Written Question·Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs·UIN 76228

Seagulls: Urban Areas

Tabled: 9 September 2025
Answered: 17 September 2025

Question

Mr Angus MacDonald

Liberal DemocratInverness, Skye and West Ross-shire

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of urban gull populations on public (a) health and (b) safety.

Answer

Mary Creagh
The two large gull species frequently seen in urban areas are the lesser black-backed gull and herring gull. There is a long term decline in the breeding population of both, which is most acute in coastal, rural areas. At the same time as this decline, an...

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