Statutory guidance

Hazel dormice: survey or research class licence (CL10a)

Updated 22 March 2024

Applies to England

Class licence CL10a: to survey hazel dormice for scientific or educational purposes, including informing development projects - Level 1.

Overview

This licence permits the surveying of hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) by hand, including handling dormice in nest tubes and nest boxes. This includes commissioned surveys in relation to proposed developments.

This licence does not permit the use of traps to survey for dormice or marking of dormice (for which registration on CL10(b) is required). Neither does it permit dormice to be translocated. All non-surveying activities will require a separate personal licence.

Registration: Anyone wishing to use this licence who does not currently hold a personal survey licence for this species must first apply to Natural England to be registered.

Recording and reporting: There are data recording and annual reporting requirements.

Reference: WML – CL10(a).

Legislation

Statute(s):

• Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) (‘the Habitats Regulations’) regulation 55(2)(a)
• Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) (‘the 1981 Act’) sections 16(3)(a) and 16(5)

Licence terms and conditions

Valid for the period: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 (inclusive).

Area valid in: All counties of England (landward of the mean low water mark).

Purpose(s) for which this licence is issued: This licence can only be used for science (including research) or education.

What this licence permits

Subject to all the terms and conditions of this licence and solely for the purposes stated above, this licence permits Registered Persons and their Assistants to: disturb and capture hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) while surveying by means of taking by hand, which includes handling dormice found in nests (including in artificial nest boxes and nest tubes).

Who can use this licence

This licence can only be used by Registered Persons, Accredited Agents and Assistants* except those convicted on or after 1 January 2010 of a wildlife crime* unless, in respect of that offence, either:

• they are a rehabilitated person for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and their conviction is treated as spent
• a court has made an order discharging them absolutely

Any application by a person to whom this exclusion applies for an individual licence will be considered on its merits.

*: see Definitions.

Definitions used in this licence

A “Registered Person” is a person who has successfully registered to use this licence in accordance with Condition 4.

An “Accredited Agent” is a suitably trained and experienced person who is able to carry out work under a licence in accordance with Condition 4.

An “Assistant” is a person assisting a Registered Person or Accredited Agent in accordance with Condition 4.

“Wildlife crime” means any offence under the:

• Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017
• Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
• Protection of Badgers Act 1992
• Deer Act 1991
• Hunting Act 2004
• Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996
• Animal Welfare Act 2006

• Protection of Animals Act 1911 All as amended

• Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019

Licence conditions

1. Persons acting under this licence must abide by the advice on surveying and handling dormice in the most up to date edition of the ‘Dormouse Conservation Handbook’ (see Information and Advice note b).

2. All hazel dormice taken under this licence must be liberated at the site of capture immediately after examination.

3. All relevant animal welfare legislation must be complied with at all times, including the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (see Information and Advice note d).

4. To use this licence you must either:
   
   a. be a Registered Person (see Information and Advice notes f - h for registration procedures and Definitions)
   
   b. be authorised as an Accredited Agent (see Definitions) by a Registered Person, in which case you are only permitted to act under the authority of this licence if you are in possession of a letter signed by the Registered Person appointing you by name as a duly Accredited Agent for the purpose of this licence. Accredited Agents shall carry a copy of the said letter when acting under the licence and shall produce it to any police or Natural England officer on request
   
   c. be authorised by a Registered Person or their Accredited Agent to act as an Assistant (see Definitions), in which case you may act under the authority of this licence so long as you are doing so under the direct supervision of a Registered Person or their Accredited Agent
   
   
5. The Registered Person is responsible for all activities carried out under this licence, including activities carried out by their Accredited Agents and their Assistants
   
   
6. Whilst engaged in work permitted by this licence all persons registered or authorised to act under this licence must have access to a copy of this licence and produce it to any police officer or any Natural England officer on demand.
   
   

Recording and reporting requirements

7. The Registered Person must maintain a record, which must be kept for at least 24 months beyond the expiry date of this licence, in accordance with the requirements of Annex A. Records are to be made available for inspection at any reasonable time by Natural England.

