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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on the next steps laid out in the Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published on December 2025.

The Animal Welfare Strategy sets out the priority issues that this Government will address, focusing on the changes and improvements that Defra aim to achieve by 2030 to improve the lives of millions of animals across the UK. The Government is determined to deliver these reforms and has already undertaken a number of consultations on phasing out cages for laying hens, improving lamb welfare and trail hunting. Defra are now analysing the responses to these consultations.

This Government has published Animal Welfare Committee Opinions on breeding in commercial livestock and responsible sourcing of fur. We have also held the first meeting of the fur working group to explore concerns and the different ways in which they could be addressed.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency has been commissioned to conduct a review of the evidence relating to mole traps; corvid traps; and the spring traps listed on the Spring Trap Approval Order as it applies in England. This review is underway and is expected to conclude by April 2027.

As set out in the strategy we are working with industry, keepers and farmers to improve resilience to a changing climate. This summer, the department met with the pig sector on this and also with the meat chicken industry to discuss the impact of the heatwaves and to hear from them about the effectiveness of the mitigations they have put in place since the 2022 heatwave.

Defra is continuing to progress implementation of the strategy in a phased way.