I would like to formally thank Linda for bringing the petition forward and for prompting the Assembly to consider this important issue. The petition collected a total of 6,398 signatures. Those signatures were collected online and on paper and from across Wales and further afield. Clearly, this is an issue that concerns many people in Wales who object to wild animals being used for the purpose of entertainment in this way. Of course, the use of wild animals in circuses has received considerable public attention over a number of years. In fact, the Petitions Committee in the fourth Assembly considered a petition on this issue from RSPCA Cymru, and I know that some Members here today were involved in that work at that time.

In response to that petition, the then Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, announced an independent review of the evidence on the welfare of animals in travelling and non-travelling circuses. The resulting report was published in January 2016 and it concluded that the scientific evidence indicates that captive wild animals in travelling circuses do not achieve their optimal welfare requirements set out under the Animal Welfare Act 2009. It also stated that life for wild animals in travelling circuses and mobile zoos does not constitute either a good life or a life worth living. These findings paint a strong picture and it is right that they should lead to serious consideration of whether travelling circuses should continue to use wild animals in the future.

However, further to this work, the Welsh Government chose not to move forward with a ban on circuses using wild animals. Instead, at the end of 2016, the Welsh Government announced that it intended to develop a licensing system for all so-called mobile animal exhibits, including circuses featuring wild animals, but also a variety of activities such as animals visiting schools and winter reindeer parades. 

Then, last year, the Welsh Government ran a public consultation on the feasibility of introducing such a licensing system. This consultation also sought views on whether the use of wild animals in circuses should be banned. Following the consultation, the Welsh Government also did not commit to a ban, though its report acknowledged that the majority of respondents believed that the use of wild animals in circuses should be banned and that wild animals cannot be cared for appropriately whilst in a travelling environment.

The petitioner has explained that the current petition arose in response to this decision not to proceed with a ban. In her written evidence to the committee, the petitioner outlined the situation with circuses visiting Wales. She named three companies that have visited Wales in recent years, and shared concerns about the ability of local authorities and others to inspect the conditions that animals are kept in when circuses are in their area. She also noted that a licensing system for travelling circuses that use wild animals has operated in England since 2012. She believes that licensing documents demonstrate that this model fails the animals, and that companies have breached the conditions of their licences on a number of occasions, and have suffered suspensions as a result.

The petitioner raised further concerns and these include the conditions that animals are often kept in, particularly when travelling, and the availability of vets experienced in the care of exotic animals, such as camels, lions and tigers—understandably, this is rather a niche speciality in Wales. Her conclusion is that the independent report from 2016 and the result of last year's public consultation give the Welsh Government the scientific evidence and public support to introduce a ban. She also told us that a ban on this practice is now either in place or planned in around 35 other countries, including Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. Most recently, the UK Government also appeared to indicate that it was giving greater consideration to ending this practice.

In response to an initial letter from the Petitions Committee, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs stated that she had

'not dismissed the possibility of working with the UK Government to bring in a joint ban on the use of wild animals in circuses.'

As Members will be aware, subsequently, the Cabinet Secretary issued a written statement on 14 February, which announced that the Welsh Government is now exploring opportunities to bring forward legislation to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. These proposals appear to be at an early stage and, as yet, limited information about the scope and future timescales is available. The committee hopes that the Cabinet Secretary will be able to provide further detail about her thinking and intentions during her reply to this afternoon's debate.

I would like to note here that the RSPCA recommends using the powers under section 12 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 as a method of effecting a ban. This was used successfully in 2010 to bring about a ban on electric-shock collars, and a similar method was used by the Irish Government to effect a ban on circuses in the Republic of Ireland. It also has the added advantage of saving on the cost of allocating valuable Government time in bringing forward new legislation. 

Nevertheless, I understand that the announcement has been welcomed by Linda Jones and the signatories to her petition. Whilst this is not yet the end of the story, and I am sure that further views will continue to be aired, I believe that it is right that we recognise the significant steps that have already been achieved by Linda and other members of the campaign. I also believe that this is an illustration of the potential power of petitions, and of the strength of the processes that exist at this Assembly for members of the public to highlight issues to this Assembly and to Ministers. I am sure that this debate will be of great interest to those people who have taken the time to petition us about this issue and I look forward to listening to Members' contributions this afternoon. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.