8. The Registered Person must comply with the reporting requirements specified in Annex A. Reporting requirements must be met for the period from and including 1 January to 31 December by no later than 31 January the following year.

9. If Conditions 7 and 8 are not met then the Registered Person will, by default, no longer be considered registered to act under this licence.

Important

This licence authorises acts that would otherwise be offences under the legislation referred to above. Failure to comply with its terms and conditions:

i. may be an offence against the Habitats Regulations or the 1981 Act, or mean that the licence cannot be relied upon and an offence could therefore be committed. The maximum penalty available for an offence under the 1981 Act and Habitats Regulations is, at the time of the issue of this licence, an unlimited fine and/or a six month custodial sentence

ii. may result in your registration to use this licence being revoked and/or the refusal to allow you to be registered on future licences

iii. may mean that you are not able to rely on this licence as a defence in respect to the prohibitions within the Animal Welfare Act 2006 or the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996

Breaching a condition of a licence issued under the 1981 Act is not in itself an offence but doing so may mean that the licence cannot be relied upon and an offence could therefore be committed. If the activity that you wish to undertake is not covered by this licence, or if you are unable to comply with any of the terms and conditions which apply to the use of this licence, then you will need to apply to Natural England for an individual licence.

This licence is not a consent for the purposes of Part II of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) in respect to SSSIs. It is your responsibility to get consent or assent if required before this licence can be used on any SSSI. See Advice (r to v) for further information.

Issued by and on behalf of Natural England on 1 January 2024.

Information and advice specific to this licence

Coronavirus – Best practice

To avoid transmitting COVID-19 from people to wild mammals, you should: stay at least 2 metres from live wild mammals at all times; only capture or handle live wild mammals if necessary; and avoid going within 2 metres of known breeding or regularly used resting sites of mammals. If you cannot follow these guidelines, then you should minimise the time spent in close proximity and handling mammals; limit the number of people that come into close proximity or handle mammals; and keep animals separate from other individuals as far as possible.

i. Persons acting under this licence should follow good hygiene practices, including wearing of disposable gloves, or clean and disinfected non-disposable gloves; wearing a face covering when handling and in close proximity to any mammal; and washing hands before and after close proximity or handling of any mammal. Face coverings, non-disposable gloves and overalls or other clothing should be washed / disinfected between uses when handling mammals.

ii. You should not carry out activities under this licence if you feel unwell, test positive for COVID-19 or live with someone who has or might have COVID-19.

iii. Any products used to clean and disinfect equipment should be safe for use where there could be contact with animals and used at an effective and safe dilution rate. ‘Safe4’ is considered to be an appropriate disinfectant for this purpose and is considered effective against the virus at a dilution of 1:50. Other products can be used to clean and disinfect equipment.

Level 1 and Level 2 survey licences

a. There are 2 survey licences for dormice. These differ in the methods of surveying permitted:

• Level 1 (reference WML – CL10(a)) permits surveying by taking by hand, including handling of dormice in nest tubes and nest boxes
• Level 2 (reference WML – CL10(b)) additionally permits marking by way of fur clipping

This is the Level 1 survey licence.

To register to use the Level 2 licence, you require additional experience and/or training and will need to apply to Natural England

Guidance on surveying

b. Advice on surveying and handling dormice are given in the latest edition of the Dormouse Conservation Handbook. You are expected to check whether this guidance has been updated and if so, to ensure that you act in accordance with the most up to date version.

General welfare considerations

c. Persons acting under this licence may photograph hazel dormice in connection with licensed work provided that this causes no additional disturbance.

d. Persons acting under a licence should have regard to legislation and good practice relevant to the action(s) undertaken, including animal welfare and the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (2006 Act). It is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal (including birds) under the control of man (section 4 of the 2006 Act). This applies to the humane dispatch of captured animals and the treatment of animals held in traps or nets, including decoy birds and non-target animals. The application of Animal Welfare Act 2006 to wildlife management activities is explained in Natural England leaflet: The Animal Welfare Act 2006: what it means for wildlife (WML-GU02).

e. If you catch a species listed as an invasive non-native (alien) animal you must not release it. You must quickly and humanely dispatch it, or give it to a premises licensed to keep it. For a list of licensed premises contact Natural England: invasive-alien-species-licence@naturalengland.org.uk.

