Appendix: Updated Government response
Introduction
1. The Environmental Audit Committee published
its report on Environmental Crime: Wildlife Crime on 7
October 2004 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/ cmselect/cmenvaud/605/60502.htm.
The Government's response was published on 17 March 2005 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmenvaud/438/
438.pdf. A list of the Committee's recommendations and conclusions
is annexed to this report (Annex A). A number of them need no
further comment as they were addressed in the Government's response.
This report summarises the progress made in addressing the remaining
conclusions and recommendations.
Recommendations 3-7 and 26: wildlife crime and
how it is recorded
2. The Government remains committed to tackling
wildlife crime, and view it as deserving committed police resources.
Defra and the Home Office both provide funding for the UK National
Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), as the Government recognises the need
for a centre of expertise and a coordinating point for intelligence
and information to support law enforcement agencies. The National
Wildlife Crime Unit was launched in October 2006 as a standalone
police-led Unit, following the creation of the Serious Organised
Crime Agency which took over many but not all of the functions
of the former National Criminal Intelligence Service.
3. The UK now has in place a formal National
Harm Reduction Strategy for tackling wildlife crime, which brings
together all the statutory agencies involved in this area. Following
a Strategic Assessment of wildlife crime across the UK, wildlife
crime priorities have been agreed and are addressed through the
Strategy, which has three distinct work streams; Prevention, Intelligence
and Enforcement. As the Strategy develops there should be noticeable
improvements in the overall response to wildlife crime. An unclassified
version of the Strategic Assessment is at Annex B[1].
4. Since April 2007, all police forces[2]
have been recording wildlife incidents under the National Standard
for Incident Recording (NSIR). The NSIR does not provide a comprehensive
record of the extent of wildlife crime, but provides an overall
picture and will enable trends and patterns to be identified.
It should in the future substantially inform the NWCU's annual
Strategic Assessment. Since April 2007, the NWCU has developed,
a database of all incidents of wildlife crime of which they are
informed.
5. Some wildlife crime offences are 'notifiable'
and as such are a part of police forces' regular and audited crime
statistics that are supplied to and published by the Home Office.
Recommendation 8: internet trade
6. Global trade in wildlife is significant and,
when carried out sustainably (and legally), plays a viable and
important role in economies. However it is difficult to quantify
the scale of the trade carried out via the internet and, in particular,
how much of it is illegal. Given the nature of the internet, illegal
trade in endangered species must be tackled internationally as
well as domestically. Following a proposal put forward by the
UK, decisions were made at the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) in June 2007 which seek to assess the
nature and scale of the illegal trade on the internet and any
measures or codes of conduct used in online sales. Defra is working
with NGOs and the trade to agree such a code of conduct in an
effort to minimise abuses and illegal sales. Defra also made a
contribution of £15k to the CITES Secretariat to implement
the relevant decisions agreed at last year's Conference.
7. The internet is an established means by which
goods are traded, and although an acknowledged tool for facilitating
criminality, is not routinely monitored. On the basis of the evidence
available the assessment is that this would not be an effective
use of intelligence resources as a stand alone priority. However
the internet service providers, in particular E-Bay, have been
made aware of CITES controls. The enforcement authorities actively
investigate any illegal trade involving imports and exports and
commercial activity on the internet where there is sufficient
evidence, and these fall within the agreed NWCU enforcement priority
areas.
Recommendation 9: Rights of Way
8. The Government has implemented its key proposals
in "Use of mechanically propelled vehicles on Rights of way—the
Government's framework for action", published in January
2005. Amongst other things it introduced legislation, through
Part 6 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006
(NERC), to extinguish, with certain exceptions, all existing,
but unrecorded rights of way for motor vehicles over routes that
are not part of the 'ordinary roads' network. This has the effect
of reducing number of routes legally available to recreational,
off-road motorists and removing much of the uncertainty about
where rights for motor vehicles exist.
