* Bird control licences. An ongoing fiasco.
* 1 in 15 licence holders FAILED to submit an 'obligatory' report of action taken. * Natural England received no licence returns for nearly 7% of bird control licences that it issued between 2018 and 2019, despite this being a mandatory requirement. * Dozens of licences have no known outcome...... As promised, I can now report back to you with the answers I received from Natural England regarding the percentage of returns (reports of action taken) that they logged for bird control licences issued over a period of one year. Natural England have provided me with a set of (oddly round) figures. They tell me that there were 1075 individual and class licences issued for bird control between April 2018 and March 2019; and of those 1075, returns were received for 1000. Outcome of 1 in 15 licences is unknown..... The results are perhaps better than I feared, comparatively speaking, but they still present a question mark over how many wild birds are ultimately being killed (or having their eggs destroyed). Each licence holder is obliged, under the terms of their licence, to submit a return detailing action taken, yet Natural England admits that no returns were received for nearly 7% of all licences issued that year, that's around 1 in 15.... While it is certainly encouraging to know that most licence holders are fulfilling their obligations, the 7% who didn't means that a large number of birds may have been 'controlled' under licences that have an entirely unknown outcome. Nobody knows, least of all Natural England, just how many birds might have been killed under these 75 licences because the returns were never received. Only the licence holders know what methods were used and how successful or otherwise the action was. With precious little penalty (if any) for failing to submit a return, the system is wide open to misuse and does not discourage those who might be acting irresponsibly or even illegally. Natural England are always keen to trumpet their much flaunted 'five point system' which applicants have to satisfy before obtaining a licence, in theory to establish that the applicant has a compelling need to control wild birds. But the truth is that, notwithstanding this process, huge numbers of licences are still issued and a small but significant proportion of licence holders fail to submit returns. Unmonitored system of lethal control I acknowledge that the management of wildlife is a complex and controversial question but it is essential that any lethal control of wildlife is fully monitored - it should be a basic requirement of what is supposed to be a 'last resort' solution to any perceived wildlife problem. What we have is a largely unmonitored, officially sanctioned, culling of wild birds and animals. This broken system may be due to lack of resources and/or lack of funding but it remains in need of an overhaul and a rethink. "It's time to entrust the protection of nature to those who actually care about the natural world... and not a government agency that is overseeing a broken wildlife licensing system, the slaughter of birds and badgers and the destruction of ancient woodland..." I think Natural England has proved time and again that it does not exist to "help to protect and restore our natural world" - as it boldly claims on its website. By it's actions we can assume that it exists to oversee wholesale destruction of the natural world it purports to 'protect and restore'. It's time to hand over the task of protecting our wildlife and environment to those who really do love and cherish our natural world.
38 Comments
Janet G Heinle
11/10/2020 08:41:05 pm
PLEASE STOP KILLING NATURE'S GIFT TO US VIA THE BIRDS!~ WHY would you do this!?
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Graham Houghton
12/10/2020 01:26:11 am
Janet,I understand your sympathies, but these creatures, any creature, are not not a 'gift to us'. They are part, like us, of the worldwide web of life. We are interwoven with every other living thing on this planet from whales to viruses.
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Marian
12/10/2020 09:41:49 am
I wholly concur, Graham. Thanks for putting it so well.
Caroline Dalton
12/10/2020 07:35:17 am
Keep on investigating, Jason. You are casting light in some murky corners.
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Angela Chantler
11/10/2020 08:44:42 pm
If they dont make their returns then their licenses should be revoked and another NOT issued until report received. Make it tougher on the idiots.
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Graham Houghton
12/10/2020 01:19:02 am
Revoked and banned for life from getting another, owning firearms, traps, or any other form of lethal implement.
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Alexandra Coates
11/10/2020 08:56:54 pm
Does anyone audit the reports that are submitted?
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Lin
11/10/2020 09:01:32 pm
Do we believe anything that they say about returns etc, it seems like a made up figure to me.
