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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the recommendation on breed specific legislation in paragraph 22 of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee's report on Controlling dangerous dogs, Ninth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1040, whether he plans to repeal section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

The Government response to the report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) entitled "Controlling Dangerous Dogs (HC1040)", was published on 28 January 2019 and addressed each of the Committee's recommendations. In its response the Government noted it has commissioned research by Middlesex University into dog attacks. The research is ongoing and will help to inform implementation of some of EFRA's recommendations.

In their Ninth Report of Session 2017-19, HC 1040, EFRA stopped short of recommending the repeal of section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. In the summary, the Committee stated "We agree with the Government that it would be irresponsible to amend the breed ban immediately without adequate safeguards." In response to the EFRA report, the Government referred to the suite of powers and measures available to police and local authorities to respond to incidents involving dangerous dogs and to help prevent dogs from becoming dangerously out of control.