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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the list of animals which are protected in Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to include hedgehogs.

Where there is evidence to show that it is necessary and effective to do so, the Government may consider providing protection through legislation to regulate activities impacting on our native species. In doing so it is important to consider whether the legislation will deliver the intended effects or whether there are more appropriate routes to delivering the same outcomes.

With regard to hedgehogs, while we are concerned about their conservation status, there is no clear evidence to indicate additional protection by adding them to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 will be effective in supporting recovery of the species. It does not regulate the activities linked to its decline which, rather than intentional or reckless killing, are primarily caused by habitat loss and fragmentation due to removal of field margins, hedgerows and scrub; the use of herbicides and insecticide; and road traffic.