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

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards the introduction of a statutory close season for hares in England; whether they have identified a legislative vehicle for that purpose; and when they intend to bring forward that legislation.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A statutory close season for hares is 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 support the ambition to introduce a close season for hares in England.

However, the Government needs a suitable primary legislative vehicle in place to deliver this change. While I cannot therefore offer a timeframe for bringing this legislative change forward, Defra will do its utmost to identify suitable opportunities to enable the Government to introduce a close season for hares in England.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing interim measures to protect hares during their breeding season pending the introduction of a statutory close season.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We have not considered any interim legislative measures to protect hares during their breeding season pending the introduction of a statutory close season. However, it is reasonable to assume that changes to hare coursing legislation, brought in under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, along with improved police tactics, intelligence and information sharing as well as the use of community protection notices (CPN) and criminal behaviour orders (CBO), has had an effect in terms of reducing levels of hare coursing in recent years, both within the hares’ breeding season and outside it. We are also committed to delivering our legally-binding biodiversity targets on species abundance, species extinction and habitat creation and restoration. This is helping to drive forward action to improve habitat such as open grassland which brown hares rely on to flourish.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the operation and outcomes of statutory close seasons for hares in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and whether they intend to align the level of protection for hares in England with those in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have indeed already introduced close seasons for their populations of hare. Whilst the UK Government has made no formal assessment of these measures, we will consider lessons from the experience in Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, wildlife management is a devolved activity and the precise nature of any changes in England will be considered on their own merit.