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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they will take to reduce the poisoning of humans and animals through ingesting lead ammunition deposited by public bodies or third parties acting under contract or licence from public bodies.

Through the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, the use of lead shot ammunition is restricted to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. Its use is banned on all foreshores, certain Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and for the shooting of all ducks and geese, coot and moorhen. The supply of lead weights for fishing is also prohibited.

Natural England is fully compliant with these regulations on the land which it manages. The Forestry Commission voluntarily decided to use non-lead alternatives on the public forest estate for the control of deer and wild boar. From November 2016 onwards all the venison processed through Forest Enterprise England (FEE) larders will have been culled with non-lead ammunition.