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 has made a recent assessment of the impact of (a) online competition, (b) rising costs and (c) licensing requirements on pet shops.

Under the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations), anyone who is in the business of selling animals as pets needs 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. Online sellers and traditional pet shops are accordingly held to a fair regulatory standard.

The Government has been providing energy cost support to businesses, including pet shops; first through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and now through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS). The EBDS will run until 31 March 2024 for eligible non-domestic consumers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

My Department is currently conducting a post implementation review of the 2018 Regulations. Among other things, this will assess whether there could be scope for improvements to the regulation of the sale of pets.