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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department consulted bird keepers prior to introducing the Specific Licence on 8 December 2025.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Defra officials engaged with stakeholders during summer 2025 including show organisers, auctioneers and breed societies, to better understand achievable conditions for gatherings. Engagement was via a number of stakeholder groups which occur regularly, and a series of individual discussions with key impacted parties. This process helped to shape a set of template conditions which could mitigate the disease risk associated with some gatherings. Each gathering is subject to an individual risk assessment, which determines which set of conditions are associated with the licence issued for the gathering.