Spring roll-out for species licensing innovation

A new type of protected species licence is to be rolled out by Natural England this spring after a successful trial on great crested newts.

The so-called annexed licences allow for minor problems in an applicant’s method statement to be ironed out informally.

Natural England said it had cut the number of newt licence resubmissions by a quarter since trials began in April 2013. It will be rolled out to bat and dormouse licensing this spring.