Birds of Prey

(asked on 3rd September 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with Natural England on steps taken in response to the High Court judgement of 13 November 2015, in R (McMorn) v Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2015] EWHC 3297, on standardising licensing processes when licences are issued in relation to raptor species.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 8th September 2021

Raptor species, along with all other wild birds, are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is illegal to kill them without a licence. Natural England, in its role as a wildlife licensing authority, can issue licences to control birds under certain circumstances.

Following the McMorn case, Natural England developed internal guidance covering licence applications for predatory species for the purpose of preventing serious damage and for the purpose of conserving species. These were designed to establish standard criteria for assessing such applications and have been agreed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Reticulating Splines