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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Government’s funding support packages available to (a) aquariums and (b) zoos for the wellbeing of animals in zoos and aquariums during the covid-19 outbreak.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend, the Member for North Devon, Selaine Saxby, on 27 April 2020, PQ 37936, and the reply given to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife, Douglas Chapman, on 11 May 2020, PQ 43675.

A £14 million Zoos Support Fund was launched on 4 May 2020. As of 1 June, Defra has received 80 applications from zoos and aquariums in England and has already awarded grants to zoos and aquariums to the value of almost £1.4 million. We continue to engage with the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums and HM Treasury to monitor progress.

Defra officials have also been engaging with some of the largest zoos to discuss additional concerns about reduced visitor numbers and income over a longer time frame, and active consideration of these is ongoing.

Work is ongoing to understand how and when zoos, including safari parks, and aquariums, may be able to reopen in a safe way to the public whilst maintaining social distancing.