Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the bird shooting industry on (a) native bird populations and (b) the natural environment.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has considered the potential impact of the bird shooting industry in a range of ways.
In 2020, Defra considered the ecological impact of gamebird release and commissioned an assessment, as well as identifying evidence gaps for further work. In 2021, Defra launched a three-year Gamebird Research Programme to fill those gaps. Project reports, to be published at https://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ will be reviewed and inform future policy.
Since 2021 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has become a threat to our vulnerable bird populations. In 2022, at the request of Defra the Animal and Plant Health Agency assessed the risk of released gamebirds spreading HPAI to wild birds.
In 2023 Defra and Natural England reviewed Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This lists wild bird species which can be shot during their open season. Natural England recommended greater protection for some of the species to ensure that such shooting is sustainable and does not undermine the conservation status of the species. Defra will consult on proposals shortly.
There is evidence linking gamebird shooting to illegal raptor persecution. Defra funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to assist law enforcers investigating this national wildlife crime priority.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has assessed the potential economic impact on (a) rural communities, (b) sporting shooting activities and (c) conservation work of merging shotgun and rifle licensing regimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed to publishing a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025.
Recommendations to strengthen the controls on shotguns had been made to Government by the Coroner following the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Keyham, Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations had also been made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly and we will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to it, before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the current period of prolonged frost and frozen ground on the ability of woodcock to feed; and whether she intends to exercise existing powers to introduce a temporary suspension of woodcock shooting during this period.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Managed by JNCC, the Severe Weather Scheme is designed to help with the conservation of birds listed at Schedule 2 Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, including woodcock, by reducing disturbance during periods of prolonged cold weather through voluntary restraint and then statutory suspension of shooting.
The threshold for the minimum number of days of freezing weather which would trigger voluntary restraint in England has not been met this winter. However, JNCC remains in regular discussion with Defra, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, and environmental organisations on the impact to birds of the current and forecast cold weather.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of potential impact of the proposed changes to the Protection of Badgers Act on shooting badgers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
These amendments standardise licences for development purposes under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 with those for other species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, 2017. This is intended to facilitate strategic-level Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) as provided for in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
We are legislating that licences issued under the Act to derogate from the protection afforded to badgers will be subject to strict tests required by the Bern Convention, which set a high bar. For licences under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), against an EDP for badgers, an overall improvement in the conservation status of badgers will be required. Killing badgers would remain exceptional and only permissible under strict conditions, such as disease control, and would not become routine for development purposes.
A specific assessment of the potential impact on shooting badgers has not been undertaken as the impact of these provisions will depend on practical application by Natural England through EDPs or individual licences.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Code of Practice for Brown Hare Management and Welfare in England, published by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust March 2013, and its effectiveness in preventing the shooting of hares during the breeding season.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made a formal assessment of the Code of Practice for Brown Hare Management and Welfare in England and its effectiveness in preventing the shooting of hares during the breeding season. Defra holds no official statistics on the number of hares shot in England and can therefore make no official estimate of the number of hares shot during the breeding period. While the Code urges those who might lethally control hares to not carry out such activity from 1 March to 31 July, the Government’s understanding is that most hare shooting currently occurs in February when the gamebird season ends, despite many adult female hares being pregnant or even already nursing their young.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning the shooting of hares in their breeding season.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government considers the need for a close season for hares is justified more by animal welfare concerns than biodiversity and species conservation. In short, a close season should reduce the number of adult hares being shot in the breeding season, which runs from February to October, meaning that fewer leverets (infant hares) are left motherless and vulnerable to starvation and predation. A close season is also consistent with Natural England's advice on wildlife management that controlling species in their peak breeding season should be avoided unless genuinely essential and unavoidable. Defra Ministers therefore support the ambition to introduce a close season for hares in England and are considering how this can be brought forward.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the 43 per cent decline in the number of hen harrier chicks fledging in 2024 compared to 2023, what steps they are taking to introduce licensing of grouse shooting in England.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises well-managed grouse shooting can be an important part of a local rural economy, providing direct and indirect employment. It also appreciates that many people hold strong views on the issue of grouse shooting and there is evidence to suggest a link between it and crimes against birds of prey. While Defra has not yet made any formal assessment of the potential merits of the licensing of grouse shooting in England, it will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between grouse shooting and conservation.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Natural England on the potential impact of issuing a GL43 on the shooting season this year.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In considering the issue of GL43 for this year’s shooting season, Defra took into account Natural England’s statutory advice, noting that the national transmission risk status of avian influenza in wild birds continues to be very high. This included a recommendation to exclude the Lundy Special Area of Conservation (SAC) from the scope of the licence and to include an additional licence condition, requiring best practice biosecurity measures to be undertaken and recorded when managing gamebirds, and those records be produced if requested by a wildlife inspector. The licence was published on 2 May.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a licensing system for grouse shooting in England.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises well-managed grouse shooting can be an important part of a local rural economy, providing direct and indirect employment. It also appreciates that many people hold strong views on the issue of grouse shooting and there is evidence to suggest a link between it and crimes against birds of prey. While Defra has not yet made any formal assessment of the potential merits of the licensing of grouse shooting in England, it will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between grouse shooting and conservation
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from shooting organisations on restrictions on the acquisition, storage, and use of lead shot.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has received representations from a variety of stakeholders, including shooting organisations, setting out a diverse range of views on this issue. The main shooting organisations that have made representations have been: The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Aim to Sustain, and the Gun Trade Association.