The proposal to introduce a close season for the brown hare, referred to in HL9069, was set out in the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. In terms of the necessity of a close season from a wildlife conservation perspective, the brown hare is one of the indicator species for our legally binding targets in England to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse declines by 2042. We know that in order to meet these targets we will need large-scale habitat creation and restoration and improved connectivity but this will be supplemented where appropriate by intelligence on individual species. While there are no immediate plans to undertake a national mammal population review as was conducted in 2018, we should get an idea of trends in our brown hare population from published surveys, for example from the British Trust for Ornithology’s mammal recording, which it has been conducting since 1995 with a view to helping improve our knowledge of the distribution and population trends of some of our commoner mammals.

We are disappointed that the Hunting Trophies Bill failed to progress in the House of Lords in the previous session, in spite of overwhelming support from MPs for our proposals. We are committed to delivering on our manifesto pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies and will continue to explore ways to bring this forward.

In May 2021, a commitment was included within the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare to consider legislation to introduce a close season for brown hares in England. It was considered that a close season, prohibiting the killing of hares during their breeding season, would be likely to reduce the number of leverets (young hares) left motherless, giving them a better chance of survival. This is consistent with Natural England’s advice on wildlife management, which is to avoid controlling species in their peak breeding season unless genuinely essential and unavoidable. Introducing a close season for brown hares remains an option. An industry-led, non-statutory code of practice to protect hares in England is already in place which states that lethal control to prevent damage to crops should only be carried out in the winter months of January and February when vegetation is low and hares are easily visible. These months avoid the main breeding season and thereby reduce risks to dependent young.

In the absence of a close season, the Government has taken other forms of action which should have beneficial effects for our brown hares. Last year we introduced new measures to strengthen law enforcement and increase the powers of the courts through the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act to clamp down on the scourge of hare coursing. They have been widely welcomed. The new offences and higher penalties introduced by the Act are all being used and imposed by the courts. Further to this, brown hare is one of the indicator species for our legally binding targets in England to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse declines by 2042. We know that in order to meet these targets we will need large-scale habitat creation, restoration and improved connectivity. Our legally binding target to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat is already driving action on this front, including for habitat on which hares rely to flourish, such as open grassland.

In May 2021, a commitment was included within the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare to consider legislation to introduce a close season for brown hares in England. It was considered that a close season, prohibiting the killing of hares during their breeding season, would be likely to reduce the number of leverets (young hares) left motherless, giving them a better chance of survival. This is consistent with Natural England’s advice on wildlife management, which is to avoid controlling species in their peak breeding season unless genuinely essential and unavoidable. Introducing a close season for brown hares remains an option. An industry-led, non-statutory code of practice to protect hares in England is already in place which states that lethal control to prevent damage to crops should only be carried out in the winter months of January and February when vegetation is low and hares are easily visible. These months avoid the main breeding season and thereby reduce risks to dependent young.

In the absence of a close season, the Government has taken other forms of action which should have beneficial effects for our brown hares. Last year we introduced new measures to strengthen law enforcement and increase the powers of the courts through the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act to clamp down on the scourge of hare coursing. They have been widely welcomed. The new offences and higher penalties introduced by the Act are all being used and imposed by the courts. Further to this, brown hare is one of the indicator species for our legally binding targets in England to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse declines by 2042. We know that in order to meet these targets we will need large-scale habitat creation, restoration and improved connectivity. Our legally binding target to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat is already driving action on this front, including for habitat on which hares rely to flourish, such as open grassland.

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill currently going through Parliament will ban the import of hunting trophies to Great Britain from thousands of species.

Strict controls on hunting trophy imports are already in place in Northern Ireland.

No permits for importing hunting trophies to Northern Ireland have been issued in the past 5 years.

We are exploring whether current controls on imports of hunting trophies to Northern Ireland can be tightened.

