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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department takes to (a) record the number of (a) birds, (b) cormorants and (c) gossanders shot annually under licence and (b) verify that licence conditions are met.

Bird licensing is a devolved issue. In England all licences issued by Natural England to named individuals or organisations require the licensee to complete a regular return detailing the action taken under that licence.

Numbers of birds, including cormorants and goosanders, shot under licence are recorded on Natural England internal databases. Licence returns are checked to ensure that the action taken complies with the licence and Natural England carries out a combination of both targeted and spot checks on compliance with licences.