This Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December 2025, made a commitment to review and look to strengthen penalties for cruelty against wildlife, including the horrific offence of badger baiting, to ensure they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for offences against domestic animals under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The Secretary of State has made no specific assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of raising the maximum prison sentence for badger baiting under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

The changes to the Protection of Badgers Act (PoBA) effected by the Planning and Infrastructure Bill would permit licences for the purpose of preserving public health or safety or for reasons of overriding public interest, to kill or take badgers, or to interfere with a badger sett, within an area specified in the licence. This purpose is derived from the list of eligible purposes for an exemption under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, with which any species mitigation licence must comply. It is also consistent with similar provisions for other protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

Overriding public interest can be used to mean development and infrastructure activities but can accommodate other activities such as maintenance or repair work.

Licences that permit the killing of badgers are already available for other purposes, such as scientific or educational purposes, preventing the spread of disease, or preventing serious damage to land, crops, poultry or other form of property.

This provision will be subject to strict safeguards, as the Government is also legislating that any licence issued under the PoBA must meet the strict tests required by the Bern Convention: that there is no other satisfactory solution and that the grant of the licence is not detrimental to the survival of any population of badgers. Killing badgers would therefore remain exceptional, only permissible under strict conditions, and would not become routine for development purposes.

These amendments standardise licences for development purposes under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 with those for other species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, 2017. This is intended to facilitate strategic-level Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) as provided for in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

We are legislating that licences issued under the Act to derogate from the protection afforded to badgers will be subject to strict tests required by the Bern Convention, which set a high bar. For licences under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), against an EDP for badgers, an overall improvement in the conservation status of badgers will be required. Killing badgers would remain exceptional and only permissible under strict conditions, such as disease control, and would not become routine for development purposes.

A specific assessment of the potential impact on shooting badgers has not been undertaken as the impact of these provisions will depend on practical application by Natural England through EDPs or individual licences.

These amendments standardise licences for development purposes under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 with those for other species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, 2017. This is intended to facilitate strategic-level Environmental Delivery Plans.

We are legislating that all badger licences will be subject to strict tests required by the Bern Convention, which set a high bar. For licences under the Nature Restoration Fund, an overall improvement in the conservation status of badgers will be required.

The impact of these provisions will depend on practical application by Natural England through EDPs or individual licences.

Since the enactment of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, two national badger monitoring surveys have taken place. A 1994-97 survey estimate did not provide an estimate of the overall population but instead estimated there were 46,100 family groups in England and Wales. A survey of the badger population in 2011-13 estimated that there were approximately 424,000 badgers in 71,600 family groups in England and Wales.

In February 2025, the Animal and Plant Health Agency commenced the latest badger population survey which will estimate badger abundance and population recovery to illustrate the impact of widespread culling over the past decade.

Licences for badger culling are issued by Natural England under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The current round of licences, that is, licences that have already been issued, will be honoured. This gives us time to work closely and constructively with farmers and scientists to build an eradication package that will beat bovine TB.

There are no current plans to amend the Protection of Badgers Act, or to test badger setts for bovine TB.

For prosecutions under the Hunting Act 2004, please see response to PQ 105521.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under Section 30 of the Game Act 1831 between 2010 and 2021 across the following data tools:

• 2010-2016: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2020.

• 2017-2021: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2021.

Please note, ‘119 Day Poaching’ includes offences under both section 30 and section 31 of the Game Act 1831. However, no prosecutions were made under section 31 offences during this time period.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under the Deer Act 1991 and under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 between 2013 and 2021 across the following data tools:

• 2013-2016: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool.

• 2017-2021: Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2021.

The number of prosecutions for offences under the Deer Act 1991 between 2010 and 2012 has been provided in Table 1 and 2. The Home Office does not collect data on the number of charges for this offence.

Throughout England and Wales, in 2018, there were 13 prosecutions and 8 convictions for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. In 2019, there were 18 prosecutions and 14 convictions for offences under this Act. Throughout England and Wales, in 2018, there was 1 prosecution and 1 conviction for offences under the Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996. In 2019, there were 3 prosecutions and 3 convictions under this Act.

The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of people prosecuted and convicted in England and Wales, by police force area, up to the year ending December 2019 for offences under both the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996, available at the link below:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888344/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2019.xlsx

Filter ‘Offence Code’ by:

• 10822 (for Protection of Badgers Act 1992)
• 10825 (for Wild Animals (Protection) Act 1996)

Using the Pivot Table Fields, drag the ‘Police Force Area’ variable into the ‘Rows’ field and remove the ‘Values’ variable. Then, drag the ‘Prosecuted’ and ‘Convicted’ variables into the ‘Values’ field. They will become ‘Sum of Prosecuted’ and ‘Sum of Convicted’.

The resulting table will then display the figures for those prosecuted and convicted for the above offences over the 2013-2019 period, in each Police Force Area.

