National Wildlife Crime Unit gains reprieve

Good news this week, as reported by Farmers Guardian's FG Insight website: "The Government has announced new funding ensuring the future of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), which had been under threat from closure due to spending constraints.

"In a Parliamentary statement on Tuesday, Defra Minister Rory Stewart said Defra and Home Office Ministers had agreed their respective departments would each provide the Unit with funding of £136,000 a year for the next four financial years.

"Funding jointly provided by the two Departments up to March 2020, including additional support of £29,000 a year from Defra to tackle online wildlife crime, will total £1.2 million.

"Following the 2015 Spending Review 2015, Defra and Home Office Ministers had been considering the level of government funding for the unit beyond March 2016, putting its future in doubt." Read more on FG Insight here.