The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has issued an update today on the arrangements for publication of the general license for gamebird release on special protection areas and their buffer zones for this year.
The original intention was to publish the general licence at the beginning of February. This was then delayed to the end of February.
The update states that the licence arrangements will be announced in mid-March.
We continue to work with Defra, and we are not aware of any changes in circumstances to cause this delay. It is unfortunate that businesses and their staff are still facing uncertainty at the very moment they must make decisions about the new season.
The update from the Minister can be found here.