Welcome to the General Licences GL40, GL41 and GL42 survey.

By taking part in this survey, you will provide valuable information on how General Licences GL40, GL41 and GL42 work in practice. The information you provide will help inform Natural England's future decisions on these licences and will help ensure these licences continue to work well for the people who rely on them. Your time and contribution are greatly appreciated.

The survey asks questions about where your bird control activity is carried out, your main reasons for conducting bird control and the permitted species you target. The survey also asks about your bird control regime and the extent to which you record your activities. Some questions in the survey are optional and the information you provide will be anonymised. It is expected that the survey will take around 15 minutes for you to complete. The survey will close on Monday 1st February 2027 at 5pm.

If you need to go back to a previous page in the survey, please use the "Back" button at the bottom of the page. If you use your browser's back arrow button, this may cause progress to be lost.

Participant Information Sheet

What is this research about and why is it needed?

Natural England has commissioned ICF, an independent consultancy, to undertake a study to improve understanding of how General Licences GL40, GL41 and GL42 are used in practice across England.

The purpose of the research is to help ensure that licences remain effective, proportionate, practical and evidence-based. ICF are keen to understand licence user's experiences, the activities undertaken under the licences, and how licence conditions might continue to be improved in the future.

Who can take part and what would it involve?

The research aims to engage with representative organisations and licence users through an online survey.

Your rights:

• Participation in this research is completely voluntary, and you will not be impacted if you do not want to take part.
• Some questions in the survey are optional. Survey questions that are optional are clearly signposted. You are free to decline to answer these questions.
• Your responses can be withdrawn at any point after they are given up until 1st March 2027. This can be done by contacting the researcher (please find contact details below). After this point, we will withdraw data where possible (e.g., this may not be possible if already included in analyses or reporting).

Key contacts:

For questions about the research or to withdraw your data, please contact Dr William Sharkey (ICF), William.Sharkey@icf.com