Farmed animal welfare inspections - Find a freedom of information request

Request

Please provide the following information covering the years 2019 to 2024, broken down by year where possible:

1. The number of farmed animal welfare inspections conducted by your authority.

2. The number of cases of non-compliance identified as a result of those inspections.

3. The number of enforcement actions taken, including:

Improvement notices

Fixed penalty notices

Prosecutions

4. Whether the council has produced and published an annual enforcement report on farmed animal welfare as required under Article 11 of the Official Controls Regulation.

If yes, please provide a copy or a link.

5. The number of formal welfare complaints related to farmed animals received by the council, and how many led to inspections.

6. The number of staff currently employed or contracted to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections or enforcement.

Decision

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. 

1. 2019 – 102

2020 – 68

2021 – 108

2022 – 98

2023 – 103

2024 – 154

2.

 

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Advice Provided

30

24

36

38

49

64

Warning notice or further enforcement action

16

3

22

11

24

34

3.

Improvement notices - 0

Fixed penalty notices – 0

Cautions – 1 2022

Current investigations – 2 pending from offences in 2024

Prosecutions – 1 prosecution currently pending from offences committed since 2022

Animals seized/removed – 2 – 2020 and 2022

4. An annual enforcement report on farmed animal welfare is produced but not published.  The report contains many hyperlinks to internal documents. 

5. Over the 2019-2024 period there were 301 animal welfare complaints concerning 169 premises.  58 of these premises received an animal health inspection.  69 premises received an animal health, feed or other type of inspection. 

6. 2025 – 3 FTE

 

Reference number
FOI 12066613
Date request received
26/03/25
Date of decision
24/04/25