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Andy Skelton
11/10/2020 09:21:09 pm
1075 licences and 1000 reports are too round to be credible. I would not trust these figures - they may have simply plucked them out of the air. There is no way of knowing how much of what they say is true or based on any evidence at all, let alone whether any such "evidence" would stand up under scrutiny. This should be challenged
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Valda Williams
11/10/2020 10:22:10 pm
Oh for a whistle blower - then we'd really be able to sift through the murk! Hope at very least no further licenses are granted to non-compliers. Whole system seems so full of holes - absolute disgrace!
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trev
11/10/2020 09:42:00 pm
Natural England are actively destroying our wildlife not protecting it. Their name is wholly misleading. Mother Nature always fights back, hence we have Covid-19. "Leave room for nature" - R.C. Christian.
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Julia Dance
11/10/2020 09:46:30 pm
The numbers do look too neat and we have no idea that the figures in the submitted reports are any more real. Natural England is not fit for purpose.
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Mrs Catherine Hershaw
11/10/2020 09:49:02 pm
I truly applaud the work you're doing Jason. Natural England are a Government office rubber stamping destruction of nature and wildlife. The badger cull has no scientific grounds, the Conservatives gave in to NFU lobbying. Shooting birds that are protected is absurd, shooting badgers to 'control disease' is a lie, animals from mice, hedgehogs to every farmyard animal can and will contract Btb from an infectious source and possibly pass it on. Hunting hounds were responsible for running over fields while infectious - no ban there either. Ban the hunts, the cull, the licences. Nature has the answers we keep getting in the way. Government hipocracy and bias does nothing but make the people more cynical of our 'leaders' its about time they realised we are intelligent enough to know what is right and true and what isn't.
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Christine Wardlow-Kaye
12/10/2020 07:44:29 am
I thoroughly agree with you about the point you make regarding who controls the fate of our much treasured wildlife. However, there's another threat looming over the horizon and that is the Agriculture Bill that returns to,the Commons today. If the Government, and more to,the point Dominic Cummings, have their way, and it's likely to, our countryside could be transformed to accommodate American farming methods including factory farming with its use of highly toxic chemicals. You are absolutely right, wildlife should be in the hands of a genuinely caring and accountable organisation and not,the government that follows its own non-transparent agenda.
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Elizabeth Wright
11/10/2020 09:54:13 pm
Is there some way you could get Prince William and Sir David Attenborough involved? I know royalty aren't to meddle in politics BUT Natural England does need sorting out.
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Lesley
12/10/2020 09:43:21 am
Is this the same Prince William who shoots birds?
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Liz Munro
12/10/2020 10:14:13 am
If indeed Prince William is still shooting birds, ( I don't know), I urge him to look into this now more deeply.
Keith Dancey
12/10/2020 02:11:29 pm
"Is there some way you could get Prince William and Sir David Attenborough involved?"
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Andy Hayward
12/10/2020 03:10:04 pm
You comment was unneccesarily rude, if you need to make a comment, please keep it civil and if at all possible positive.
Keith Dancey
12/10/2020 08:58:09 pm
"You comment was unneccesarily rude, if you need to make a comment, please keep it civil and if at all possible positive."
Frances Bee
11/10/2020 10:14:20 pm
The system is clearly not fit for purpose. You are doing a brilliant job. Do you feel you are making progress by dialogue or is there any merit in 'shaming' them through more exposure in the national newspapers?
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It is very sad that the people who are meant to be protecting our wildlife cannot even ensure that ALL Licences are returned to them, as mentioned already those that do not return their Licence should have them revoked but it appears that is not happening, very sad
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John Lennox
11/10/2020 11:32:34 pm
The officials of too many government-sponsored organisations and sadly some national charities show by their inaction that they are more interested in an easy life than they are in promoting the cause of those they are paid to protect and support.
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Stan Evans
11/10/2020 11:46:31 pm
Sounds more like Un-natural England with its callous view of wild birds. As John Lennox says, there are too many organisations that supposedly protect animals but do the opposite.
