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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many licences have been issued by Natural England for the killing of starlings in each year since 2000; and how many starlings they estimate have been killed under such licences in each year since 2000.

Records show that Natural England (NE) has issued 122 licences for the control of starlings since 2007. Licence returns indicate that 2,918 birds have been killed during this period, although the actual number will be higher as not all licensees have submitted returns. We do not have earlier data since NE was vested in 2006.

The following table presents the licensing information available for each year from 2007. To note, NE underwent a system change in 2013 meaning that return information for that year is not available.