Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to address animal welfare concerns associated with the breeding of wildcat hybrids.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As part of the Animal Welfare Strategy, which was published on 22 December 2025, the Government will take steps to improve our understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, drawing on expertise from the sector, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector.

The keeping of dangerous wild animals is regulated by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. Keepers of dangerous wild animals listed in the Schedule to the 1976 Act must get a Dangerous Wild Animals licence from their local authority. All cats are listed in the Schedule to the Act, although several species, such as the domestic cat, are exempted. Cat hybrids having a domestic cat, or other exempted species, as one parent and a non-exempted cat, such as a wildcat, as the other parent would require a Dangerous Wild Animals licence.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help reduce levels of dependence on international fossil fuel markets.

Answered by Ed Miliband - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Since coming to office this government has secured enough renewables in our two record breaking auctions to power the equivalent of 23 million homes and embarked on the biggest nuclear building programme in half a century.

Only by going further and faster in building clean homegrown power can we reduce our level of dependence on fossil fuel markets.

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