6. What plans does the Government have to improve the welfare of animals in abattoirs? OQ57357

Thank you. The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring high standards of welfare for all animals kept in Wales at all stages of their life, including at the point of slaughter. Our programme for government includes the commitment to require CCTV in all slaughterhouses during this Government term.

Minister, I have heard many calls from people in our rural communities who believe that it is now time to make CCTV compulsory in our abattoirs, as it is in England. Whilst I understand the reasons for the introduction of a voluntary scheme, can the Minister confirm how many abattoirs in Wales now have CCTV, and how many are without it? And, in doing so, what assessment has she made of the impact of the current scheme? Thank you.

Thank you. On the possibility of compulsory CCTV, I've never ruled it out. I always thought it was something that we would bring in if the voluntary scheme didn't work in the way that we wanted it to. But I really wanted to work, and I want to continue to work, with slaughterhouse operators to ensure that we do get CCTV in all of the slaughterhouses. There are 24 slaughterhouses in Wales. Fourteen have CCTV installed, and 10 have no CCTV. All of the large slaughterhouses have it, so the smaller ones—. I visited a couple of the smaller ones and, I have to say, they're not very keen on having compulsory CCTV. I think they think because they're small you can see everything that's going on from one position, and obviously vets are there throughout the killing of animals. So, it is about working, I think, in a supportive relationship with our slaughterhouses to ensure that we do bring it in. As I said in my tabled answer to you, our programme for government does commit to requiring CCTV in all slaughterhouses during this five-year term of government.