Alternatively, simply filter by ‘Police Force Area’ to provide figures on each, individually.

The number of offenders cautioned, defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for these offences, in England and Wales, by Police Force Area, from 2005 to 2017 can be viewed in the attached tables.

Where a police force area does not feature in the table, there are no cautions, or alternatively, prosecutions or convictions for that area for that offence during the period.

Offences under Section 13(7) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 can only be separately identified from 2011 onwards.

Court proceedings and cautions data for 2018 is planned for publication on 16 May 2019

The number of people prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and Hunting Act 2004 in 2017 can be found in published ‘Experimental statistics: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool’ available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738814/HO-Code-Tool-2017.xlsx

The specific offences to search for are:

• ‘Summary offences under the Deer Act 1991 – e.g. taking, injuring or killing deer’ (offence code: 12111)
• ‘Offences under the Hunting Act 2004’
• ‘Hunting a wild mammal with a dog’ (offence code: 12113)
• ‘Knowingly permitting land to be entered or used in the course of hunting a wild mammal with dogs’ (12114)
• ‘Knowingly permitting a dog to be used in the course of hunting a wild mammal’ (12115)
• ‘Participating in a hare coursing event’ (12116)
• ‘Attending a hare coursing event’ (12117)
• ‘Knowingly facilitating a hare coursing event’ (12118)
• ‘Permitting land to be used for the purpose of a hare coursing event’ (12119),
• ‘Entering a dog for a hare coursing event’, ‘Permitting a dog to be entered for a hare coursing event’, ‘Controlling or handling a dog at a hare coursing event’ (all 12120)

• ‘Offences under Protection of Badgers Act 1992’ – ‘offences of cruelty to badgers and special protection for badgers and their setts’ (offence code: 10822)[1]
• ‘Offences under Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996’ – ‘cruelty to a wild mammal’ (offence code: 10825)

Where there are no codes available for the year 2017 (or other years), this means that there have been no prosecutions or convictions under that offence code in that year.

[1] Offences under both the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and Protection of Badgers Act 1992 should not be included as it is not possible to identify whether all of the individual offences within this offence group are related to badgers.

The number of people prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Deer Act 1991, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and Hunting Act 2004 in 2017 can be found in published ‘Experimental statistics: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool’ available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738814/HO-Code-Tool-2017.xlsx

The specific offences to search for are:

• ‘Summary offences under the Deer Act 1991 – e.g. taking, injuring or killing deer’ (offence code: 12111)
• ‘Offences under the Hunting Act 2004’
• ‘Hunting a wild mammal with a dog’ (offence code: 12113)
• ‘Knowingly permitting land to be entered or used in the course of hunting a wild mammal with dogs’ (12114)
• ‘Knowingly permitting a dog to be used in the course of hunting a wild mammal’ (12115)
• ‘Participating in a hare coursing event’ (12116)
• ‘Attending a hare coursing event’ (12117)
• ‘Knowingly facilitating a hare coursing event’ (12118)
• ‘Permitting land to be used for the purpose of a hare coursing event’ (12119),
• ‘Entering a dog for a hare coursing event’, ‘Permitting a dog to be entered for a hare coursing event’, ‘Controlling or handling a dog at a hare coursing event’ (all 12120)

• ‘Offences under Protection of Badgers Act 1992’ – ‘offences of cruelty to badgers and special protection for badgers and their setts’ (offence code: 10822)[1]
• ‘Offences under Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996’ – ‘cruelty to a wild mammal’ (offence code: 10825)

Where there are no codes available for the year 2017 (or other years), this means that there have been no prosecutions or convictions under that offence code in that year.

[1] Offences under both the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and Protection of Badgers Act 1992 should not be included as it is not possible to identify whether all of the individual offences within this offence group are related to badgers.

The number of people prosecuted and convicted for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and offences under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 for each police authority area in 2017 can be found in the tables.

The following information was provided by the Ministry of Justice.

Court proceedings data for 2017, including for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, is planned for publication in May 2018.

The following information was provided by the Ministry of Justice.

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, in England and Wales, by police force area, in 2016, can be viewed in the table attached.

The following information was provided by the Ministry of Justice.

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Deer Act 1991 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, in England and Wales, in 2015, can be viewed in the attached table. Publication of 2016 data is planned for May 2017.

The Government is committed to tackling wildlife crime. The UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, which is part-funded by Defra, monitors and gathers intelligence on illegal activities, including those relating to badger persecution and poaching, which are UK wildlife crime priorities. The Unit also provides assistance to police forces when required.

Court proceedings data for 2015, including those for the offences listed above, are planned for publication by the Ministry of Justice in due course.

Natural England is responsible for processing applications for licences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, to cull or vaccinate badgers for TB control purposes. The process ensures that applicants meet the requirements, set out in Defra’s Guidance to Natural England, for any cull of badgers to be effective, safe and humane.