Clause 26 - Power of local authority to prosecute offences
Animal Welfare Bill
6:30 pm
James Paice (Shadow Minister (Agriculture & Rural Affairs), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; South East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
My hon. Friend makes an important point. This has cropped up on many occasions and the Minister himself referred to it earlier, so I know that he is very conscious of concern that the Bill gives the RSPCA a much greater role, shall we say, in animal welfare. The Minister has repeatedly said, quite correctly, that the Bill does not extend the RSPCA’s powers at all, but there is concern at that greater role. Clearly, because we are creating a whole raft of new offences, with the duty of care and so on, one would expect the number of prosecutions to rise from that 1,500. It would be wholly improper to stand here and suggest that the RSPCA, or anyone else, brings unnecessary prosecutions. The statistics that the Minister has just used show quite the contrary. Nevertheless, there is concern.
The purpose in tabling the amendment was to try to draw out the sort of points just made by the Minister—to illustrate and, I hope, to allay those concerns. Most of the Committee recognises that the concerns exist, rightly or wrongly, in some sectors of society involved with animals. I am grateful for what the Minister has said and hope that he is indeed proved right, in that neither the RSPCA nor anyone else commences unnecessary prosecutions. In light of that, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.