Natural England: Gamebird Release Licensing

Lord Beamish Excerpts

Tuesday 21st July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As the noble Baroness said, that target was put in place some time ago, which is why, since we came into government, we have tried to make changes and crack on, because it has become more and more challenging to meet every year that passes. It is why we revised the Environmental Improvement Plan and why we have been investing more in sustainable farming and small farming. If we are genuinely going to meet these targets, we will have to be very ambitious in what we are doing.

[Lord Beamish (Lab)]

My Lords, local shoots are important to many local rural economies. I would be interested to know the view of my noble friend the Minister on the position that National England takes in doing economic impact studies on the effects of its policies on local farming communities.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am not aware of the specific policies to which my noble friend refers, because there are lots of different areas where Natural England is involved. If we are talking about shooting licences, which is where this started, Natural England will look at each licence on its own merits and make a decision thereon.