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

The use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.