Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will issue clear guidance that buzzard control licences should be granted to gamekeepers or organisations whenever the criteria for applications for such licences are met.

Rory Stewart

Licences to control buzzards are issued by Natural England on the Secretary of State’s behalf in accordance with the Government’s policy on wildlife management. Following the recent McMorn judgment in the High Court, which quashed a licencing decision taken in 2014 relating to buzzards, Natural England is revising the guidance on dealing with these types of application and once completed, the guidance will be publicly available.