§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last consulted the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds over the use of its 207W database to identify prosecution cases including the killing, sale and smuggling of British birds of prey and other wild birds; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe Royal Society for the Protection of Birds wrote to the Home Office in July 1988 to seek assistance with the maintenance of its database. We consulted the Association of Chief Police Officers about this request. We understand from ACPO that the police service only rarely consults the RSPB database and we have informed the RSPB that in those circumstances Home Office assistance could not be justified.