We Asked, You Said, We Did

Between 6 Feb and 18 March 2024, Natural England consulted on a proposal to change the fees levied under the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) order 2018.

We asked your views on proposed updates to survey and mitigation licence charges. We also asked for your views on priorities for improving the licensing service.

The changes are required because of HM Treasury principles that mean Natural England must ensure full cost recovery. We also need to introduce charges for new licensing routes, and fund improvements to the licensing service.

Most consultees did not support the proposed charges for bat mitigation licence fees.

However, most of you did support the proposed charges for survey licences fees, and mitigation licence fees for species other than bat.

On improving the licensing service, you said that improving species protection was the most important issue. Second and third most important were improving certainty around when a licence will be issued, and speed of licence issue.

In response, we have reduced the proposed fees for some bat mitigation licences. For other licences, we propose to keep the fees as listed in the consultation.

We have published a consultation response. This has an analysis of the results, addresses your comments, and outlines our next steps. Our first action will be to seek ministerial approval for the proposed charges. If approved by a minister, we will work with Defra to get parliamentary approval for a new Statutory Instrument.

Update 28 March 2025 

The new Statutory Instrument has come into force: The Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2025. New fees will be charged from 1st April 2025. 

To start the process of replacing the East Marine Plans, as agreed by the Secretary of State in April 2023, and approval to consult on the East Marine Plan Draft Statemnet of Public Particiaption. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) held a formal consultation between 15 January 2024 and 12 February 2024.

Four engagement events were held during the consultation period, which were attended by a wide range of stakeholders from various sectors.

The consensus from the consultation was that the Statement of Public Particiaption generally meets the requirements of stakeholders. No changes were required to the Draft East Marine Plan Statement of Public Participation directly however, minor changes have been made to the corresponding gov.uk webpages to reflect the representations made by stakeholders. 

Following the consultation on the East Marine Plan Draft Statement of Public Participation, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has agreed to publish the East Marine Plan Statement of Public Participation.  

You can review the East marine Plan Statement of Public Participation and learn more about the process of replacing the East Marine Plan on the marine planning webpages. 

Defra consulted on establishing permitting regimes for the recreational targeting of bluefin tuna (BFT) in UK waters.

Of the 167 responses, the vast majority of respondents (139, 83%), across all interested groups, broadly supported the proposed design for the new UK permitting regimes for the recreational targeting of BFT.

Of those respondents not in favour, the vast majority supported the concept of recreational BFT fisheries but had specific concerns about the proposed design.

On the basis of the strong support to the consultation for new UK permitting regimes for the recreational targeting of BFT, Defra will bring forward the necessary legislation.

Each UK fisheries administration (FA) will determine if, and when, to introduce a BFT catch and release recreational fishery (CRRF) in its waters. We intend to open a BFT CRRF in English waters in 2024.

Our full Government response is available on GOV.UK.

Defra consulted on the scope of animal health and welfare offences that could be covered by penalty notices and elements on how the penalty regime might work in practice

More than 85% of respondents to the consultation supported the view that penalty notices could be a proportionate tool to ensure compliance with animal health and welfare regulations and supported the use of penalty notices to enforce regulations across different areas of animal health and welfare legislation.

As a result, we will introduce legislation to make penalty notices available as an enforcement option for named enforcers to use where appropriate for specified offences across animal health and welfare legislation.

Are new management measures required in Lyme Bay to protect the sole fishery?  

Yes, additional management is required.

In brief, MMO will: 

• Create a new vessel licence condition requiring enhanced visibility and identification of passive gear 

• Publish a form for reporting lost and found gear that can be used without the need for names in order to improve data on the frequency of these events   

• Set a reduced sole catch limit of 200kg for non-sector vessels fishing with scallop dredges in ICES area 7e   

• Hold discussions with Producer Organisations about ways members can reduce sole bycatch when fishing with dredges  

• Support additional research to understand the potential need, benefits and risks of changes to minimum landing sizes or gear configurations   

• Facilitate a meeting for representative industry members to discuss the potential for separating areas of Lyme Bay for use by different fishing methods at different times of the year. It will be hosted by MMO in early 2024. 

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate consulted on proposed changes to the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013. Proposals covered the marketing, manufacturing, supply, possession and use of veterinary medicines and medicated feed, as well as fees for regulatory services.

The 74 consultation questions received responses from 188 individuals and organisations. The responses showed strong support for the proposed changes. However, respondents highlighted concerns in some areas.

