{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/wildlife-and-countryside-act-1981/schedule-9A/paragraph-26",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/wildlife-and-countryside-act-1981/schedule-9A/paragraph-26.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1981/69",
  "legislation_title": "Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/wildlife-and-countryside-act-1981",
  "path": "schedule/9A/paragraph/26",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "26",
  "heading": null,
  "text": "(1) The Secretary of State must issue a code of practice in relation to species control agreements and orders in England.\n(2) A code under this paragraph must in particular provide guidance to environmental authorities in England on—\n(a) when to offer to enter into a species control agreement;\n(b) how to go about entering into a species control agreement;\n(c) what a species control agreement should contain (and in particular what it should contain by way of provision about payment of costs);\n(d) when to make a species control order;\n(e) what a species control order should contain (and in particular what it should contain by way of provision about payment and recovery of costs);\n(f) standards of animal welfare to be met in connection with species control agreements and orders.\n(3) A code under this paragraph may be revised or replaced.\n(4) Before issuing (or revising or replacing) a code under this paragraph the Secretary of State must carry out a public consultation.\n(5) The Secretary of State must—\n(a) ensure that a code under this paragraph is published in a way that is appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons likely to be affected by it, and\n(b) lay a copy of a code under this paragraph before Parliament.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Sch. 9A inserted (E.W.) (12.4.2015) by Infrastructure Act 2015 (c. 7), ss. 23(3), 57(4); S.I. 2015/481, reg. 3(a); S.I. 2015/990, reg. 2"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/schedule/9A/paragraph/26",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-31T10:30:49.503545+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}