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Badgers: Pest Control

Answer

In England, licences - for the purpose of preventing serious damage to land, or any other form of property - to kill or take badgers, or to interfere with a badger sett are granted by Natural England (NE). NE is authorised, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to grant licences for this purpose.

In situations where badgers are causing damage to cemeteries or burial grounds, NE can provide case-specific advice to the local authority if requested, and this may include a site visit where this would be beneficial. If the damage is caused by foraging activities, then advice will normally relate to preventive measures that do not require a licence, such as the use of fencing and other proofing. Where the sett itself is causing damage to graves, then an application for a licence to exclude badgers from the sett may be appropriate.

Licences will only be granted where there are no satisfactory alternatives, the action to be licensed is proportionate to the scale of the problem and the licensed action will contribute to resolving the problem.

General guidance on the protection afforded to badgers and licensing activities impacting badgers is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/badgers-protection-surveys-and-licences.

Defra has no current plans to issue any further guidance to local authorities about the control of badgers in cemeteries or burial grounds.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

HL2400

Session

2021-22

Subjects

Badgers Cemeteries Local government Pest control

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk