Found: summaries in writing, at last, of the proposals that Maroı made on 30 June in areas like assistance dogs

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made in analysing the responses to the Consultation on cat and dog microchipping legislation in England.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

We will shortly issue the summary of responses and the Government’s response to the ‘Consultation on cat and dog microchipping legislation in England’ which was launched in Spring 2022.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made on ensuring all dogs are microchipped.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

Under the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015, it is an offence to not microchip a dog. Around 90% of dogs in the UK are now microchipped. The Government works with stakeholders to remind the public of the legal requirement and the benefits of microchipping.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to set up a national database for microchip companies to input data received for dogs and cats.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

We are not proposing to create a single cat and dog microchip database. Database operators are commercial enterprises which offer a range of services and provide choice for pet owners.

A consultation seeking views on changes to the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 closed on 20th May 2022 and we are analysing the responses. The consultation sought views on creating a single point of access facility for approved users to quickly search compliant databases for a microchip record. We intend for this to also apply to cat microchip records.

This is a devolved matter and these developments relate to the situation applying in England.

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 take steps to set up a national database for dog and cat microchips.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

We are not proposing to create a single cat and dog microchip database. Database operators are commercial enterprises which offer a range of services and provide choice for pet owners.

A consultation seeking views on changes to the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 closed on 20th May 2022 and we are analysing the responses. The consultation sought views on creating a single point of access facility for approved users to quickly search compliant databases for a microchip record. We intend for this to also apply to cat microchip records.

This is a devolved matter and these developments relate to the situation applying in England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the number and proportion of dogs that are not microchipped; and what steps she is taking to help reduce that number.

Answered by Rebecca Pow

Around 10% of dogs in the UK are not microchipped (PDSA, PAW Report 2022). Under the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 it is an offence to not microchip a dog. The Government works with stakeholders to remind the public of this legal requirement and the benefits of microchipping.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the current review into the regulations on dog microchipping and the related microchipping database systems will be completed.

Answered by Jo Churchill

We have completed the post implementation review of the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations 2015 and published the report on 21 December 2021. At the same time, we published a research report from Nottingham University on the effectiveness of dog microchipping legislation that supported the review.

The review found that microchipping has had a positive effect on reunification rates and legislation is seen as an important and necessary means to achieve improvements in dog welfare by increasing traceability of dogs and their keepers. The regulatory review and the Pet Theft Taskforce both highlighted areas where improvements to the microchipping regime would be beneficial, notably by improving the ease of navigation of the database system and processes around keepership records. We are considering changes to the 2015 Regulations and will be consulting on these in early 2022.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.