We will implement most of the proposed changes but have amended several proposals to address concerns raised. These include:

• changes to the labelling requirements for veterinary medicines - we have amended this proposal based on the feedback received;
• the proposal to only allow vet prescription-only medicines to be advertised to animal keepers if they are immunological medicines – we will not implement this;
• the proposal to change the classification for new immunological veterinary medicines so they can only be prescribed by vets – we will not implement this;
• the proposal to change prescribing requirements for vets to include ‘clinical examination or other proper assessment’ instead of ‘clinical assessment’ – we will not implement this;
• changes to the validity requirements of a medicated feedingstuffs prescription for antibiotics – we have amended this proposal based on the feedback received.

Our full Government response is available on Citizen Space.

We held a formal consultation on the impacts of bottom towed gears on rock and reef feature in the following marine protected areas (MPAs) from 17 January to 28 March 2023:

• Cape Bank 

• East of Haig Fras 

• Farnes East 

• Foreland 

• Haig Fras 

• Haisborough, Hammond and Winterton 

• Hartland Point to Tintagel 

• Goodwin Sands 

• Land's End and Cape Bank 

• North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef 

• Offshore Brighton 

• South of Celtic Deep 

• Wight-Barfleur Reef 

We asked the following questions:

1. Do you have any additional information about the location, condition, or sensitivity of the designated feature(s)?

2. Do you have information about the level or nature of fishing activity within any of the MPAs?

3. Do you agree or disagree with the proposed management measures?

4. How would the proposed management option affect you? Please provide supporting evidence if possible.

5. What other effects could the proposed management measures have? Please provide supporting evidence if possible.

We received 69 responses during the Stage 2 formal consultation. We subsequently made a ‘Stage 2 Formal Consultation Decision Document’ summarising the responses received, their consideration and the decision for the next steps for Stage 2 MPAs. This document can be found on our ‘‘MPA bottom towed fishing gear byelaw 2023’ webpage.

We reviewed the information received during this formal consultation to conclude whether management measures were required and then subsequently updated and finalised the Stage 2 byelaw and associated de minimis assessment. We then made the byelaw and submitted it to the Secretary of State for confirmation. The byelaw was confirmed on 1 February 2024. The byelaw and associated documents can be found on our ‘MPA bottom towed fishing gear byelaw 2023’ webpage.

For more information on how we assess and manage MPAs visit our ‘Managing fishing in marine protected areas’ webpage’.

Stage 3 assesses interactions between designated seabed features within MPAs that were not already assessed in Stages 1 and 2 in relation to the following fishing gear groups:

• bottom towed gear
• anchored nets and lines, and
• traps.

We held a call for evidence from 17 January to 28 March 2023, and asked the following questions:

• Do you have any additional evidence about the interactions of fishing gear and MPA seabed features?

• Do you agree with the MMO analysis of the available evidence provided in each 'Stage 3 Fishing Gear MPA Impacts Evidence' document? If not, please provide details.

We received 39 responses during the Stage 3 call for evidence and is drafting a ‘Stage 3 Call for Evidence Decision Document’ summarising the responses received and the decision for the next steps for Stage 3 sites. We plan to publish this information in Spring 2024.

We are doing

MMO reviewed the information received during this call for evidence to update and is using this to finalise the 'Stage 3 Fishing Gear MPA Impacts' documents.

The 'Stage 3 Fishing Gear MPA Impacts' documents are being used to inform site level assessments of the impacts of fishing on each MPA, which will inform the development of appropriate fisheries management measures for these MPAs. If management measures are required, these will be subject to appropriate levels of consultation.

If you want to be updated when the consultation launches, please email conservation@marinemanagement.org.uk.

Natural England consulted with national and local stakeholders with an interest in the SSSI official statistics, on the proposed change to the measurement used in the reporting of SSSI condition in England from a unit or area based to a whole feature based monitoring approach, between 7 December 2020 and 18 January 2021.

 

A total of 53 responses were received. 17 respondents were in favour of the proposed change, 5 respondents were not in favour of the proposed change, 9 respondents were neutral. 14 respondents were in favour of the change to feature based monitoring but not in favour of the Least Favourable Condition option. 3 respondents were in favour of the Least Favourable approach option but not in favour of the change of the change to feature based monitoring. 5 respondents did not express a preference.  Of the 53 formal consultation submissions, 41 respondents stated that the proposed change would have implications for their use of the statistics, 10 respondents did not think the proposed change would have an impact on their use of the statistics, and 2 respondents submitted blank forms. Of the written consultation responses, the primary concern was whether the new approach would remove the ability for landowners to report the condition of their landholding and understand the necessary management measures needed to bring about condition change.

