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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the timely issuance of new general licences for the control of pest birds in England.

The Secretary of State granted general licences for the lethal control of certain wild birds in June 2019, which are valid until 29 February 2020. Since June 2019, Defra has been undertaking a review of these general licences, including a public survey which generated over 4,400 responses, a review of scientific evidence and a series of workshops with licence users and other stakeholders. The Secretary of State will make an announcement soon on licensing arrangements from 1 March.