Written questions by Kruger.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect rare bird breeds from avian influenza in the Salisbury Plain Special Protection Area.

The Government has implemented outbreak structures to control and eradicate avian influenza, which will reduce impacts on wildlife. We have also decided not to issue a general licence for gamebird releases on Special Protection Areas such as Salisbury Plain, to help protect our internationally important bird populations from avian influenza.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle hare coursing.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England and Wales only. This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what we will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course. The previous Government made changes to address illegal hare coursing through a package of measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. This broadened the circumstances in which police can investigate and bring charges for hare coursing related activity. We plan to work with the police to ensure they can enforce the laws set out in the legislation.