Recommendation 10: fish disease contingency plans
9. The contingency plan for Gyrodactylosis referred
to in the Government response has been reviewed and was published
on the Defra website in mid-March this year. Moreover, one of
the requirements of the new aquatic animal health Directive—Directive
2006/88/EC—which comes into effect on 1 August 2008, is
for Member States to draw up a contingency plan for emerging and
exotic diseases. Work is ongoing on a contingency plan for these
fish diseases. In the meantime, contingency plans for the serious
fish diseases viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS), infectious
haematopoietic necrosis (IHN), and infectious salmon anaemia (ISA)
have been developed and publicised. These, together with the contingency
plan for Gyrodactylosis, will serve as models for the broader
contingency plan for emerging and exotic diseases on which consultations
with stakeholders will be undertaken.
Recommendations 13-16 and 31: legislative changes
10. The recommendations concerning legislative
matters were considered at the same time as the analysis and evaluation
of views received in response to the review of Part I of the Wildlife
and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA). With reference to the Government's
response to the report, in February 2007 the European Commission
published its final guidance on the meaning and interpretation
of key terms concerning the protection of species in the Habitats
Directive. This has been a very helpful and important document
to which the Government contributed, and covers the scope of our
obligations as regards article 12 of the Directive and the issue
of derogations from species protection provisions. Defra and Natural
England have published a range of materials for stakeholders which
draws upon the interpretation contained within the European Commission's
guidance document.
11. The possibility of adding the element of
"recklessness" to offences in Part I of the WCA was
also considered and included in the public consultation exercise.
It generated a variety of views. These were carefully considered
during the passage of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities
(NERC) Act 2006 and on balance it was concluded that it posed
a risk of criminalising many legitimate activities carried out
without the intention of harming wildlife.
12. In August 2007, amendments were made to the
Habitats Regulations to better reflect the terms of the Habitats
Directive in relation to species protection. In particular, the
majority of the defences originally put into the Regulations were
removed. This included the "incidental result defence"
which applied to acts which could constitute an offence but were
the incidental result of an otherwise lawful activity and could
not reasonably have been avoided. The species protection provisions
contained within the 2007 Offshore Marine Regulations are consistent
with this approach.
13. Although the timetable was demanding, adequate
resources were provided to enable a number of important measures
to be taken forward through the NERC Act, including improved protection
for birds and new powers to help address the issue of invasive
non-native species.
Recommendations 12 and 17: Marine Bill
14. Defra published the draft Marine Bill on
3 April 2008 for pre-legislative scrutiny. The draft Bill contains
a range of measures designed to improve our ability to make long-term
strategic decisions about activities in and protection of the
UK's marine area. They include a new planning system for the marine
area, streamlined arrangements for licensing marine development,
improved ability to protect the marine environment and biodiversity
and greater access to the English coast. The draft Bill also includes
updated enforcement powers that will enable the Environment Agency
to effectively enforce legislation managing migratory and freshwater
fisheries; including the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975
and byelaws made under the Water Resources Act 1991.
Recommendations 19 and 20: role of Natural England
15. The Government made a number of improvements
to the SSSI legislative regime in the NERC Act. It includes new
mechanisms to help Natural England to better address damage to
sites caused by third parties; a new offence of intentional or
reckless destruction, damage or disturbance to the interest features
of an SSSI without a reasonable excuse was specifically designed
to assist Natural England in tackling unlawful off-road driving.
Importantly the former requirement of knowledge that the land
affected was a SSSI was removed. Connected with this, a new provision
relating to the power for Natural England to erect signs and notices
on and relating to SSSIs was matched by an offence covering their
damage, removal or obstruction.
16. The NERC Act also provided enforcement powers
for Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales wildlife
inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State (in relation to
England), or the National Assembly for Wales (in relation to Wales).
