asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will review their decision to ban conventional cage egg units in England in 2012 if other European Union countries delay introducing a similar ban; and [HL1633]

What plans they have for English cage egg producers if a ban on cage egg units is not introduced in Scotland and Wales. [HL1634]

The Government are still committed to the 2012 deadline for an EU-wide ban on the use of conventional cages for laying hens. We welcome the European Commission's recommendation, in the recently published report on the welfare of laying hens in various production systems, to maintain that deadline. The report says there is no need to prepare any proposals to amend the existing directive on the welfare of laying hens, so any speculation on what would happen if there were changes to European Union law is entirely hypothetical.