In 2020, nine high-profile shooting organisations released a joint statement calling for an end to lead in ammunition used for taking live quarry with shotguns within five years. We welcomed this move away from lead and are committed to ensuring a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.

In Spring 2021, Defra asked the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency to prepare a UK REACH restriction dossier for lead in ammunition. This required both organisations to consider the evidence of risk posed by lead in ammunition on human health and the environment, and therefore, the case for introducing a restriction on lead in ammunition. HSE published restriction proposals in May 2022, setting out a range of options for introducing restrictions on lead in ammunition, and opened a six-month consultation. In January 2023, due to the large volume of consultation responses, HSE announced a six-month extension to its review process, to allow for due consideration of responses to inform the development of its final recommendation. The HSE final opinions are now expected by 6 November 2023. The Defra Secretary of State will be required to make a decision within three months of receipt of the opinions, with the consent of Welsh and Scottish Ministers.

My Lords, it is a manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals. We will be bringing forward legislation to deliver this measure as soon as parliamentary time allows.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to introduce legislation to ban the import of hunting trophies; and what is the proposed timetable for that legislation.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for what he has just said. Will he acknowledge that the Government have the opportunity, by getting this Bill on the statute book as soon as possible, to play a significant part in saving many rare animals from a horrible and unnecessary death? Therefore, can he confirm that the Bill will go further than the manifesto commitment and cover more than 1,000 additional near-threatened species, as stated in the government press release of 10 December? Is he aware that, at the end of last year, more than 300 carcasses of endangered species had been shipped to this country since 2019? Is it not the case that any delay in enacting the legislation would result in many more large animals being killed?

Can the Minister explain why the MoD continues to sanction the slaughter of Canadian brown bears to produce ceremonial headgear for our soldiers when there are perfectly viable alternatives?

My Lords, the Prime Minister is infamous for breaking his promises. He has promised this ban, but will it be another broken promise?

My Lords, given that there are suspicions arising that certain other animal welfare aspects are to be dropped from the Bill to which my noble friend refers, will he forgive me if I say that I entertain considerable suspicions as to whether the Government are back-tracking?

My Lords, it was reported in the media over the weekend—I think this is what the noble Baroness was referring to—that the Government are doing an about-turn on imports of fur and foie gras, both of which are abominable for those of us who have animal rights at the forefront of how we treat the natural world. Would the Minister care to comment on why there has been this about-turn?

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, if people do not like the process by which foie gras is made, the option is not to buy and not to eat it and we do not need the Government to ban it?

My Lords, further to the questions from noble Lords around what has been in the press, if bans on foie gras and fur imports are to be dropped from the animals abroad Bill, can the Minister confirm whether the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, is being sidelined by the Government and his department? He has previously stated that the Government would legislate to ban fur imports at the earliest available slot. There seems to be general back-tracking on animal welfare promises from this Government, so can the Minister assure us that the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, has the full support of the Prime Minister and the Treasury on these matters?

My Lords, I note that the Defra consultation on this matter received over 44,000 responses, with 86% of respondents supporting the proposed ban. As the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk, said, 300 trophies have since been bought into the United Kingdom. Can the Minister tell the House how many more trophies are likely to be imported into this country before the long-awaited ban is implemented?

My Lords, has my noble friend the Minister made any assessment of the possible unintended consequences of this legislation? In the late 1970s, Kenya banned trophy hunting and saw the number of its elephants plummet. South Africa and Rhodesia, as it then was, went the other way and said that, if you owned land, livestock on that land was your property. As a result, local people treated large animals as a renewable resource rather than a pest.

Can my noble friend confirm whether the Government have assessed whether there might be increased pressure on the habitats of rare species as a result of this legislation?

In the last 12 months DEFRA has received a variety of representations both for and against a repeal of the Hunting Act 2004 from Members of Parliament and the public. This includes 114 pieces of correspondence from Members of Parliament and the public, according to DEFRA's correspondence database.