5. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact on Wales of the UK Government's decision not to proceed with the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill? OQ59659

Thank you. I am extremely frustrated and disappointed with the UK Government’s decision to dismantle the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, and I've written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs expressing my frustration. My officials are currently considering Wales’s options and are working at pace to determine the next steps.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. I, like you, am very disappointed to see the UK Government's latest u-turn. It could have driven forward improvements in the lives of millions of animals in the UK. I appreciate several elements of the Bill relate to reserved matters, but note that the Welsh Government had previously indicated that it would be minded to introduce a legislative consent memorandum, so that its provisions applied to Wales. With that in mind, do you have any intention of bringing forward your own proposals over the areas that are devolved, such as the keeping of primates as pets, as part of the Welsh Government's wider work to improve animal welfare in Wales?

Thank you. As I say, we've done an incredible amount of work in relation to this Bill, because, contrary to what Sam Rowlands has just mentioned, and Andrew RT Davies tweets about, we don't have to do things differently. [Interruption.] About being different—I'm very happy to work with the UK Government if I think it's for the benefit of Wales; I'm not happy to work with them if I think they're being disrespectful or not doing the things that we would want.

I was very happy to work with the UK Government on this Bill, because I really felt it would deliver significant benefits for animal welfare here in Wales, which, as you know, Vikki, the same as you, is a priority for me. I could see this coming. I'd had numerous conversations with the Secretary of State, and with the Minister of State in our regular inter-ministerial group meetings. I'd even written—because I could see this was coming—to try and encourage them that, after such a significant amount of work, they would not just throw this Bill away.

I understand from my officials now that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs do intend to advance some of the provisions in the Bill, and one of them is around primates, as a statutory instrument under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. So, I will certainly look to see if there's anything we can do to work with them on that. My understanding is that they would look to introduce legislation by the end of this year, but again, apparently, it came with a caveat that this was an ambitious timetable. So, frankly, I don't trust them on it. It's really important that my officials now do look to see what we can do with the provisions—you mentioned the one about primates—and I know officials are currently working with lawyers to determine how we can progress.