of pet theft or some other devious means. That was a key part of last year’s consultation, which we will report back on later. Another statutory instrument will be formulated to bring in all those details, and there was very wide support for that. I cannot give hon. Members the exact details because we will release information on what the consensus was and our response to the consultation, but there will be some kind of system with one conduit to go into the databases. That will be incredibly helpful, particularly for the vets who are on the frontline, so to speak.

I think the shadow Minister asked a question about the difference between cats and dogs.

[Alex Sobel]

In relation to databases.

[Rebecca Pow]

Lots of lessons have been learned from dogs because they have been microchipped since 2016. The system is working extremely effectively—hence we are bringing it in for cats. We have to withdraw the 2015 regulations and put cats and dogs together, so that they all come under one hat. If the shadow Minister wants any further detail about the difference between cats and dogs, I will happily send it to him, but hopefully he will be happy with my answer.

On the rather sorry issue of deceased cats, I am one of those people who came home to find their cat left in the driveway. Mine was put in a carrier bag, but it was run over by somebody. Sadly, this does happen. It is very painful. My cat Hinkley, named after the nuclear power station, weirdly—I spent a lot of time news reporting down there, and it was on my doorstep—was a lovely cat. It is so painful for an owner to lose a pet and not know what has happened to it. Compulsory cat microchipping will make it easier for deceased cats to be reunited with their owner. Even if a cat has been knocked down in a road accident, it is still better for its owner to know what has happened to it and where it is. National Highways and the majority of local authorities already have procedures in place to scan dead cats and dogs found by the roadside.

I thank everyone who has been here to take part. I hope that we have lots of cat lovers among us, and once again, I thank everyone for the cross-party support. I genuinely think that the instrument will make a real difference to cat welfare in this country. This is a manifesto pledge, so it is brilliant to be moving it forward. On those grounds, I commend the regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.