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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with the Scottish Government on the potential impact of the Dangerous Dogs (Designated Types) (England and Wales) Order 2023 on the transport of dogs between England and Scotland.

Defra Ministers have written regularly to Ministerial counterparts in Scotland to encourage a UK–wide approach to the ban on XL Bully type dogs. This included highlighting the implications of the ban in England and Wales on the movement of XL Bully dogs between England and Wales, and Scotland. We also offered several meetings to discuss the XL Bully ban with the Scottish Government.

Defra officials continue to engage with officials from all the devolved administrations on a weekly basis to discuss the implementation of the ban.