These powers include entering and inspecting premises to ascertain
whether certain offences have been committed; to check information
or documents provided in support of an application for certain
licences; or to check that a licence is held and that any conditions
attached to it are being complied with. The Act also provides
inspectors with powers to examine specimens, and to take samples
in certain circumstances and for specified purposes. These powers
are also extended to the Destructive Imported Animals Act 1932,
the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, the Deer Act 1991, and the
Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Recommendations 21-24: role of local authorities
17. PPG 9 'Nature Conservation' was replaced
by Planning Policy Statement 9 'Biodiversity and Geological Conservation'
in August 2005. A guide to good practice on planning for biodiversity
and geological conservation was published in March 2006. As indicated
in the earlier Government response, the PPS recognises the importance
of networks of natural habitats and states that local authorities
should aim to maintain them by avoiding or repairing the fragmentation
and isolation of natural habitats through policies in plans. Such
networks should be protected from development, and, where possible,
strengthened by or integrated within it.
18. The Government Circular 'Biodiversity and
Geological Conservation—Statutory Obligations and their
impact within the planning system' (ODPM Circular 06/2005 and
Defra Circular 01/2005) was published in August 2005. It provides
administrative guidance on the application of the law relating
to planning and nature conservation and complements the national
planning policies set out in PPS9 and the accompanying good practice
guide
19. The most recent statistics on Development
Control performance from October-December 2007 are:
- 70% of major applications were
determined in 13 weeks
- 77% of minor applications were determined in
8 weeks; and
- 87% of other applications were determine in 8
weeks.
20. Within the new local authority performance
framework authorities will be required to maintain these standards.
Also the new national indicator 157 will require authorities to
reach Development Control targets which will take into account
current performance.
21. Planning Delivery Grant has been replaced
by Housing Planning Delivery Grant for 2007/8. HPDG is worth £510
million over the CSR period split between Planning £194m
and Housing £316m. HPDG is an incentive grant aimed at speeding
up the production of core strategies, 5 year housing allocation
sites, joint working and increasing the housing completion rate.
Unlike PDG it is not aimed so much at capacity building in local
authorities although as the money is unringfenced, it still can
be used for this purpose.
22. In terms of capacity building since 2004/5
PDG provide 513 postgraduate bursaries for planning students,
to help alleviate the shortage of qualified planners in the UK
at present.
23. The Development Control element of PDG was
worth £60m in the final year and this is not present in HPDG.
However, the amendment to the Town and Country Planning fees regime
which, came into effect from 6th April 2008, is estimated to raise
an additional £65m per annum for local authorities which
should cover the loss of PDG and help to maintain development
control standards.
Recommendation 25: Control of Trade in Endangered
Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997
24. Defra updated the Regulations in 2005 to
increase penalties for certain offences and are currently reviewing
what further changes are required to reflect the most recent amendments
to the Commission Regulations implementing CITES in EU Member
States.
Recommendation 27: Police Wildlife Crime Officers
25. Decisions on how police forces' resources
are deployed, including the number and training of police wildlife
crime officers, are a matter for Chief Constables, who are accountable
to their local communities and their Police Authorities.
Recommendation 28: Memoranda of Understanding
26. A Memorandum of Understanding has been drawn
up between Natural England, the Countryside Council for Wales,
the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Crown Prosecution
Service. A number of regional partnerships exist between the Police
and Natural England, which are currently being reviewed.
Recommendations 29, 34 and 41: the Home Office,
Defra and the NWCU
27. The decision taken by Defra and the Home
Office to each contribute £150,000 per year for the three
years beginning in 2008/09 demonstrate their level of engagement
with this crime. This level of funding should enable a higher
degree of enforcement activity flowing from the coordinating work
of the NWCU. Government officials will be working closely with
the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the NWCU to
develop better measures of outcomes achieved by the NWCU, and
the police service as they make use of NWCU intelligence products—as
the Home Office expects the police to consider properly a tactical
response to NWCU intelligence products and enforce the law on
wildlife as with any other crime.
