Question follow-through · 66237
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legislation for (a) deterring and (b) prosecuting people who attack (i) wildlife and (ii) livestock with catapults; an
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Tabled
- 9 Jul 2025
- Target answer date
- 11 Jul 2025
- Answer
- 17 Jul 2025 · 8 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
More questions by this MP on Environment and energy
- Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons · 10 Jul 2025
- Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons · 10 Jul 2025
- Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons · 10 Jul 2025
- Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons · 10 Jul 2025
- Batteries: Storage · 23 Feb 2026
Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.
Votes on this topic
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 5 · 1 Jul 2026
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 4 · 1 Jul 2026
- Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill Committee: New Clause 2 · 1 Jul 2026
These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.
Recorded timeline
9 Jul 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legislation for (a) deterring and (b) prosecuting people who attack (i) wildlife and (ii) livestock with catapults; an
11 Jul 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
17 Jul 2025
Answer published
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While it does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that must not be used to kill wildlife, it is still illegal to deliberately a...
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons
10 Jul 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the legal (a) sale and (b) possession of catapults on animal welfare.
Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons
10 Jul 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has any plans to review the regulation of catapults in relation to animal welfare concerns.
Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons
10 Jul 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the use of catapults in causing suffering to (a) pets and (b) wild mammals.
Animal Welfare: Offensive Weapons
10 Jul 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of the use of catapults causing harm to wild mammals have been recorded in each of the last five years.
Batteries: Storage
23 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on considering the industry feedback on introducing BESS to the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Batteries: Storage
23 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Electrical Storage Health and Safety Governance Group on introducing BESS to the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Environment Protection: Public Consultation
23 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish the official response to the public consultation on Environmental Permitting Regulations which concluded last year.