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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps in his Department's forthcoming national deer management strategy to help ensure the adequacy of (a) capacity to process deer carcasses if culling levels increase and (b) the supply of venison to the (i) private and (ii) public sector in the next five years.

Defra is working with stakeholders including Grown in Britain, game dealers and shooting and conservation associations to support development of the wild venison supply chain.

This includes facilitating an industry GB Wild Venison Working Group to improve sector resilience, develop branding, traceability and promote the British Quality Wild Venison Standard and exploring opportunities for more public procurement of wild venison, with the aim of increasing overall demand for wild venison. We are also providing funding towards wild venison related projects in a number of our National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, through the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme.

The forthcoming deer management strategy will set out actions that will go further in supporting domestic wild venison.