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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effectiveness of animal welfare regulations requiring (a) host families who care for animals on behalf of another and (b) businesses that run animal care services to acquire a licence for each animal they care for.

The controls on animal boarding were recently modernised. The new Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into force on 1 October 2018. These require those in the business of boarding animals in catteries or dog kennels to be licensed, including those that run dog day care and dog home boarding businesses. The controls only apply to those running a business and not the non-commercial care of someone else’s animal (for example dog sitting). Licences are not issued for each animal but on the basis of the business as a whole. The controls are supported by statutory guidance for local authorities in particular to help determine the business test. The controls were the subject of wide consultation and collective agreement of Ministers, and Defra officials are in contact with MHCLG colleagues on issues of shared interest.