Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 24 January 2025.
Shivani Raja
Conservative, Leicester East
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) phasing out and (b) banning cages for laying hens; and what steps he plans to take to ensure farmers are provided with support to transition to higher animal welfare systems.
Daniel Zeichner
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of cages for laying hens is an issue we are currently considering very carefully. The Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare Grant was recently offered to commercial laying hen and pullet keepers in England. It supports these farmers to improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their flocks through access to grants toward the cost of upgrading their housing. Applications closed on the 18 September 2024 and we will be writing to all applicants shortly to notify them of next steps.
Yes4 people think so
No0 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
