Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) licensing shoots and (b) making the penalty for using snares the loss of such a licence.

Defra is considering the most effective way to deliver its commitment to ban the use of snares in England and will be setting out next steps in due course. The use of snares is commonly associated with gamebird shooting. Defra has not yet made any formal assessment of the potential merits of licensing gamebird shooting in England or whether to make the penalty for illegally using snares the loss of such a licence.