Natural England reviewed the consultation responses and as a result have devised a mechanism to continue to report condition at both unit and feature scale. Natural England organised further discussions with stakeholders in 2021 and following pilots of the new approach in 2022. The discussions provided further opportunities for stakeholders to discuss these original concerns in order to agree solutions, develop ways of working in partnership and ensure smooth transition to feature based monitoring. Some of the key take home points were that once stakeholders understood the process of how whole feature assessment and reporting will work, they were content with how we propose to maintain the link with units and management advice. Maintaining the ability to report at unit level (until at least 2025) will enable stakeholders to report outcomes in relation to Management Plans.

Natural England also clarified how the  least favourable approach is only used to set the current feature condition baseline using unit condition data already in the system. The condition of units and features going forward will be determined using data captured in the field, available from others or from remote sensing.

The consultation focused on opinions on the sale of peat for horticultural use and whether this should continue or be restricted. We also asked whether there should be any exemptions and what these might be.

The response was clear with over 95% of responses calling for a ban on the sale of peat. There was some valid concern in the responses for the use of peat in industry.

The government in England is committed to banning the sale of peat and peat containing products by 2024.

On 26 February 2019, Natural England launched a formal consultation with owners, occupiers and interested parties on the proposed amendments to the Isles of Scilly Special Protection Area (SPA).

The proposed amendments to the Isles of Scilly SPA received 35 responses supporting the proposal, and 3 objections were received.

The Minister approved the proposals to amend the Isles of Scilly SPA, and the extended site was classified on the 17 November 2020. The consultation report, citation and updated maps can be downloaded from this website and the GI data is available by request. 

On 31 July 2018, Natural England launched a formal consultation with owners, occupiers and interested parties on the:

• notification of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI);

• proposed ‘de-notification’ of parts of the Seal Sands SSSI;

• proposed extensions to the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site.

The Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI notification was the subject of 6 unresolved objections and 7 further objections that have been resolved subject to the Board of Natural England’s approval of recommended boundary modifications. There were also 12 further representations, 4 of which expressed support for the SSSI notification.

No objections were received to the proposal to de-notify parts of the Seal Sands SSSI.

The proposed extensions to the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SPA and Ramsar site received 7 responses supporting the proposal. 18 objections were received, 11 of which were resolved and 7 which were maintained by the respondent.

Following consideration of representations and objections at its meeting on 20 March 2019, the Board of Natural England approved the confirmation of the notification of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI with modifications to the boundary and, accordingly, to the area figure presented on the citation.

Natural England confirmed the notification of Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SSSI on 18 April 2019 and, on the same date, confirmed the de-notification of parts of the Seal Sands SSSI.

 The Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SPA and Ramsar site extensions were classified on the 16^th January 2020.

The Minister approved the proposals to extend the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SPA and Ramsar site, but with the boundary amendments as described within Annex 3 of the Consultation Report (available from this website).  Updated maps and citations can be downloaded from this website and the GI data is available by request.  

Natural England consulted owners, occupiers and interested parties on the notification of additional land as part of the Poole Harbour Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on 24 May 2018.

One objection was received relating to the notification of this land under Section 28B of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 but was subsequently withdrawn. Five representations expressing support for the notification were received through the online consultation.

Natural England confirmed the notification of additional land as part of the Poole Harbour SSSI with a modification to the boundary and, consequently, to the area figure on the citation. The boundary modification is to exclude the recently constructed Poole South Quay. This was constructed prior to notification of the additional land and was notified in error due to it not yet being depicted on Ordnance Survey base mapping.

We asked for your views on proposed updates to the waste duty of care code of practice, particularly in relation to the household waste duty of care, and on new guidance for local authorities in England on use of an FPN for breaches of that duty of care.

92 responses were received. For each question asked, the majority of respondents either supported the code of practice and local authority guidance in their proposed forms, or with some amendments to improve clarity of explain points in greater detail.

We revised the code of practice and local authority guidance to reflect the comments received, and they are now published on gov.uk.

During 2018, a statutory and public consultation was undertaken by Natural England in relation to the proposed boundary variation to the existing Suffolk Coast and Heaths (SC&H) AONB. The consultation responses were analysed by officers, including on site, and a detailed analysis report was produced.

Of the 113 respondents who responded using the questionnaire: • 89% (101) of respondents were in favour of the Stour estuary extension, with 5% (6 respondents) against it; • 63% (71) were in favour of the Samford valley extension, with 5% (6) against; • 64% (72) were in favour of the Freston Brook Extension, with less than 2% (1) against.

