Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Sussex Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for individual licences for the control of (a) jackdaws, (b) jays and (c) rooks to conserve wildlife within European protected sites have been refused.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In 2020 Natural England has refused 19 such individual licences for jackdaws, 13 for jays and 11 for rooks within European protected sites and a 300 metre buffer zone around them.
Natural England has not granted any such licences for jackdaws or rooks this year but has granted one for jays.
Before granting such an individual licence Natural England requires evidence that:
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Sussex Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many individual applications for wildlife management licencees for control of (a) jackdaws, (bi) jays and (c) rooks within (a) European protected sites and (b) buffer zones for those sites were granted by Natural England in the latest period for which information is available.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In 2020 Natural England has refused 19 such individual licences for jackdaws, 13 for jays and 11 for rooks within European protected sites and a 300 metre buffer zone around them.
Natural England has not granted any such licences for jackdaws or rooks this year but has granted one for jays.
Before granting such an individual licence Natural England requires evidence that:
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Sussex Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evidence is required for applications for individual licences for the control of (a) jackdaws, (b) jays and (c) rooks to conserve wildlife within (a) European protected sites and (b) the buffer zones of those sites.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In 2020 Natural England has refused 19 such individual licences for jackdaws, 13 for jays and 11 for rooks within European protected sites and a 300 metre buffer zone around them.
Natural England has not granted any such licences for jackdaws or rooks this year but has granted one for jays.
Before granting such an individual licence Natural England requires evidence that:
Asked by: Nusrat Ghani (Conservative - Sussex Weald)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) custodial sentences, (b) fines and (c) community sentences in deterring fly-tipping.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
In 2014 the Sentencing Council introduced a new sentencing guideline for environmental crimes including fly-tipping. The guidelines were published to ensure a consistent approach to these offences is taken by courts in England and Wales. Requests for further guidance were received by the Sentencing Council from the National Fly Tipping Prevention Group, chaired by Defra, and the Environment Agency. This was due to concerns that the fines were not high enough to reflect the seriousness of the offences committed or to have a deterrent effect, and that there was an inconsistency in fine levels across the country.
The guidelines encourage magistrates to make more use of the highest levels of fines for some of the more serious offences that come before the courts. It also helps sentencers more easily pitch a fine that is proportionate to the means of the offender.
The Sentencing Council reviewed the effectiveness of the guidelines in 2016. The assessment showed that the level of fines for organisations has risen, but fines for individuals have not seen the same increase. Fines are the most common sentences passed for these offences, since the offences are motivated by making a profit or saving money. However, custody remains the starting point for the most serious types of individual offenders who deliberately commit a crime that causes significant or major harm.
The penalties for fly-tipping are on summary conviction: imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both; and on conviction on Indictment: imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine or both. The removal in 2015 of the £5,000 cap for maximum fines that magistrate’s courts can impose, means that magistrates can hand down an unlimited fine for a fly-tipping summary offences.
In May 2016 we introduced fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for small-scale fly-tipping. This provided local authorities with an alternative to prosecutions and take a more proportionate enforcement response.