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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the financial sustainability of the National Wildlife Crime Unit

Under a four-year funding agreement with the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Defra and the Home Office have jointly contributed £301,000 a year between 2016 and 2020 to the Unit’s activities. Both departments have committed to maintain this funding for 2020/21. Defra will work with the unit to develop the case for continued funding as part of the next spending review.

In addition to the funding provided to the unit, we provide up to £6.3 million per year to support international action to counter poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.