Natural England’s Board approved the Suffolk Coast and Heaths (Designation Variation) Order 2019 on 22 July 2019 and the legal paperwork was submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation. On 7 July 2020, the Secretary of State confirmed the Order, without making any modifications. The Order takes effect immediately. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB has now been extended by around 38 km². This increases the size of the existing AONB by approximately 9.5%. The newly designated areas lie in south Suffolk and north Essex and include: • the Stour Estuary and its southern valley slopes, • the Freston Brook Valley, • the Samford Valley. Further information is available via the following links: Press release – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-picturesque-landscapes-as-suffolk-coast-and-heaths-area-of-outstanding-natural-beauty-extended Designation order – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/areas-of-outstanding-national-beauty-aonb-extensions-to-the-suffolk-coast-and-heaths-aonb 

We asked for your views on on improving operator competence at permitted waste sites and introducing financial provision, reforming the waste exemptions regime, and introducing a fixed penalty notice for breaches of the household waste duty of care.

275 responses were received. The majority of these responses were from local authorities and businesses. Further detail can be found in the summary of responses.

Legislation laid in parliament takes the first step of putting these proposals into practice including a new requirement for all waste facilities to have a written management plan, requirements to demonstrate adherence to a technical competence scheme and new fixed penalties introduced for the household waste duty of care. We remain committed to reform the exemptions regime to prevent their use for hiding illegal activity and will publish a supplementary government response setting out the proposed changes, ahead of introducing legislation to implement them.

On 2 November 2017 Natural England notified additional land as part of the Crouch and Roach Estuaries Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognising the land’s importance for overwintering waterbirds and other interest features of the SSSI. It is proposed that the boundaries of the Crouch and Roach Estuaries (Mid Essex Coast Phase 3) Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site are also extended to include the same areas of land. Natural England is therefore running two consultations concurrently: 1) Seeking views on the extension of the SSSI - to inform our decision on whether to confirm or withdraw this notification. 2) Seeking views on the proposed extension of the SPA and Ramsar site – to form the basis of a report to the Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

Two letters of support were received from the Crouch and Roach Estuaries consultations, no objections were received to the notification.

Natural England confirmed extensions to Crouch and Roach Estuaries SSSI and classified Crouch and Roach Estuaries SPA and Ramsar site on 11 July 2018.

Natural England consulted on a proposal to charge for Wildlife Licences on Defra’s behalf between December 2017 and February 2018. We asked your views on the proposal to introduce charges, the proposed price structure and the charge exemptions.

You gave us a diverse range of views. There was support for the proposal to charge for mitigation licences provided this results in improved service delivery and for the proposed exemptions from charging. There were a number of challenges to the proposal related to the principle and cost of survey licences. Other respondents questioned the principle of charging, the charge rate, the cost of certain licences and the impact on wildlife from unlicensed activity.

We have published a consultation response where we have outlined how we propose to address your concerns. These include: a commitment to improving the service performance for mitigation licences, alongside the implementation of charges; reducing proposed charges in some areas (particularly survey licences) to reflect projected efficiency savings; and additional charge exemptions for falconry licences. We will continue to consult with applicant groups on the proposal. We will be seeking parliamentary approval this summer for the charging scheme, to be introduced as a Statutory Instrument under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.

We asked your views on proposed changes for assessing wildfowling consents on protected sites. These included proposals:

 

• to increase opportunities for wildfowling clubs to contribute to the assessment process;
• the possibility of offering longer term agreements with review mechanisms;
• to more closely align assessments with the bird numbers on site;
• ways in which more of the positive management undertaken by wildfowling clubs could be included in agreements. 

A total of 613 responses were received to the consultation; 78 of these were from representatives of organisations and the rest were from individuals. 92% of respondents were wildfowlers.

Respondents strongly supported some proposals, such as annual liaison meetings and wildfowling visits. Some proposals, such as the use of site management plans, provoked a mixed response. Other proposals, such as the proposal to link longer term plans to bird abundance figures, had less support. Some concerns were raised around lack of trust between Natural England and wildfowling clubs.

 

 

We recognise that a wide range of views have been put forward and we wish to reassure all consultees that no pre-emptive action will be taken until we have fully explored these issues with stakeholders. We have noted the concerns raised and will reflect on which proposals were supported, and which were not. To take this discussion forward, we will invite key representatives to a workshop to better understand the range of views and to build relationships and consensus between representatives.  We need to start by building understanding of the opportunities for reform that exist in this area and to progress only on the basis of clear understanding and mutual trust.

For your views on the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order (as amended) 2011 as part of our statutory responsibility to Parliament.

The overall number of responses to the consultation were supportive of the Order. Responses have ranged from suggestions on amending the Order to retaining the order as it currently stands.

We are considering the responses and will be formulating a recommendation in the form of a Post Implementation Review. Once this is complete we will submit it to the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) and Reducing Regulation Committee (RRC) for their scrutiny.