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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the close season for woodcock.

The woodcock has been on the red list of Birds of Conservation Concern in the UK since 2015 due to a breeding range decline which is most likely to include disturbance and habitat loss because of land drainage and changes in woodland management.

The woodcock will benefit from a number of woodland grant schemes funded by both the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Nature for Climate Fund, some of which specifically target management for declining woodland birds. These grants include the Woods into Management Forestry Innovation Funds which aim to restore vulnerable woodland habitats, improve biodiversity and conserve threatened species, and the England Woodland Creation Offer, which provides an additional nature recovery contribution for woodlands which restore nature and species.