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Sharon Smithen
12/10/2020 07:12:25 am
I so believe that an actual caring organisation should take on this 'caring' for the protection and monitoring of the countries wild birds. Not Natural England who it seems they are not doing the job properly. It states on the website that they are sponsored by DEFRA...how does that help I wonder, if at all.
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Tim Burke
15/10/2020 08:01:49 pm
Sponsored by or controlled by? Possibly the main problem because of the conflicting interests between agriculture, shooting and conservation. Natural England needs to be independent and well funded to function in the way most of us want.
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Alan Taylor
12/10/2020 07:16:02 am
How are returns verified, who monitors the actions taken by these license holders?
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Sue
12/10/2020 07:42:05 am
How can you know that what is returned is the truth. Too easy to miss of the list all the ‘protected birds’ that have been accidentally on purpose killed. I wouldn’t believe any of it. For every bird declared probably add st least 2 more.
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Gill Reid
12/10/2020 08:49:51 am
Totally agree, the whole system should be given to a concern that actually does what it says. Only gives out licences in very needed areas where everything else has been tried. Also follow up is desperately needed and of course no more licenses for non compliance. Great work Jason thank you so much.
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Rosemary Burkhill
12/10/2020 09:05:56 am
What is Natural England's criteria for giving these licences?
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ROGER BRACE
12/10/2020 09:19:04 am
If you have not already done so, you should request a copy of a blank application form to ensure that the species of birds for which control is sought is listed, together with the method of control to be applied and the approximate number of each species it is intended to exterminate. You should also request a blank copy of the annual return form that each licence holder is required to file. This will confirm that the forms themselves are adequate.
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Pauline Campbell
12/10/2020 09:29:28 am
If the corret returns are not made then do not issue licences or better still stop killing any wild life we need wildlife more than ever have we not learned anything from this pandemenic
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Wildlife Angels
12/10/2020 09:32:06 am
Dear Jason
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Lesley
12/10/2020 11:56:13 am
Failing to submit a return should automatically raise a red flag, followed by disqualification from future licensing until further sanctions have been applied, accepted and complied with. It seems inexplicable, with all the detailed information about climate change, the destruction of so many habitats by humans and the current alarming rate of species' extinction around the world, that such a lack of understanding of the sensitive balance within the natural world is being demonstrated by Natural England. They don't appear to be fit for purpose.
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BoB B. Howson
12/10/2020 12:03:46 pm
Again, thank you Jason for sticking with this mission. I concur with others in thinking that these returns look very conveniently rounded down or even up. Also, what scrutiny is there of the 85% that did make an obligatory return? Are we simply relying on the honesty of an applicant who got a license and killed 'some' birds? I also agree that it would be a good measure if no further licenses were issued to anyone failing to submit their obligatory return.
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Colin Kirtland
12/10/2020 12:21:47 pm
I and many others had hoped that when Tony Juniper was appointed he would change the whole ethos of Natural England, but so far nothing seems to have changed. Very disappointing!
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Gareth Huw Lewis
12/10/2020 07:44:45 pm
Once again Jason-thank you for bringing to our attention the farcical situation regarding Natural England's inability to monitor all licenses issued to "control" wild birds and other wildlife especially as in my view , far, far, too many licenses are issued in the first place and for many dubious reasons.
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Lesley
16/10/2020 11:05:40 am
In the15/10/20 edition of The Guardian there's a piece about the UK failing to meet biodiversity targets. It also talks about the decline of the population of British birds, and it says the following: "Natural England, which is sponsored by Defra, has seen its budget cut by £180m since 2008, and continued cuts are having a huge impact on the protection of habitats, conservationists warn. “It’s a real ski-slope decline in funding. Government agencies cannot act to do the really great things they want to do … ". But surely this misses the point - it isn't funding cuts limiting Natural England's ability to protect wildlife, it's their continuing focus on licensing the killing of Britain's wildlife in large numbers. Prof Richard Gregory of the RSPB suggests we should be investing heavily in "nature-based solutions", but surely this doesn't include mass murder. Perhaps Defra are unaware of what Natural England are doing, or is Natural England being required follow a Defra policy to destroy our wildlife and habitats and continue the "relentless decline"?
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