FOI002790 FOI Trading Standards

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’) to request information concerning enforcement of the laws governing the welfare of farmed animals.

Terminology

By ‘farmed animals’, we refer to any animal bred or kept for the production of food, wool or skin or other farming purposes

The premises referred to in this question are:

•    Farms keeping animals for commercial use
•    Livestock markets that sell and trade live animals
•    National and international border control posts  
•    Vehicles transporting farmed animals for commercial purposes
Where referencing Transport Vehicles, we are referring to welfare issues during transport and vehicle related issues which breach animal welfare law

By ‘inspections’, we refer to on-site inspections on behalf of your organisation.

By welfare complaints, we are referring to any complaints relating to animal cruelty, neglect or failure to meet the welfare needs of an animal, whether from members of the public, animal protection organisations, staff members, veterinary surgeons etc.

Please could you provide the following information in relation to farmed animal species only during the period 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025:

1.    Do you enforce farmed animal welfare legislation? 
a.    If the answer is no, please explain why e.g. no farms, a different local authority does etc.

b.    If a different local authority enforces this legislation in your area, please inform us which one?

If your answer to question 1 is ‘no’, please do not respond to the below questions.

2.    Do you work with another local authority to conduct your farmed animal welfare enforcement and if so which one? Please also clarify whether the below data is likely to be duplicated by them. 
3.    How many of each of the following premises in your jurisdiction were inspected for welfare purposes one or more times?
a.    Farms;
b.    Markets;
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.
For the avoidance of doubt, if the same premise was inspected more than once, it should only be recorded once.

4.    What was the total number of inspections that were conducted for welfare purposes in your jurisdiction at the following premises?

a.    Farms;
b.    Markets;
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.

Please note that this question refers to the total number of inspections, not premises inspected. Therefore, the numbers can include situations where multiple inspections took place on the same premise.

5.    How many of these inspections found non-compliance with animal welfare law at the following premises?
a.    Farms;
b.    Markets; 
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.

Statutory Notices 

6A) Please list whether an improvement notice under section 10 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 was issued on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance at each of the following:

a.    Farms;
b.    Markets;
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.

6B) Please list whether a compliance notice under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 was issued on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance at each of the following:

a.    Farms;
b.    Markets;
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.

7. Please list whether a prosecution was commenced or referred to a central prosecution service or any other enforcement body on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance with animal welfare law at each of the following: 

a.    Farms;
b.    Markets;
c.    Borders; and
d.    Transport vehicles.

If held,  please specify which statute(s) and/or regulation(s) each of the above listed prosecutions were brought under.

8. How many animal welfare complaints did you receive in relation to the following:
a.          On-farm; 
b.          At markets;
c.          At a border post; and
d.          During transport.

9. Of the above animal welfare complaints, how many led to an on-site inspection? 
a.    On-farm;
b.    At markets;
c.    At a border post; and
d.    During transport.

10. How many charges did you bring or refer to a central prosecution service or any other enforcement body for offences named in the following: 
a.    Animal Welfare Act 2006? 
b.    Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007?
c.    Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1990?
d.    The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006? 
e.    The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015?

11. How many individuals subject to any of the enforcement actions (both prosecutions and statutory notices) disclosed in answer to any of the above questions had previously been convicted of an animal welfare offence?

12. What is your body’s annual budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement? If you do not have a separate budget, please could you provide the budget for Trading Standards or, if separate, the department farmed animal welfare enforcement is located in. In your answer please specify what the budget provided covers.

13.  How many people do you employ to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections as part of their duties? If held, please provide the response in FTE (full time equivalent).

Tail docking of Pigs

14. We are also particularly concerned with the enforcement of the prohibition on the routine tail docking of pigs. The docking of pigs' tails is prohibited by section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, except in certain circumstances provided for in the Mutilations (prohibited procedures) (England) Regulations 2007. However, evidence indicates that docking takes place on up to 85% of UK farms. Could you please disclose how many complaints you received regarding the docking of pigs' tails?  
If you are not able to respond to all of the above questions on the grounds of cost, please could you provide a response to as many questions as possible within the statutory cost allowance.