Asked by: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will take legislative steps to help improve welfare standards for (a) layer hens and (b) broiler chickens.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farm animals, are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation: the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence either to cause any captive animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of the animal; and The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 set down detailed requirements on how farmed livestock, including laying hens and meat chickens, should be kept.
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
Further details on our plans will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will support the Fur (Import and Sale) Bill.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. The report that they produce will support our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.
In accordance with parliamentary convention, the Government will set out its formal position on this Bill when it receives its Second Reading.
Asked by: Irene Campbell (Labour - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of child poverty in North Ayrshire and Arran constituency; and what steps she is taking to help reduce child poverty in that constituency.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty per constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication and can be found in tabs “5_Relative_ParlC” and “6_Absolute_ParlC”. These are only produced on a before housing cost basis. A link to these statistics can be found here: Children in low-income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child.
The Child Poverty Taskforce has started work and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The Child Poverty Strategy will be published in the Spring and is UK-wide.
In September, the Taskforce heard from local leaders about the challenges faced in their communities, and how it can best work with Mayors, local authorities and other bodies to develop innovative solutions to tackle child poverty. This marked the first of a series of thematic sessions with key organisations, charities and experts on specific topics that will help to shape the strategy.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, create 3,000 additional nurseries, as well as deliver our plan to make work pay to turn the minimum wage into a real living wage.