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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce levels of pox in red squirrels arising from garden feeders.

The Government participates in and supports the Red Squirrels Northern England partnership, which has produced guidance against supplementary feeding of red squirrels in gardens where grey squirrels are present to reduce the risk of transmission of squirrel pox virus to red squirrels from grey squirrels.

Furthermore, there is a wider package of Government actions being undertaken to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels, including the squirrel pox they carry. This includes grant aid, through the English Woodland Grant Scheme, for grey squirrel control in red squirrel areas.