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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish his response to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee's 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 relating to marine mammals; and whether he plans to consider the potential impact of this review on his review of the Environmental Improvement Plan.

We are carefully reviewing the proposals, including for marine mammals, from the 7 Quinquennial Review, taking into account our nature recovery ambitions. The Government has concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. We are developing a new EIP to protect and restore our natural environment, it will be published later this year. We will publish our response to the Quinquennial Review in due course.