Biosecurity

f. Users of this licence should consider the risks of activities to biosecurity and take relevant precautions when visiting heathland and woodland sites to avoid the spread of invasive non-native species, and tree and plant pests and diseases such as Phytophthora and Ash dieback Chalara.

General biosecurity advice can be found on the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat website. Further information on plant biosecurity is available on the GOV.UK website.

Registering to use this licence

g. Only Registered Persons, or persons authorised or supervised by a Registered Person (see Condition 4), may act under this licence. Anyone seeking to become a Registered Person must apply to Natural England. You can register online to use this licence. Alternatively applications can be submitted by email or post. Applications require supporting evidence (including references) indicating appropriate knowledge and experience of the species covered by this licence and the management techniques permitted - see Reference guidance.

h. Once registered, a person is entitled to use this licence so long as they satisfy the licence’s terms and conditions; annual re-registration is not required. Failure to comply by the terms and conditions, including the recording and reporting requirements, will, by default, render registration null and void. The annual reporting process is used to verify a person’s desire to remain registered.

i. It is the responsibility of Registered Persons to maintain their expertise at an appropriate level to act under this licence and it is also their responsibility to ensure that Accredited Agents and Assistants have appropriate training, experience and instruction, including on mitigation measures commonly employed, to act under this licence.

j. Anyone seeking to confirm whether a person is registered to use this licence should contact Natural England Wildlife Licensing.

k. A person’s registration may be revoked by Natural England, for example, if that person breaches the conditions of this licence. In these circumstances Natural England will normally give 28 days’ notice of our intention to revoke a person’s registration.

Information and advice for all class and general licences

General information

l. Natural England checks compliance with licences and the attached conditions. Where breaches are identified, these may be subject to enforcement action.

m. Ordinarily, licences will be reissued on 1 January each year (NB: you do not need to re-register for those with registration requirements). Please note, however, that they can be modified or revoked at any time by Natural England or the Secretary of State, but this will not be done unless there are good reasons for doing so. You are advised to check the terms and conditions of a licence prior to your first use of it each year in case of amendments.

n. The common name of the species given in a licence is included by way of guidance only; in the event of any dispute or proceedings, it is the scientific name of a species only that will be taken into account.

The limits of licences

o. Licences permit action only for the purposes specified on that licence.

p. Licences do not permit actions prohibited under any other legislation, nor do they confer any right of entry upon land.

q. Unless otherwise stated the provisions of Natural England licences only apply landward of the mean low water mark in England. The Marine Management Organisation is responsible for all licensing seaward of the mean low water mark.

Protected sites

r. You can search for and view details about all SSSIs by using Natural England’s Designated Sites system. The notification documents for each SSSI contain a list of operations that require Natural England’s prior consent.

s. Owners and occupiers of land notified as SSSIs are required to give written notice to Natural England before either beginning any of these operations, or allowing someone else to carry out those operations. SSSI consent can only be given to a SSSI owner or occupier. It may be given with or without conditions, or in some cases, consent may not be granted.

t. A similar process applies to public bodies and statutory undertakers (as defined under Section 28G of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)) and this obligation applies even where the operations are carried out on land outside of the SSSI.

u. Please note that as the licensee you will not be able to undertake the licensed activity on a SSSI until the owner or occupier of the SSSI has applied for, and received, Natural England’s written SSSI consent. If you do so, you may be at risk of committing an offence.

As the licensee, if you wish to exercise this licence on a SSSI you must contact the relevant owners or occupiers of the SSSI and ensure they give written notice to Natural England of their proposal to permit you to carry out licensed activity on their SSSI. You should wait until a SSSI consent decision has been received by the SSSI owner/occupier before you begin to exercise this licence on a SSSI.

