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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of hedgehog numbers in the UK; and if he will take steps to move hedgehogs to schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to strengthen their protections.

The latest ‘Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals’ estimates the hedgehog populations in the UK is 522,000.

Wildlife policy is a devolved issue and this response is with regard to England only.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 sets out a legal duty for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) to undertake a review of Schedule 5 and 8 (protected species) every five years to determine whether any further species warrant inclusion, and for the Secretary of State to lay this advice before Parliament. This review process is science led and evidence based, with criteria for consideration of species agreed across the jurisdictions of the UK. The JNCC is currently reviewing schedule 5 and will make recommendations for any additions at the end of this year.