Chris Williamson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Williamson on 2014-03-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which responsibilities for tackling animal welfare crimes are managed by (a) her Department and (b) non-governmental organisations.

Norman Baker

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the lead Government department for policy and legislation in relation to animal welfare, including offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The police and local authorities have powers to enforce that Act, but any person or organisation (such as the RSPCA) can initiate criminal proceedings under it.

In addition to the Government’s funding for individual police forces to tackle all types of crime, including wildlife crime, the Home Office and DEFRA both contribute funding to support the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the national police unit dedicated to tackling wildlife crime. And where wildlife crimes are sufficiently serious, organised or complex, the National Crime Agency will ensure that partners across the law enforcement community benefit from its coordination, tasking and intelligence arrangements, as well as being able to access its specialist capabilities. Furthermore, the Home Office plays a key role in the Government’s efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, which is a serious transnational criminal industry worth billions of pounds each year. I was therefore pleased that, at the recent London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference which I attended, world leaders from over forty countries made a commitment to eradicate the trade.

The Home Office also regulates the use of living animals in scientific procedures in England, Scotland and Wales under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.