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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish a timetable for a public consultation on the use of (a) cages for laying hens and (b) farrowing crates for pigs.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.

The use of cages and other closed confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.