Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that people who violate the law on protected birds of prey are prosecuted.

Dr Thérèse Coffey

Defra Ministers have received a number of representations, including from Members of this House on behalf of their constituents, highlighting their concerns about illegal persecution of birds of prey such as the hen harrier and wildlife crime more generally.

The Government takes wildlife crime very seriously. All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with strong penalties for committing offences against birds of prey and other wildlife. All incidents of wildlife crime should be reported to the police.

Raptor persecution is a UK wildlife crime priority and has a taskforce led by a senior police officer to develop a plan to prevent crime, gather intelligence on offences and enforce against it. It focuses on the golden eagle, goshawk, hen harrier, peregrine, red kite and white tailed eagle.

The National Wildlife Crime Unit, which Defra funds jointly with the Home Office, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities affecting birds of prey and provides assistance to police forces when required.

It is a matter for the prosecuting authorities to ensure those who commit such offences receive the appropriate penalties as set out in law.