Issue - meetings

To advise members of the new duty imposed on the Council to licence private primate keepers, ensuring new minimum animal welfare standards are achieved.

Members were advised of the new duty imposed on the Council to licence private primate keepers and to ensure that new minimum animal welfare standards are achieved.

The introduction of The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024 (“Primate Licence Regulations”) places an additional responsibility on the Council to licence private primate keepers. This new licensing regime sets out minimum welfare standards that keepers of primates will be required to meet.

The Primate Licence Regulations state that it will be a legal requirement for all private primate keepers to hold a primate licence by 6 April 2026.