Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a ban on trail hunting on land owned by her Department.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the introduction of the Act, many hunt organisations across the country have worked hard to adapt their activities towards trail hunting, which is intended to retain important traditions as part of the fabric of rural life without harming wildlife. The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. 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. The Government will not amend the Hunting Act.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Hunting Act 2004 to ban trail hunting.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We recognise it is possible that dogs may on occasion pick up and follow the scent of live foxes during a trail hunt. Failure to prevent dogs from chasing or killing a fox may be taken as intent to break the law. Enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police.
The Government has made a manifesto commitment not to change the Hunting Act.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Hunting Act to reduce the incidence of foxes being killed; and what steps he is taking to ban trail hunting on Government-owned land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our manifesto was clear that no changes will be made to the Hunting Act. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
Issuing a license or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to bring forward a ban on trail hunting on Government land.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act. The Government will not amend the Hunting Act 2004.
Issuing a licence or giving permission for trail hunting is an operational matter for the landowner and those organisations with a land lease or agreement in place for Government land.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
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 take steps to ban trail hunting and remove exemptions from the Hunting Act 2004 that have been used as a cover for illegal hunting, in response to the judgment of 15 October 2021 in the case of R v Mark Hankinson.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 take steps to ban trail hunting following alleged comments on the use of multiple trails made in a Hunting Office webinar.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt a wild mammal with dogs except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions in the Act, and completely bans hare coursing. The full details of the Hunting Act 2004 exemptions are available online at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/37/schedule/1.
Those found guilty under the Act are subject to the full force of the law.
This Government will not amend the Hunting Act.