Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the General License for Bird Gatherings will be reinstated by his Department.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
From 21 April 2021, certain bird gatherings can take place in Great Britain provided the organisers notify the Animal and Plant Health Agency at least seven days before the event and that they meet the requirements of the General Licence. This includes markets, shows, sales, exhibitions of pigeons, budgerigars, canaries, parrots, cockatiels and birds of prey. Some low risk pigeon racing is also permitted. Gatherings of ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys or game birds whether kept commercially as poultry, as pets or for other purposes remain banned. Poultry gatherings will be kept under review.
For a full list of what is permitted see the guidance for bird gatherings on gov.uk. Definitive requirements are set out in the published General Licence for the relevant administration (England, Wales and Scotland).
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to review the restrictions placed on pigeon racing implemented by his Department due to the perceived transmission risk of bird flu by racing pigeons.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
From 21 April 2021, low risk pigeon racing can take place from locations not on mainland Europe, provided organisers notify the Animal and Plant Health Agency at least seven days before the event and that they meet the requirements of the General Licence. For a full list of what is permitted see the guidance for bird gatherings on gov.uk. Definitive requirements are set out in the published General Licence for the relevant administration (England, Wales and Scotland)
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the proposed date is to reinstate the General Licence for Gatherings to permit the return of pigeon racing.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The ban on gatherings for birds remains in place. No date for lifting the ban has yet been set.
The general licence for bird gatherings was suspended on 11 November 2020. This followed the first case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in England in 2020 and the risk assessment which concluded that the likelihood of the presence of infection in wild waterfowl had increased to high and the likelihood that poultry would be exposed to disease to be medium.
The risk assessment also found that the likelihood of disease introduction through gatherings was increased because of the cumulative risk relating to multiple places of origin of the birds attending and that the impact of an introduction of infection to poultry because of gatherings could be very severe. The ban is regularly reviewed, including whether gatherings of bird species of lower risk, such as pigeons, might be permitted before allowing gatherings of higher risk species such as ducks and geese.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to protect the song bird and pigeon population by controlling and reducing the numbers of birds of prey.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In England, there are provisions under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which allow for the control of wild birds, such as birds of prey, to conserve other wild birds e.g. songbirds. Licence applications are dealt with on a case by case basis and priority must be given to non-lethal methods.
There is however no evidence that predation of songbirds by birds of prey is a major contributory factor in their decline at a national scale.
There are no provisions under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which permit licences to be granted to control birds of prey to protect racing pigeons.
As nature conservation is a devolved matter, the Department for the Environment of Northern Ireland should be approached regarding its wildlife legislation and policy regarding the control of birds of prey.