Trail-hunting

Baroness Hayman of Ullock Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Leicester (Con)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I refer the House to my interests as a landowner in Norfolk, over which trail-hunting has always taken place legally This includes the Nar Valley Bloodhounds, who come and play “hunt the host”.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to enacting a ban on trail-hunting, in line with our manifesto commitment, and will shortly be launching a consultation to seek views on how to deliver an effective, enforceable ban. The responses to that consultation will be used to inform our assessment of the potential impact of a ban on trail-hunting on the rural economy.

[The Earl of Leicester (Con)]

I thank the Minister for her response and I hope that the consultation will be a fair one. The Hunting Act was the result of 700 hours of debate, and it was what hunting opponents wanted. Hunts adapted and adopted trail-hunting, which is what supporters of the ban said that they should do. A recent socioeconomic survey stated that hunting contributes £100 million to the rural economy each year. A Countryside Alliance survey found that 97% of hunting participants believe the activity to benefit their physical and mental health. A ban on trail-hunting therefore runs contrary to the Government’s missions to promote economic growth and improve health outcomes. Surely further legislation targeting trail-hunting—

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[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

My Lords, the consultation has been designed to be open-handed and fair, so that all concerns, from both sides of the argument, can be heard and fully taken into account as we move forward to design the legislation. As I said, this is a manifesto commitment. It is important to point out that we believe that rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are central to our economy. There are many businesses that we can support within the rural communities to continue to bring forward greater productivity—rural productivity is less than urban productivity. We are doing our utmost to support the rural economy in many areas. One of the key areas in which we can do so is by improving our transport links.

[Lord Cromwell (CB)]

My Lords, my family, on our farm, has not allowed fox-hunting across that land for well over 40 years. However, as a student, I occasionally used to run cross-country with a piece of rope and a scented rag, and was pursued by hounds. I can assure the House that no animals were harmed in that process—I was left exhilarated but rather breathless. On an equally serious point, does the Minister agree that a higher priority should be to resource the police to deal with the rapidly rising tide of rural crime, including waste-tipping, theft and hare-coursing, rather than chasing after people who simply like to dress up and ride along a pre-set trail?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I commend the noble Lord on his earlier fitness—I do not know if he still carries it out. It is important to stress that there are no plans to include other activities, such as drag hunting and clean boot hunting, in the ban on trail-hunting. The noble Lord makes a really important point about enforcement. I have asked for a meeting with Home Office Ministers to discuss exactly that, in not just this area but others within Defra, as we feel that we need to work much more closely with the Home Office to ensure the enforcement of the laws that we bring in.

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, will the Minister undertake to ensure that any future decision in this area, particularly on trail-hunting, is evidence-led as much as possible and based on assessing whether it causes harm to animal welfare, biodiversity and public confidence in law? The economies of so many rural communities are extremely diverse, with many more people in the countryside participating in, for instance, rambling and orienteering than trail-hunting.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I reassure the noble Baroness and all noble Lords that, when I look at future policy and legislation as part of my role as a Minister, it is incredibly important that everything is evidence-led and, where scientific evidence is needed, that we take the most up-to-date scientific evidence into account.

[Baroness Mallalieu (Lab)]

My Lords, I come from a disadvantaged area where a ban on trail-hunting will be seen as a punch in the stomach by people who have already endured a considerable amount of distress as a result of other government policies. Some 20 years ago, after this House passed the Hunting Act, the then Prime Minister regretted what had happened and particularly regretted having to spend 700 hours of parliamentary time on that legislation instead of on his priorities. He asked, “Why was I not told?” Please can the Minister go back and tell the current Prime Minister the same?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I said, this is a manifesto commitment and it is my responsibility to deliver it. On the other concerns that my noble friend raised, we will start the consultation soon. I encourage people to look at it and take part, because it will be comprehensive.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, our rural police forces are already overstretched, and banning a harmless country pursuit will simply stretch them further and alienate them from the community they protect. As has been discussed, hunting with dogs has already been banned by Parliament. This has resulted in only 52 convictions for organised hunts, with only one of those based on evidence collected by the police. Rather than now targeting trail-hunting, have the Government considered that laws that cannot be effectively enforced by the police are bad laws?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

It is also important to stress that, if there is a law, people should obey it.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

Are the Government aware of how important the supporters’ clubs of hunts are to the local communities? In the part of Devon where I live partly, the local communities in rural villages are very much separated from each other, and they all offer something on one Sunday, Saturday or Friday every week. If there is no supporters’ club, there will be very little for these rural communities to do in the winter.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I live in a very rural community and always have done, and we have plenty of options for things to do in the winter that do not involve supporting hunts. If it is a particular concern in the area where the noble and learned Baroness lives, again, I encourage her to take part in the consultation.

[Baroness Hoey (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the Minister knows the countryside well, and she must know that huge numbers of jobs will be lost if trail-hunting is banned. What is the justification for this when so few people have been prosecuted for illegal hunting? If a couple of Peers behave badly, we get rid of them; we do not get rid of the whole House of Lords—surely she should look at that example.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Do not open that Pandora’s box—that is what I would say to the noble Baroness. More seriously, I know that there are concerns on both sides. This is a polarising debate, with strong feelings on both sides. That is why I am determined to hold a proper, detailed consultation, where everyone has the ability to put forward their concerns, so that we can move forward in a way that delivers our manifesto commitment, while at the same time making sure that we do what we can to mitigate any concerns that are put forward.

[Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Con)]

My Lords—

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[Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Con)]

It is nice to be back. I remember just enough of the rules to know that I should declare my interest as a trustee of the Countryside Alliance. I remember only too well how hard it is to bid for legislative time, particularly in Defra, and I am concerned that other priorities will be overtaken if this consultation and legislation go ahead. Does the Minister really not have other things that she would rather do?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the noble and learned Baroness back to her place—it really is a pleasure to see her. She is absolutely right: pitching for legislation is great fun in every department, I am sure, and certainly in Defra. As I said, the reason this is one of our legislative priorities is that it was a manifesto commitment, but clearly there are also other manifesto commitments. In Defra we are working out a timetable for how we can deliver all of those at the same time as other priorities.