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 (a) the police and (b) animal welfare stakeholders on the actions of people involved in catapult groups on social media.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The use of catapults against animals, and the sharing of disturbing imagery associated with such use on social media, is an issue that has been relayed to my officials by certain local police forces and the National Wildlife Crime Unit. I am informed a new national group has recently been created to address the catapulting of wildlife, focusing on education, prevention, detection and justice. Officers from Essex Police and the Metropolitan Police are leading the group, named Operation Lakeshot, and they are working in partnership with the RSPCA and Nature Watch.

The government takes wildlife crime seriously and it is a matter of concern. Under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure, or inflict harm on wildlife. Furthermore, the Online Safety Act 2023 will also require social media firms to take action to tackle content that results in the unnecessary suffering of animals, or that encourages activity that causes the unnecessary suffering of an animal. This includes removing such content.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the use of catapults to (a) kill and (b) maim (i) wildlife and (ii) pets.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government takes crimes against wildlife and against pets seriously, including those involving the use of catapults. Under provisions in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and Animal Welfare Act 2006, there are a range of offences around deliberate attempts to kill, injure or inflict harm on wildlife and in the event that a member of the public believes such an offence has taken place, they are encouraged to report the matter to the police so they can investigate. In particular where pets are concerned, it is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 realises the Government’s manifesto commitment to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty by increasing the maximum penalty for this offence to 5 years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the peregrine falcon population in England of the theft of peregrine falcon eggs for sale of chicks to the Middle East.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Defra has not made any assessment of the impact of peregrine falcon egg theft on the peregrine population.

The Government does, however, take all wildlife crime seriously, including the theft of wild bird eggs, which is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25 to target wildlife crime priorities, in particular crimes against birds of prey, which is a national wildlife crime priority.

Defra supports the work of the Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group, and that of the CITES Priority Delivery Groups, which bring together police, government and stakeholders from conservation organisations to tackle this type of persecution. In addition, we are providing funding to Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) to develop DNA forensic analysis for the police and other organisations investigating crimes against peregrine falcons.

Additionally, the UK is an active member of the Intergovernmental Task Force on the Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean (MIKT). The MIKT facilitates international cooperation to tackle bird crime, including the illegal persecution and taking of raptors.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for stealing protected wild birds' eggs in England were successful in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice holds information on prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for summary offences in relation to nests and eggs of birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (HO offence code 19002). The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence data tool in the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

A further breakdown of the published data is required to extract figures specific to stealing the eggs of protected wild birds, for the offences ‘Take eggs of Schedule 1 wild bird’ and ‘Take eggs of non-Schedule 1 wild bird’, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Between 2019 and June 2023, there was one prosecution and one conviction in 2021 on a principal offence basis, relating to the eggs of a non-schedule 1 wild bird. Figures for the rest of 2023 will be available in the next update of the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly publication, expected in May 2024.

Found: In summary: Natural England’s advice to Defra in accordance with section 16(10)(b) of the Wildlife

Found: and Countryside Act 1981)TEWMiscellaneous crimes against society99.9 Other triable either way (non motoring

Found: Environmental Protection Act 1990) Act Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Act Water Resources Act 1991 Act Wildlife

Found: Environmental Protection Act 1990) Act Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Act Water Resources Act 1991 Act Wildlife

Found: cover the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (Habitats Regulations) and/or the Wildlife

Found: and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) (sections 1 4 to 14P) ’.

Found: make public the locations of nesting and breeding sites of species protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife

Found: relation to byelaw making powers for the protection of European marine sites under section 37 of the Wildlife

Found: relation to byelaw making powers for the protection of European marine sites under section 37 of the Wildlife

Found: Agency/Natural Resource Wales: Technical guidance on the classification a nd assessment of waste Wildlife

Found: excluded from the above of fences in order to avoid conflict with the existing law , as section 5 of the Wildlife