The Latest Breaking News from Defra

There have been confirmed cases of bird flu in Scotland and across the UK. As a result, free-range eggs have been removed from the shelves and shops will no longer be allowed to sell them. Here's what you need to know and which areas in Scotland have been affected.

People buying free-range eggs across the UK have actually been buying eggs from chickens kept in barns since November, DEFRA says. An outbreak of avian flu means all birds have had to be kept indoors since the end of last year. DEFRA says there is n

Government backs down from guidance that would have allowed birds such as crows to be shot

‘It is not expecting to achieve the amount of new tree-planting in 2021-22 that it set out to,’ head of National Audit Office says

Michael Dawson was fined after a search warrant was executed by Defra who found illegal veterinary medicines

Defra report blamed algal blooms but independent research points to chemical released from sediments

Exclusive: Activists challenge updated shooting licences, which allow wild birds in England to be shot to protect game birds

The bodies of the swans and geese were discovered at Iffley Lock and nearby Port Meadow where Oxford University students stroll and relax beside the River Thames

Bird flu cases have been on the rise recently, with reports of outbreaks in the UK, China, mainland Europe and Israel. Outbreaks typically happen in commercial flocks, such as in large-scale poultry farming operations – which is why bird flu is often only a concern to people working in these…

Step change? Robust governance? Defra should abandon the jargon and stick to protecting the countryside

The risk to the public remains very low, officials say.