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Animal Welfare Bill

I will not give way, because I have very little time left. From our proceedings in Committee and today, we are well aware of how strongly my hon. Friend the Member for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac) feels about circuses. I hope that she and my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) were reassured by the written statement on the use of animals in travelling circuses that I gave the House last Wednesday. For the benefit of hon. Members who have not read the statement, it contained an undertaking to use a regulation under clause 10 of the Bill to ban the use of certain non-domesticated species in travelling circuses and to impose zoo standards on circuses’ permanent premises. As I have previously indicated, I sympathise with the view that performances by some non-domesticated species in travelling circuses are not compatible with meeting their welfare needs. I have also said that the welfare offence in clause 8 will be a significant step forward for circus animals, as it will for all animals. However, having listened carefully to my hon. Friends and Opposition Members on Second Reading and in Committee, I have concluded that a regulation under clause 10 will provide much needed clarity to both circus proprietors and enforcers on which animals’ needs can be met adequately in a travelling circus environment. I have also undertaken to see that there is read-across between zoo standards and those for circuses’ permanent premises. I trust that that undertaking will address my hon. Friends’ concerns.