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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of requiring CCTV animal welfare standards monitoring in slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement.

The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) was commissioned by GB governments to produce an independent assessment of the benefits of CCTV in slaughterhouses. The report was published in February 2015. It concluded that CCTV can offer some real benefits but it cannot replace the need for businesses to have proper monitoring procedures in place on the ground. The FAWC report did not recommend legislation. However, the Government is keeping the issue under review.