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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the Joint Nature Conservation Committee has changed the eligibility criteria for legal protections afforded by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, in its 7th Quinquennial Review; and whether his Department had agreed to those changes.

The Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) is an independent process, required by the act, undertaken by the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and NatureScot), working jointly through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).

The JNCC reports on Quinquennial Review (QQR) 6 in 2014 recommended that criteria for consideration of species be refined ahead of QQR7 to address concerns that they were no longer fit for purpose and lacked clarity. A review was completed in 2018 by the JNCC and SNCBs, which proposed a revised approach, including providing clarity on definitions of 'place of shelter' and 'endangered'.

The JNCC will make final recommendations early next year to Defra. Changes to species protection have not yet been recommended to the Government, nor have any decisions been made.