Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:51 pm on 20 September 2017.
Just in relation to your first question, it’s not a matter of ‘wait and see about the UK Government’. You’ll appreciate the legislative—[Interruption.] You will appreciate that the legislative programme here is very busy, for want of a better word. I am having to make sure that I have legislation being looked at ready for post-Brexit. I thought that was the best way forward, particularly because we don’t have any circuses licensed in Wales.
In relation to your question around CCTV in slaughterhouses, there’s an incredible amount of work going on with that. You will be aware that when I came into post, my predecessor, Rebecca Evans, had had a report undertaken by an industry-led task and finish group around implementation of CCTV. Just two weeks ago, I was looking at how many CCTV cameras were installed in slaughterhouses in Wales. I have to say that the vast majority of the large slaughterhouses in Wales do have them. You will be aware that vets are present in every slaughterhouse to ensure compliance with regulations. They have the power to seize CCTV footage if they expect welfare standards are not being met. So, I think that is one reason to look at having CCTV cameras in our slaughterhouses. I’ve got a piece of work coming to me by the end of this month to look at whether we then make that mandatory or not.