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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons it was decided (a) to include razorbills and (b) not to include common guillemots as an additional feature of the Cumbria Coast Marine Conservation Zone in the Government's June 2018 consultation on sites proposed for designation in the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones.

The inclusion in Marine Conservation Zones of highly mobile species, such as seabirds, is considered where it can be demonstrated that it would help meet the conservation objectives for that species. Numbers of razorbill at this site have shown a significant decline in recent years and their inclusion is therefore warranted. Numbers of common guillemot, by contrast, have more than doubled at this site over the same period and it was therefore decided that there was insufficient justification to include them as a feature in this Marine Conservation Zone. We look forward to receiving views on our proposals through the consultation, which will inform our final decisions.