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 set a timeline for publishing a consultation on the introduction of licensing regulations for animal sanctuaries and rehoming organisations.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Department has initiated a series of meetings with key animal welfare stakeholders as part of the development of an overarching approach to animal welfare. We will be outlining more detail of our plans in due course.