See GOV.UK for further information on how to get SSSI consent from Natural England.

v. In considering whether to issue consent or assent for activities likely to affect a SSSI that is a European site, in other words a Special Protection Area (SPA) or Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Natural England will carry out a Habitats Regulations Assessment, as required by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) (‘the Habitats Regulations’) to ensure there will be no adverse effects on the European site.

Using and sharing your Information

w. There is significant public interest in wildlife licensing and in those who benefit from receiving a wildlife licence. We may make information publicly available, for more information, please see our privacy notice.

Contact Natural England for licensing enquiries

Telephone: 020 802 61089

Email: wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk

Wildlife Licensing Operations Delivery
Natural England
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH

For other enquiries use the Enquiry Service.

Telephone: 0300 060 3900

Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

Annex A – Recording and reporting requirement

Records

Each Registered Person must maintain a record, which shall be kept for at least 24 months beyond the expiry date of this licence, of the following information for each survey undertaken using this licence (this also includes surveys conducted by Accredited Agents and Assistants acting under their authority):

• date survey undertaken
• location (administrative area and a six-figure (minimum)
• Ordnance Survey grid reference)
• number of hazel dormice observed during surveying conducted under the authority of this licence (including disturbed, handled)

Reporting

Registered Persons are required to satisfy both of the following annual reporting requirements.

1. Maintaining registration
   
   To maintain your registration you are required to complete a report to confirm:
   
   - if surveys have been carried out in the preceding 12 months
   
   - that any survey records have been submitted (see 2. below)
   
   - whether you wish to continue to be registered
   
   
2. Submitting your licence return and recording scheme data
   
   If you (or any Accredited Agents or Assistants) conduct any surveys during a reporting period then please enter details of each survey conducted online.
   
   In addition, if dormice are observed during surveys conducted under this licence then the relevant data must be submitted to the appropriate recording scheme administered by People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).
   
   Repeat nest-box monitoring data is to be submitted to the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP).
   
   One-off or incidental records are to be submitted to the National Dormouse Database (NDD).
   
   Data for both recording schemes are to be submitted online.
   
   The deadline for completing both reporting requirements is 31 January in the year which follows the calendar year to which the reports relate. In practice, you may find it easiest to submit survey records as and when surveys are carried out.

Commercial confidentiality

If you encounter difficulties releasing data due to client confidentiality restrictions then you are advised to remind your client that it is a condition of using this licence that survey information is reported. Furthermore, the licence may only be used if this condition is met and withholding information may lead to a licence breach (which under regulation 60 of the Habitats Regulations is an offence).

To help avoid such difficulties, it is recommended that your contractual terms and conditions make it clear that submitting records to Natural England and other bodies specified in licences is a legal requirement. If a client is not prepared to accept such terms and conditions then you may not use this licence without the prior permission of [Natural England Wildlife Licensing].

About dormouse monitoring

The PTES is responsible for collating dormouse data for both the NDMP and the NDD. The NDMP has been running since 1988, in collaboration with Natural England and Royal Holloway University of London. This long-term dataset uses repeat nest box monitoring data from over 200 sites across England and Wales to determine key information such as dormouse population trends.

If you regularly check dormouse nest boxes at a site but are not yet registered as an NDMP monitor, or wish to set up a new site at which you can install nest boxes and visit at least twice a year (May to June and September to October), then please contact susan@ptes.org or call 020 7498 4533 for further information and recording forms.

Contributors to the dataset receive a copy of ‘The Dormouse Monitor’ newsletter twice a year, which contains results of analyses along with other articles of relevance, and you can also sign up to an online dormouse discussion forum. The Dormouse Monitor is also available on the PTES website.

The NDD collates one-off or incidental records of dormice, including nests and dormouse-chewed nuts. These records come from a variety of sources such as environmental consultants, wildlife groups and members of the public. The dataset is extremely valuable as it enables up to date dormouse distribution maps to be produced, which can then be used to inform conservation projects. Data from the NDD are also submitted to the National Biodiversity Network Atlas, enabling them to be accessed and used by all.

WML-CL10a [Version January 2024]