Recommendation 30: measurement of HMRC outcomes
28. HMRC's overall strategy is to deliver its
enforcement role on the basis of risk and intelligence. In this
regard HMRC actively monitors the level of seizures that are being
made at the frontier to improve the overall effectiveness of customs
checks.
29. HMRC has also, in collaboration with Defra
and the NWCU, drawn up a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which sets
out roles and responsibilities for each of the Parties in relation
to controls on goods covered by CITES legislation. The purpose
of the SLA is to ensure closer working and collaboration to deliver
an overall enforcement framework that is both efficient and effective.
30. HMRC is the lead agency to deliver the objectives
of the UK's National CITES Priority Plan and is working closely
with the NWCU to develop intelligence profiles needed to identify
potential targets. In addition, HMRC has allocated a dedicated
post to the CITES Team based at Heathrow Airport to ensure that
information flow and targeting is coordinated effectively within
HMRC. In the financial year 2006/07 there were 446 seizures of
specimens of CITES species (including derivatives).
Recommendation 33: Secondments
31. There are currently seconded police officers
working with the Environment Agency, Countryside Council for Wales,
the Forestry Commission, Natural England and Animal Health on
wildlife and habitats issues.
Recommendations 36 and 37: communications
32. It is important to ensure that businesses
and the travelling public are aware of the controls governing
the import, export and trade in wildlife species of conservation
concern.
33. Information on CITES requirements is available
through the DirectGov and Animal Health websites. Defra are currently
developing a coordinated communications strategy aimed at ensuring
the travelling public is better informed about controls on the
import, export and trade in wildlife species of conservation concern.
34. HMRC has been engaged in a number of publicity
initiatives in relation to providing information to the travelling
public. LCD screens in the new baggage hall at the new Terminal
5 at Heathrow Airport contain information about CITES controls.
CITES controls are also included in the Importers and Exporters
Guide and the UK Tariff that are kept up to date and managed by
Business Link.
35. The PAW Roadshow travels to a number of country
fairs and shows during the summer months reaching a potential
audience of 1,000,000. The Roadshow has proved to be popular with
members of the public. PAW has also produced a number of information
leaflets about wildlife crimes.
Recommendation 39: horticulture (non-native species)
36. Government has recently concluded a consultation
on the first proposed use of the power taken in the NERC Act to
prohibit the sale of specified invasive non-native species and
the responses are being analysed. With the support of key stakeholders,
the three GB administrations have also developed an Invasive Non-Natives
Species Strategy Framework for Great Britain which was published
on 28 May 2008. As part of implementing that strategy the three
administrations intend to raise awareness of the risks, and where
appropriate, this will include the use of codes of practice such
as that for the horticultural sector.
Police powers: further update
37. NERC strengthens police powers under the
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Police officers now have a
power to enter any premises, other than a dwelling without a warrant
where they suspect with reasonable cause that an offence under
Part 1 of the WCA has been or is being committed.
38. NERC also extended the powers available under
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to police officers to apply
for search warrants for the purposes of obtaining evidence, to
the Destructive Imported Animals Act 1932, the Conservation of
Seals Act 1970, the Deer Act 1991 and the Protection of Badgers
Act 1992.
39. The Serious Crime Act 2007 provides for the
Courts to issue serious crime prevention orders for certain environmental
offences including COTES offences, and offences under section
14 of the WCA (introduction of new species etc.).
Other recommendations
40. A number of the Committee's recommendations
and conclusions are not specifically addressed in this report
(1, 2, 11, 18, 32, 35, 38 and 40). Some require no comment, others
were covered in the Government's response of 17 March 2005.
Defra
June 2008
1 Not printed. Wildlife Crime in the UK 2007/08 is
available on Defra's website (see www.defra.gov.uk/paw/pdf/crime-assessment0708.pdf) Back
2
Except the MPS - not fully implemented due to technological constraints. Back
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