The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey): On 4 May, DEFRA took on
decision-making for the purposes covered by the General Licences
that had been revoked by Natural England on 25 April. An
evidence-gathering exercise was then initiated in order to
determine next steps which closed on 13 May.
Some 4,378 responses were received, some of which were general
opinions, and 3,952 responses were more specific and have
provided a useful set of evidence and views. The majority of
responses came from individuals or smaller businesses and
organisations. Thirty six local and national organisations also
responded, including conservation, animal welfare, pest control,
farming, game keeping and land management organisations.
The responses demonstrated a range of impacts that individuals
and groups experienced as a result of Natural England’s
revocation of licences GL04, 05 and 06. These include crow
attacks on lambs and ewes during lambing, the risk of predation
for eggs and fledglings of birds of conservation concern, and
public health issues caused by pigeons in urban areas.
We recognise the unintended consequences of Natural England’s
decision on 23 April and completely acknowledge the need to
address this situation quickly. This is why we issued an urgent
call for evidence so that we could assess the situation
carefully.
Next steps will be confirmed imminently following engagement with
users and other interested stakeholders. A summary of the
evidence and the Government response will also be published
shortly.
We remain determined to ensure that we have a robust and
effective licensing system in place.
