Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the supply of illegal drugs into prisons, including through improved searching, staff screening and security technology.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisons in England and Wales have a range of specialist staff and equipment to tackle the smuggling of contraband into prisons, including drugs. This includes X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, X-ray baggage scanners, detection dogs, and other specialist equipment. In addition, local security strategies allow for routine and random rub-down searches of prison officers and other staff upon entry to, or within, prisons.
This year we are investing over £40 million in physical security measures across 34 prisons, including £10 million on anti-drone measures, such as window replacements, external window grilles and specialist netting across 15 priority prisons.
All HMPPS prison staff are subject to rigorous pre-employment security vetting checks. These checks enable the organisation to assess whether candidates pose a risk to the safety and security of HMPPS information, assets, staff, and offenders, and whether they demonstrate the standards and core values expected of everyone working within HMPPS.
While the vast majority of prison staff act with integrity, HMPPS recognises the risk of corruption and is committed to tackling it at all levels. HMPPS’s Counter Corruption Unit works proactively with prisons and police to deter and disrupt staff wrongdoing.
Prison security must be dynamic and be able to respond to shifting risks as they manifest. We regularly review our security countermeasures capabilities and will not hesitate to adjust our approach as needed and use all the tools at our disposal.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scoping review published in Animal Welfare on 4 November, The canine welfare, public health and environmental impact of systemic under-regulation within the UK puppy trade; and what action they will take to address the issues highlighted in it.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government will end puppy smuggling and bring an end to puppy farming. To deliver this we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill which will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom.
We are considering the most effective way to end puppy farming, including assessing a range of evidence, and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the illegal importation of puppies and kittens.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill.
The Bill successfully completed its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 5 September 2025. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of puppy smuggling.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Due to the illegal nature of this activity, we cannot know the true extent of puppy and kitten smuggling operations. The Animal and Plant Health Agency plays a critical role in monitoring and intercepting animals that do not meet legal importation standards including those that are underage.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the animal welfare strategy will include a commitment to help end the illegal puppy smuggling trade.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of levels of (a) puppy and (b) kitten smuggling into the UK under existing pet travel rules.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Due to the illegal nature of this activity, we cannot know the true extent of puppy and kitten smuggling operations. The Animal and Plant Health Agency plays a critical role in monitoring and intercepting animals that do not meet legal importation standards including those that are underage.
As outlined in our manifesto, the Government is committed to ending puppy smuggling. That is why we are supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through the House of Lords as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle smuggling in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Prisons in England and Wales have a range of specialist staff and equipment to tackle the smuggling of drugs, mobile phones, weapons and other contraband into prisons. This includes X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, X-ray baggage scanners, detection dogs, and other specialist equipment to alert staff to the potential presence of drugs on a range of items and materials.
We are also working hard to deter, detect and disrupt drones being used to smuggle contraband into prisons. Our approach is multi-faceted and includes physical security countermeasures, exploring additional legislation and working across Government and with international partners on this global issue.
We are investing over £40 million in physical security across 34 prisons in this financial year. This includes around £10 million on anti-drone measures such as secure windows and improved netting at 15 prisons.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward measures to ban (a) trophy hunting and (b) animal smuggling.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government committed to a hunting trophy import ban of endangered animals in its manifesto and we will deliver on this. Defra is engaging with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can deliver on this commitment in the most effective way.
As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government is supporting the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by the hon. Member for Winchester. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom. We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to introduce robust traceability of dogs across the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Compulsory dog microchipping was introduced in England in 2016. All dogs must be microchipped before they are eight weeks old and relevant information including breeder details recorded with a Defra-compliant database operator which helps support traceability.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is to introduce legislation to end (a) puppy and (b) kitten smuggling.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom.
We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.