Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of trail hunting on privately-owned land; and if he will make a statement.
Defra has made no assessment of trail hunting on private land. Giving permission for trail hunting is a matter for the landowner.
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.