This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared in advance of the second reading of the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill in the House of Lords on 1 March 2019.
Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (241 KB , PDF)
Under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, it is an offence to inflict unnecessary suffering on an animal. In determining whether an offence has been committed, it must be considered whether suffering was for a “legitimate purpose”, such as protecting a person or property. The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill is a private member’s bill which would disregard this consideration in cases related to police dogs and horses, making prosecution easier. The exemption proposed by the bill would only apply if the animal is under the control of a relevant officer and was being used appropriately at the time of the incident; it would not apply if the defendant is the relevant officer.
The bill was presented in the House of Commons on 13 June 2018 by Sir Oliver Heald (Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire) and gained official Government support shortly after. The bill passed second reading on 6 July 2018 without debate and received cross-party support at committee stage on 16 January 2019. It completed its Commons stages on 8 February 2019, passing through the House without amendment. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 11 February 2019, sponsored by Viscount Trenchard (Conservative), and is scheduled for second reading on 1 March 2019. Although it is not a government bill, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has produced the bill’s explanatory notes, with the consent of Viscount Trenchard.
Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages (241 KB , PDF)
This bill seeks to implement the government’s commitments to modernise the asylum and immigration systems, establish a border security command and introduce enhanced powers and offences to tackle immigration crime and people smuggling gangs. It has completed its passage in the House of Commons and is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 2 June 2025.
The Community Security Trust, a UK charity that works to protect Jews from antisemitism and other threats, has reported a significant increase in antisemitic incidents on UK university campuses following the start of the current conflict in the Middle East. This briefing provides background information on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and its adoption by UK universities, before concluding with a summary of recent government policy to tackle antisemitism in the higher education sector.
The draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2025 set out the planned reductions in direct payments to farmers for 2025. The House of Lords is due to debate whether to approve the regulations on 30 April 2025. Concerns have been raised about the severity of the reductions for 2025 and the recent closure for new applications to the sustainable farming incentive scheme, which offered a route to alternative funding.
