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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of exempting elite shooting athletes from the Health and Safety Executive’s proposed restriction on the acquisition, storage, and use of lead shot.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations as well as independent scientific advice, included consideration of the use of lead shot by athletes. In their final Opinion, HSE set out their assessment and this included a proposed exemption for competitive athletes. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on the proposed restriction, we are assessing their proposals. A decision will follow in due course, which will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.