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Written question asked by Sarah Bool (Conservative) on Monday, 13 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 October 2025. It was answered by Mary Creagh (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 October 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Deer: Conservation

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a deer management strategy.

Answer

Defra provides a wide range of support to help landowners and managers tackle deer impacts on woodlands. This includes grants for managing their impacts and for capital items, as well as funding of relevant projects, including those that facilitate landscape scale action.

A dedicated Forestry Commission team of Deer Officers is in place, providing nationwide advice, facilitating grant support and encouraging landscape scale collaborative management.

Natural England are leading the Sussex Woods Protected Sites Strategy pilot, focused on reducing deer impacts on protected woodlands, which includes supporting landowners and managers to work together at scale to manage deer impacts.

We are considering plans for further action on deer impacts management and will outline these, including any implications for the existing regime for the licensing of managing deer at night, in due course.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
81757
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Conservation Deer
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk