Further Information on the Revocation of General Licences in England

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The NGO has been urgently pressing Natural England (NE) for further information about its decision, announced yesterday afternoon, to revoke three key General Licences for the control of 16 common bird species throughout England. The situation remains chaotic but more information is trickling out.

First, NE has now confirmed what time tomorrow (Thursday 25 April) the General Licences will be revoked. They will cease to exist on Thursday at 23.59 (one minute before midnight). From that time on it will be illegal to trap, shoot or otherwise kill or take the General Licence species such as crows, magpies, woodpigeons and Canada geese unless you hold an Individual Licence to do so.

We urge members most strongly to abide by the law and to spread word of the revocations to any gamekeepers who may not have heard. There have already been calls from anti shooting organisations to look out for examples of lawbreaking after the General Licences have been revoked.

Second, NE have finally replied to the NGO’s request for what can or must be done with decoy crows and magpies used in corvid traps. This is something about which many members have asked us. NE says (in its own words):

• 1)  So long as the birds have been legally taken or otherwise obtained they may be lawfully possessed (under section 1(3)(a) of the 1981 Act).  Assuming these birds were caught under general licence, as long as the terms and conditions of the licence were satisfied then these birds would be lawfully obtained.
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• 2)  It is not lawful to kill these birds except under licence. The options after Thursday are therefore: to keep the bird(s); to release it; to wait until an appropriate new general licence is issued, or either apply for a licence to kill it.
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• 3) While under the control of a person any decoy bird is subject to the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

The NGO’s advice for those planning on keeping decoy birds alive, pending the issuing of replacement licences, is to retain them in a good sized aviaries, with food, water, shelter and perches, inspecting them at least daily as the Animal Welfare Act 2006 requires. It will not be lawful to keep decoy birds in Larsen traps after the General Licences are revoked as the typical compartment size is too small to comply with animal welfare law and the clause in the General Licences which allows decoy birds to be so held whilst the trap is in use will, of course, have been revoked.

Regarding NE’s promise of a light tough Individual Licensing system available via its website tomorrow (Thursday), no further information has been forthcoming. It seems likely, however, that each application will have to be assessed individually by NE if the system is to be valid and legally sound, so we are not expecting gamekeepers and others needing Individual Licences to be able to get them immediately. Indeed one caller to NE’s helpline was told that there would be just three members of NE staff handling the applications, so we advise that delays can be expected.

The NGO continues to argue the case that NE’s sudden decision is causing chaos and confusion, with a danger that the law could be inadvertently be broken by those not informed of the changes. We are also stressing that it will affect gamekeepers’ livelihoods and their ability to control predatory birds at this most crucial time of year for wild gamebirds and declining waders. We have provided briefing on all these aspects to MPs and others, who have taken the argument right up to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP, on whose behalf the General Licences are issued.

Some people have unfortunately been directing their understandable anger about the situation towards the shooting organisations rather than NE. Let’s be clear on this. The NGO was told by NE in mid March that despite the legal challenge being made against them, the General Licences would remain in place. The next communication on the subject we had from NE was received by the NGO at 1446 yesterday afternoon, announcing the revocation. There had been no previous indication of revocation whatsoever. We issued our response via our website at 1704 yesterday. None of the other countryside organisations had been given any more notice of this than the NGO.

We are doing all we can to force NE to reverse its decision or at least to put practical measures in place as soon as possible. In an interesting development in the last few hours, the Scottish Government has announced that it is fully aware of the situation but it is not revoking its General Licences, which have exactly the same legal basis as those which NE now regards as being unlawful.

All the shooting organisations are working together on this most pressing issue and we will continue to update the NGO website just as soon as there are any further developments.

Notes to Editors:

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation: The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. The NGO defends and promotes gamekeeping and gamekeepers and works to ensure high standards throughout the profession. The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that keepering was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. Today, there are 13,000 members of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation.  www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk