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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of consulting on the withdrawal of GL43 licences from special protection areas prior to implementing that policy.

The Defra minister responsible has taken this decision following initial advice from the statutory nature conservation body, Natural England to reduce the risk of impact of avian influenza on rare and protected wild bird populations. We informed stakeholders on 10 May, based on their feedback we sought further advice from Defra’s Chief Scientific Officer prior to issuing final decision on 31 May.