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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consultations her Department held with animal welfare organisations before laying the draft Hunting Act 2004 (Exempt Hunting) (Amendment) Order 2015.

The Government has received representations from a wide range of interested parties both for and against any repeal or amendment to the Hunting Act 2004.

The measures proposed in the draft Hunting Act 2004 (Amendment) Order 2015 would not remove the ban on hunting. Given this we judged that more consultation would not have been likely to add to the information available to us.