Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reports the Animal and Plant Health Agency has received of alleged animal welfare breaches on farms in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - 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 and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority.
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 take steps to ensure that the Animal and Plant Health Agency acts on reports of animal welfare breaches on farms by animal protection groups.
Answered by Angela Eagle - 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 and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority.
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
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 ensure the compliance by farms with animal welfare requirements.
Answered by Angela Eagle - 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 and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority.
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to apply lessons learned from the use of mandated CCTV footage in slaughterhouses to the enforcement of animal welfare standards on farms.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are key differences between farms and slaughterhouses in terms of numbers and this affects the type of inspections that are practical.
All slaughterhouses in England have Official Veterinarians from the Food Standards Agency present on-site when operating to monitor and enforce animal welfare legislation. Since 2018 it has been mandatory for all 180 operational slaughterhouses in England to have CCTV and to provide access to it. Official Veterinarians carry out a daily review of CCTV footage.
There are around 60,000 commercial livestock holdings in England. Monitoring and enforcement of animal welfare on farm is carried out on a risk basis by inspectors of the Animal and Plant Health Agency and local authorities. We continue to explore ways to strengthen compliance with animal welfare regulations.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Animal and Plant Health Agency's guidance entitled Animal welfare on farms inspection, published on 12 January 2016, requiring complaints to be lodged before inspection of a farm.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
APHA carries out inspections for a number of different reasons, including (but not limited to) in case of allegation of poor animal welfare on farm. Any allegations of poor animal welfare are logged and assessed. Where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken, this includes unannounced inspections carried out within 24 hours and follow-up inspections at a later date to confirm compliance.
Information on how to report an animal welfare concern is available on this page:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-farm-animal-welfare-concerns.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to require the Animal and Plant Health Agency to publish the (a) outcomes of inspections, (b) rates of compliance and (c) types of non-compliance on farms.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB, which the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) contributes to. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Animal and Plant Health Agency procedures on providing farms with advanced notice of an inspection on the enforcement of animal welfare standards.
Answered by Angela Eagle - 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 and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority.
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm inspections were conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency following a complaint of alleged breaches of animal welfare in each of the last five years.
Answered by Angela Eagle - 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 and Plant Agency (APHA), as the national regulator for farmed animal welfare in Great Britain, undertake proactive and reactive inspections on farm to monitor compliance with legislation. The proactive inspections are risk based taking into account factors such as previous non-compliances, frequency of inspections and mortality rates. Reactive inspections are triggered by complaints and/or FSA referrals; any allegations of poor animal welfare is assessed by APHA and where there are non-compliances with the regulations, appropriate action is taken. This may include a follow-up, unannounced, inspection by APHA at a later date to confirm compliance. In most animal health and welfare cases of non-compliance, the statutory enforcement body will be the Local Authority.
Defra publishes data in the Multi-annual National Control Plan (MANCP) annual reports, relating to animal welfare official controls and enforcement activities undertaken within GB. Outcomes of inspections, rates of compliance and types of non-compliance on farms are included in the report.
MANCP reports are available here.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that Lead Ministers for Disability (a) engage with (i) disabled people's organisations, (ii) people with lived experience and (iii) other relevant civil society stakeholders and (b) incorporate that engagement into departmental policy.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.
In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.
To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.
The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.
To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.
Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Lead Ministers for Disability scheme in communicating the (a) needs and (b) views of disabled people across Government.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.
In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.
To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.
The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.
To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.
Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.