§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of how many small businesses will be affected by proposals contained in her Department's review of bird registration; and how many such businesses depend upon trade in species listed in Schedule 4 of the Act. [85895]
§ Mr. MorleyMany users of the current registration system fit the definition of a "small business". Business users range from people who trade in significant numbers of Schedule 4 birds annually to those breeding just one or two birds. In the consultation process, we have endeavoured to contact as many such users as possible in order to ensure that their views are properly reflected in the review process.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason no changes were made to the bird registration scheme following the consultation on Review of Bird Registration and CITES Licensing Fees undertaken in July 1999. [85896]
§ Mr. MorleyNo changes were made to the bird registration scheme because the 1999 consultation related solely to the question of what fees should be payable for registering a bird and obtaining any relevant CITES permits.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the costs of implementing her Department's bird registration scheme were in(a) 1991, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001; and what she estimates they will be this year. [85897]
§ Mr. MorleyThe costs for the scheme in the financial year April 1991 to March 1992 were £309,769. Costs in the financial year April 2000 to March 2001 were £355,822 and April 2001 to March 2002 were £441,557. The forecast for April 2002 to March 2003 is £456,712.
The apparent large increase in costs between 2000–01 and 2001–02 is mainly due to an improved approach to cost attribution but also reflects a significant increase in enforcement effort.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) birdkeepers, (b) zoological gardens/bird parks, (c) birdkeeping magazines, (d) falconry centres, (e) police wildlife liaison officers, (f) ornithologists and birdwatchers, (g) conservation organisations, (h) bird watching magazines and (i) raptor groups have been consulted by her Department during its review of bird registration; and what criteria her Department used to determine the list of those consulted on the review. [85898]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Department set out to consult as many interested parties as possible in conducting the bird registration review. We have therefore consulted all people who currently keep Schedule 4 birds. This includes zoos and bird parks, falconry centres and members of raptor groups. In addition, consultation took place through a number of umbrella organisations such as the RSPB, the RSPCA, the Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Bird Council, the British Trust for312W Ornithology, the Hawkboard and the Countryside Alliance. We also issued consultation documents to conservation organisations and publishers of bird magazines and relied on them to cascade information to their members and readers. All Police Wildlife Liaison Officers in England and Wales were consulted. In all over 2,000 individuals and organisations were consulted through these mechanisms. Consultation documents were also available via the Department's website.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department took in framing the bird registration scheme to the effect on conservation of wild birds. [85899]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 introduced the registration and ringing of certain species of birds when kept in captivity. The objective of section 7 of the Act was to support the conservation of our native wild birds by requiring those holding them to register them with the Department, and to fit them with a ring approved by the Secretary of State. The deterrent effect of this legislation has reduced the illegal taking of birds from the wild.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings she had with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee during the preparation of her Department's review of bird registration. [85900]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Joint Nature Conservation Committee were involved in three meetings with my Department during the preparation of this review. The first meeting also involved representatives from raptor groups, the devolved assemblies and conservation bodies. Subsequent meetings involved officials from my Department and JNCC in discussions about a range of possible options for inclusion in the review.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consideration her Department gave to the views of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee during the peparation of its review of bird registration. [86120]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Joint Nature Conservation Committee are the main adviser to the Department on all scientific questions arising on bird registration issues. They were therefore consulted fully prior to the issue of the public consultation document, and were involved in a number of the preparatory discussions.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effects of removing bird species from Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 on the ability to secure convictions for possession of these birds. [86121]
§ Mr. MorleyThe recent consultation process sought views on four possible options for the future of the bird registration scheme. We consulted as widely as possible, and consultees included the enforcement authorities, whose views we greatly value. We shall decide what specific proposals to develop in the light of the responses to the consultation. The possible impact on the ability to 313W secure convictions under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 will be one of the factors we take into account in doing so.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of how removing bird species from Schedule 4 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 will affect the number of these birds taken illegally from the wild. [86122]
§ Mr. MorleyWhen the current consultation is concluded, the Department will refer to our scientific advisers, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, for assistance in determining whether species should remain on Schedule 4. One of the criteria in determining whether a species should remain will be its vulnerability to illegal taking.
The evidence from the 1994 review showed that the removal of kestrels, sparrow hawks and common buzzards from Schedule 4 had no detrimental effect on wild population levels.