Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about wildlife crime.
I understand the importance of tackling wildlife crime which is any activity that goes against legislation protecting the UK's wild animals and plants. Wildlife crime can have significant detrimental consequences to communities and livelihoods, not to mention the potential pain and suffering to animals.
Locally, I have campaigned against the vile wildlife crime of Hare Coursing and I was pleased when the previous government adopted my Private Members’ Bill and passed it. You can read more about my efforts here: Hare Coursing | Richard Fuller MP.
I know that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office fund the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to tackle these crimes. The NWCU provides intelligence, analysis and investigative assistance to the police and other law enforcement agencies across the UK to support them in investigating wildlife crime. This can include cases referred by the Border Force, the National Crime Agency or individual forces. The NWCU also works with EUROPOL and INTERPOL to tackle international wildlife crime activity.
Strategic and tactical assessments from the NWCU take into consideration the views of the Wildlife Conservation Advisory Group, which highlight priorities based on the conservation status of specific species and review all other non-priority intelligence to identify any emerging threats. These assessments ultimately drive the operational response to tackling wildlife crime in the UK.
While non-notifiable wildlife crime can still be investigated, I understand that the last Government's approach was to keep under review any legislative proposals to increase the range of wildlife crimes that have notifiable status. Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle crimes that matter most to their communities.
I note from the Minister’s response to this Written Parliamentary Question: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament that the Labour Government has no plans to make all wildlife crimes notifiable.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
