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 his Department's statutory guidance entitled Dog kennel boarding licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities, updated on 1 June 2024, how many licensed kennels and catteries inspected by local authorities did not meet minimum requirements in the latest period for which data is available.

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 there are no statutory requirements for local authorities to provide Defra with information on the number of licensed businesses who do not meet minimum requirements.

Local authorities are required to provide an annual return detailing the number of licences in force on 1st April each year, and the average fees associated with the grant or renewal of each licence in the preceding year. Some local authorities have provided additional information about suspended, refused or revoked licences. Data from the annual return is published by Defra and can be found here: Local Authority Licensing of Activities involving Animals returns - data.gov.uk.