The Grey Squirrel Policy Statement was published in January 2026. This policy statement sets out the actions we will take over the next five years to manage the impact of grey squirrels.

Actions include encouraging landowners to take greater action through financial incentives and advice through Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The Government is paying £60 per hectare to manage and reduce the impact of grey squirrels. We are backing our nation’s conservation volunteers and landowners, by leading communication on the impacts of grey squirrels and providing support for training in grey squirrel management. We are also working with UK Squirrel Accord to support research into immunocontraception.

To deliver against the statutory targets for biodiversity, in England, we are acting at scale to create, restore, manage, and protect wildlife-rich habitats, reduce pressures on biodiversity, and take targeted action for species including red squirrels.

Effective management to reduce grey squirrel populations supports the conservation of red squirrels. To help achieve this, the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme provides payments of £60 per hectare to manage and reduce the impact of grey squirrels. Additionally, Defra continues to explore non-lethal and passive control methods to reduce grey squirrel populations and has contributed funding to the fertility control research led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the UK Squirrel Accord.

A 2018 report by the Mammal Society estimates there are 1.94million grey squirrels and 38,900 red squirrels in England.

The Government has not made an estimate of red squirrel populations between 2022 and 2025. No systematic national survey for the species currently exists, therefore it is not possible to provide annual population estimates. In England the red squirrel population is estimated to be 38,900 (Mathews et al, 2018).

Defra is committed to working closely with the England Species Reintroductions Taskforce to help it achieve its objective to realise the full benefits of species conservation translocations for nature recovery and society. To do so, Defra attends Taskforce meetings as an observer. The Taskforce is committed to developing and publishing materials to better understand the risks and benefits of species translocations. Defra will engage with the Taskforce on the applicability of these outputs to Defra’s priorities, whether on red squirrels or any other species, once they are produced.

As well as being a threat to the native red squirrel, the grey squirrel poses a severe challenge to the sustainable management of woodlands in England.

In the Environmental Improvement Plan we committed to do more to tackle the impacts of grey squirrels on our trees, woodlands and red squirrel population by updating the Grey Squirrel Action Plan, embedding grey squirrel management into woodland and farming schemes, and encouraging public bodies and adjacent landowners to work together to manage grey squirrel populations, where appropriate.

Countryside Stewardship funding is now available for grey squirrel management. We have also provided funding to the UK Squirrel Accord, including for work on an innovative grey squirrel immunocontraceptive.

The updated Grey Squirrel Action Plan will build on existing support delivered through the Forestry Commission and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, setting out the additional actions Government will take to combat grey squirrels.

These actions are all aimed at reducing the pressures of grey squirrels on the environment and industry, through population reduction. Our objectives are to support red squirrel conservation and to reduce damage to trees and it is better to target our action to achieve those goals.

We work, through the UK Squirrel Accord, with a number of organisations towards the conservation and recovery of red squirrels in England. This work is primarily focused on the management of habitat for the benefit of red squirrels and the culling of grey squirrels to reduce competition and the spread of squirrel pox. Additionally, we continue to support the development of fertility control for grey squirrels. We are not aware of any projects which seek to reintroduce red squirrels into areas from which they have been lost.

The recently announced Species Reintroduction Taskforce will bring together experts, landowners and NGOs to prioritise, share knowledge, find consensus and build collaborative projects, towards a more ambitious approach to recovering iconic species in England such as red squirrel.

The protection of species and the setting of targets for biodiversity are devolved matters.

In England, the Government remains committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species. Defra, Natural England and the Forestry Commission are signatories to the United Kingdom Squirrel Accord, working with over 30 other signatories to secure and expand red squirrel populations.

The 25 Year Environment Plan marked a step-change in ambition for wildlife and the natural environment. We are already taking action to fulfil this ambition. We are exploring the use of powers in the Environment Bill to strengthen our commitment to improve the status of threatened species by setting at least one biodiversity target in law, as set out in our recently published policy paper on environmental targets.

The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels pose to them. This is a devolved matter. In England, the Forestry Commission works with Natural England and other conservation organisations and projects to help protect red squirrel enclaves and to allow the populations to expand.

The Forestry Commission also undertakes a number of actions to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels as outlined in the grey squirrel action plan for England. These actions include Countryside Stewardship funding for landowners who choose to help protect red squirrels within designated reserves.

Defra, in partnership with the United Kingdom Squirrel Alliance (UKSA), also provided funding for work by the Animal and Plant Health Agency for the development of a fertility control method for grey squirrels. This research, now in its third year, continues to show promise as one potentially effective method to control grey squirrel numbers in the longer term.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 14 November 2017 to PQ UIN 112856.

The Forestry Commission estimates that there are 15,000 red squirrels in England and over two million grey squirrels. The red squirrel population is fragmented, occurring only in isolated populations on the islands in Poole Harbour, on the Isle of Wight and across the north of England with Kielder Forest, in Northumberland, supporting around 60% of the total population.

This estimate dates from 2014 and no more recent data is available. There is no data available for red and grey squirrel numbers in England for 2007. Wildlife is a devolved policy matter.

The Forestry Commission estimates that there are 15,000 red squirrels in England and over two million grey squirrels. This estimate dates from 2014 and no more recent data are available. The red squirrel population is fragmented, occurring only in isolated populations on the islands in Poole Harbour, on the Isle of Wight and across the north of England.

Wildlife management is a devolved matter and so the conservation of species in other parts of the UK is a matter for the Devolved Administrations.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Coventry South, Mr Jim Cunningham, on 1 March 2017, PQ UIN 65497.