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

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards the introduction of a statutory close season for hares in England; whether they have identified a legislative vehicle for that purpose; and when they intend to bring forward that legislation.

A statutory close season for hares is consistent with Natural England's advice on wildlife management that controlling species in their peak breeding season should be avoided unless genuinely essential and unavoidable. Defra Ministers support the ambition to introduce a close season for hares in England.

However, the Government needs a suitable primary legislative vehicle in place to deliver this change. While I cannot therefore offer a timeframe for bringing this legislative change forward, Defra will do its utmost to identify suitable opportunities to enable the Government to introduce a close season for hares in England.