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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to issue national guidance to all Police forces on following the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs initiative.

The Government takes the issue of dog attacks extremely seriously and we are determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership. The Government supports local preventative approaches to encourage responsible dog ownership of all breeds of dog, such as the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) initiative.

The Middlesex University report on responsible dog ownership, which will be published shortly, identified the LEAD initiative as a model of preventative best practice for low level dog control issues. Defra liaises regularly with the police on dog control issues, and is giving careful consideration to the report and its recommendations, which will provide the basis for potential further reform in this area.