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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what role the National Wildlife Crime Unit will play as part of the UK's commitment to Action on the Illegal Wildlife Trade from March 2016.

In the UK’s Commitment to Action on the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT), published in February 2014, the Government committed to “take a national strategic approach to domestic action on IWT through . . . . funding the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) until 2016”. Defra and the Home Office together have provided £544,000 for the NWCU over 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Decisions on future funding of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit beyond March 2016 will be made as part of the current Spending Review process.