I care very much about the welfare of all animals. I am pleased that my ministerial colleagues are examining the evidence around the use of cages for farm animals and are considering the options. They have also committed to continuing to focus on maintaining world-leading farm animal welfare standards through both regulatory requirements and statutory codes.
I recognise that the ‘enriched’ colony cage system restricts a bird’s ability to exhibit normal behaviours so I am pleased that the Government is also examining the future use of cages for all laying hens. I also welcome the commitment from our major retailers, with positive support from our egg producers, to stop retailing eggs from enriched colony cage production systems by 2025. The UK already has a much larger free-range sector by far than any EU country, with over 55 per cent of our hens kept in free range systems.
I am encouraged that this Government has set itself a challenging agenda to tackle animal welfare issues and is taking action on many fronts to improve the health and wellbeing of farm animals. A major example is the commitment to end excessively long journeys for live animals going for slaughter and for fattening, which will be realised through the Kept Animals Bill now making its way through Parliament.
Now we have left the EU, Ministers are also able to reward farmers for providing higher standards of animal welfare and environmental protection measures. I am pleased that Ministers have committed to co-designing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway under this plan, which aims to promote the production of healthier, higher-welfare farm animals at a level beyond compliance with current regulations. The direction of the Pathway so far has been developed in active partnership with industry.
Of course, if anyone has specific concerns about the welfare of an animal, I would recommend reporting it to the police or to the RSPCA who can investigate and take action where necessary.