5. What progress has the Minister made regarding collaboration with the UK Government on the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill? OQ58791

Thank you. Welsh Government is continuing to work with the UK Government on the animal welfare Bill, which makes provisions to deliver important reforms for the welfare of kept animals. Legislative consent memoranda for all the clauses contained in the Bill have been laid in the Senedd.

Diolch am yr ymateb, Gweinidog. I'm sure the Minister is expecting a question around greyhounds here, but not on this occasion. I would like to highlight and express that I share the concerns of RSPCA Cymru who have called on the UK Government to prioritise the completion of the Bill, so that the cruel practices it aims to address become a thing of the past. However, there are worries that the UK Government's commitment to the Bill is on the verge of collapse.

Now, back in November 2020, the Welsh Government published their response to an expert task and finish group by the Wales animal health and welfare framework group. The review had made 55 recommendations, covering issues such as improved training for local authorities, but most of these have not yet been taken on by Welsh Government. So, in the absence of any visible progress on the part of the UK Government, are there any intentions from the Welsh Government to improve Wales's regulations, to strengthen legislation around unlicensed breeding and puppy farming, as well as the import and export of pets from Wales?

I'll refer to the two things separately. So, from a Welsh Government point of view, obviously, our priority is for animal welfare, as set out in the animal welfare plan for Wales. And there are things we can do on our own, but also, within that plan, it includes collaboration with the UK Government and other devolved Governments where there are clear benefits to us doing that.

In relation to the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, I share your concern about the lack of progress that we've seen. The disruption we've seen and the complete chaos in the UK Government hasn't helped, but we are hopeful. I'm going to try and get some more definitive information from this at the IMG. But, certainly, officials who've met with their DEFRA counterparts are told that, hopefully, there will be a Report Stage date announced soon, because we have seen the Bill stall time and time again. But we are keeping a very close eye on it and, again, I'll be happy to update Members when we have further information, because, clearly, it's a UK Government Bill and they set out the parliamentary timeline.

Minister, this Bill has been supported by the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and the British Veterinary Association, all recognising that the legislation will improve the standards of welfare, not least by becoming the first country in Europe to ban the live export of animals for slaughtering and fattening. Does the Minister accept that this achievement, along with those measures to crack down on the import of puppies, is a huge step in delivering those high standards we all want to see?

It's a very important piece of legislation on several levels. You referred to two of them, but the dog attacks on livestock part of the legislation, for me, is very important. The current legislation is absolutely not fit for purpose. I'm just looking in my briefing to see what year—1953 is the legislation that we're currently working to. Well, that's before I was born, so it's a long time ago and clearly needs updating to make sure it's fit for purpose. Some of the conversations I've had with the wildlife and rural crime commissioner is that we really need to make sure our legislation is fit for purpose and, clearly, a lot of that is down to the responsibility of the UK Government. So, I'm very happy to keep working with the UK Government. You mentioned prohibiting the export of live cattle, which, again, I think, from an animal welfare point of view, is really important.