
Organisations call on Michael Gove to make key changes to general licence system
Letter asks environment secretary to consider a number of recommendations for resolving the current general licence “chaos”.
Get information on the legal shooting season for mammals and birds in the UK.
Apply for funding for your project or make a donation today
Comprehensive information and advice from our specialist firearms team.
Everything you need to know about shotgun, rifle and airgun ammunition.
Find our up-to-date information, advice and links to government resources.
Everything you need to know on firearms law and licensing.
All the latest news and advice on general licences and how they affect you.
BASC is advising members that Natural England (NE) has published new general licences for the control of Canada geese and wood pigeon.
NE has published the general licence for ‘Canada geese to preserve public health and public safety’ and the general licence for ‘woodpigeon to prevent serious damage to crops’.
NE has advised that if individual circumstances are not covered by the new licences then an application for an individual licence should be completed.
BASC will be carefully considering the terms and conditions of the new licences and associated documents before making further comment.
The former general licences (GL04, GL05 and GL06) which previously allowed the control of pigeons, crows, magpies, rooks, jackdaws, jays, Canada geese and nine other species, were all revoked on 25th April.
A dedicated page on BASC’s website provides links to the latest advice and analysis.

Letter asks environment secretary to consider a number of recommendations for resolving the current general licence “chaos”.

Read our update on general licences in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2023.

BASC’s Glynn Evans discusses the subject of general licences, answering common questions around their use.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
Manage your cookie preferences below:
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Google reCAPTCHA helps protect websites from spam and abuse by verifying user interactions through challenges.
Google Tag Manager simplifies the management of marketing tags on your website without code changes.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Clarity is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
Service URL: clarity.microsoft.com (opens in a new window)
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
You can find more information in our Cookie Policy and .