§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will authorise the importation of a quantity of grey squirrels from North America with a view to their release into the wild to establish whether the bark-stripping behaviour of the grey squirrels currently in the United Kingdom could be suppressed by an infusion of new bloodlines. [HL3390]
§ Lord WhittyThe release of grey squirrels into the wild in Great Britain is prohibited under Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. In England the department (or in Scotland and Wales the relevant devolved administration) has the power to license an exception under the act. However, my department has not received an application for a licence to release grey squirrels for any such purpose. Any application would be considered on its merits but it is unlikely that we would consider granting a licence without compelling evidence that introducing new bloodlines would reduce, rather than add to, the environmental damage caused by grey squirrels currently living feral in Britain.