Trail hunting consultation drew 184,000 responses, says Defra

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) received 184,000 responses to its consultation on banning trail hunting in England and Wales, the department has confirmed, four months after the exercise closed on 18 June. Pressed directly for a timescale, the minister would say only that a summary of responses will be published “as soon as possible”.

What did the written answer say?

The figure emerged in a written answer on Wednesday, 22 October from Defra minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter to Perran Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, who had asked what indication the Secretary of State had of the timescale for publishing the Government’s response.

“On 18 June, Defra closed its consultation seeking views on how best to deliver an effective and enforceable ban on trail hunting in England and Wales,” the minister wrote. “The consultation received 184,000 responses. Defra plans to publish a summary of responses as soon as possible.”

The answer gave no commitment on when the summary will appear, and none on when the Government will set out what it intends to do with the findings.

The question the consultation never asked

The consultation did not ask whether trail hunting should be banned. Its stated purpose, repeated in the answer, was to seek views on “how best to deliver an effective and enforceable ban”, so the live questions are the shape of any new offence, its exemptions and its enforcement powers, rather than the principle itself.

A response count of 184,000 shows how heavily both sides mobilised before the June deadline. Hunts and their supporters have carried on making the public case in the meantime: four flagship meets opened the Countryside Alliance’s first National Trail Hunting Day on Saturday, 17 October, with a Newcomers Week running to Saturday, 24 October.

The law as it stands

Trail hunting itself remains lawful. The Hunting Act 2004 banned the hunting of wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales, subject to exemptions, and registered packs have operated since by following trails laid for hounds. Any statutory ban on trail hunting would need primary legislation, and no such measure is yet before Parliament.

What happens next

Defra’s summary of responses comes first, on no stated date. The Government’s formal response would follow, and only then any Bill to deliver the ban it has committed to. Until that sequence runs, the 184,000 responses sit unpublished, and packs will hunt the 2026 – 27 season under the law as it stands. The written answer can be read in full on the UK Parliament website.