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 the potential impact of the requirement for Bird Gathering Licences to be approved no more than seven days before an event on (a) trends in the number, (b) the planning and (c) biosecurity of such events.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Regulation 6 of the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended, sets out the legal basis for permitting gatherings of poultry or other captive birds. In England, a licence to hold a bird gathering may be granted by Defra if a veterinary risk assessment has been carried out, and if the gathering, including the movement of birds to and from it, would not significantly increase the risk of the transmission of avian influenza virus. Detailed risk assessments can be found on Gov.UK.

As legislation requires this to be a risk-based decision, assessments of the impact to individual events, the number of events, or types of event, have not been made.

Assessing the risk of each gathering is complex. Factors taken into account include, but are not limited to: the background risk; the origin locations of the birds; the species of birds attending; biosecurity measures; the number of birds and species; and the number of exhibitors. Gatherings, including mixed species exhibitions may be permitted, subject to licence.