Where's the data? Natural England running late with publication of wildlife lethal control figures...

So, it's that time of year again when I have to 'remind' Natural England of their promise to publish the annual wildlife licence data; I think I've had to prompt them every year since 2018 when our campaign began.
Several weeks ago when I initially asked them, they told me that the data for 2024 would be published "no later than the end of March".
Now here we are in April.... still waiting for last year's figures.
This is not a surprise, in my experience we are often kept waiting to see data that might reveal controversial statistics, in this case figures detailing the officially sanctioned killing of wildlife.

Concerns
This year, as I've mentioned in earlier articles, I am a little more concerned than usual because it's the first year of a new government.... and it's a government that I believe has very clearly demonstrated already that it is unsympathetic to the natural environment. 
I'm nervous about the continuity of the regular annual declarations we managed to secure, in case the government decides it's 'not in the public interest' to share it.
Natural England is the government's 'adviser for the natural environment in England', they are sponsored by Defra, the UK government's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Some of you will know of the battle I had with Defra last year to obtain data relating to cetacean strandings in the UK - eventually they released some of it, having earlier implied it wouldn't be in the public interest to publish 'raw' data, lest it be misinterpreted. 
I worry that this argument could be applied to other sets of government data in future - such as Natural England's lethal control licence statistics.

Transparency
Several years ago now, in the early days of our campaign, discussions I had with Natural England  resulted in a promise from them to openly share the complete data relating to the licences that they issue annually, licences that legalise the selective lethal control of wildlife in England. Prior to this, the information was hidden, and no wonder because it illustrates the shocking wholesale killing of wildlife, especially birds - all approved and facilitated by the system.
When I first examined the licences, and the reasons provided for granting them, many of the licences appeared to be spurious and highly questionable. And because the figures were being hidden from public view, there was no accountability or transparency.
So, since then, I've made sure that the annual licence data is available in the public domain for all to see, examine and question.
And importantly I have been able to maintain a useful and open dialogue with Natural England, raising questions where necessary and discussing individual licences that might be contentious.

I hope that the next data release is imminent, and I've reminded Natural England again of their promise.
One does wonder whether, without a nudge, they would keep quiet and conveniently forget to publish it..... rest assured I won't let that happen.
I hope to be in touch again soon with a link to the data.
Let's wait and see....

Meanwhile, thanks to you all for your continued support and encouragement.
Campaign/Petition details can be found HERE.

Best,
Jase