Further to this morning’s news (here) that the Scottish Government has introduced its long-promised grouse shooting bill, formally known as the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, the game-shooting industry is seething.
Probably because the penny has finally dropped that the game is up. Despite years of expensive and extensive lobbying, their arguments haven’t been sufficiently persuasive and their posturing hasn’t been sufficiently convincing. As a result, the Scottish Government has produced draft legislation that, if passed, will bring wide-sweeping reforms, none of which the shooting industry wants, nor until this morning, believed would happen.
This is where the fight really starts as that Bill makes its way through the Scottish Parliament.
Here are the furious responses of Scottish Land & Estates, Scottish Gamekeepers Association, BASC, and Countryside Alliance:
Further to this morning’s news (here) that the Scottish Government has introduced its long-promised grouse shooting bill, formally known as the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Bill, REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform has published the following press statement in response:
REVIVE coalition urges Parliament to be bold on new wildlife Bill
Scottish Government’s draft Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill marks biggest intervention in land management for generations
The Scottish Government has today published its draft Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. The Bill has been introduced to protect the environment and tackle the persecution of birds of prey. It is expected to significantly change the way in which large areas of Scotland are managed, making it one of the biggest interventions in this area for generations.
Campaign Manager for REVIVE, Max Wiszniewski said: “The proposed Bill is a major intervention in land management that regulates destructive practices through licensing, instead of stopping them.
“Intensively managed grouse moors are unnatural monocultures that are burned and stripped of competing wildlife so more grouse can be shot for sport. By creating a circle of destruction around huge areas of our land, biodiversity and more diverse economic opportunities are missed for Scottish people and communities.
“With a new First Minister on the horizon, as the Bill progresses through Parliament, we hope it will be even bolder and braver to meet the expectations of the Scottish people.”
The Bill follows a review into grouse moor management led by Professor Werritty, the findings of which were published in December 2019. A year later the Scottish Government committed to introduce measures which will hold land managers far more accountable for their activities.
The Bill proposes to strictly regulate the use of muirburn, the controlled burning of vegetation, on peatland as well as ending raptor persecution. It also includes measures to ensure grouse moors are managed sustainably, to ban the use of glue traps for rodents and tighten regulations for the use of other types of wildlife traps.
Robbie Marlsand, Director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, a REVIVE coalition partner added: “When it comes to grouse shooting, this Bill appears well intentioned but kicks a couple of contentious cans down the road. Snares are primitive, cruel and indiscriminate. This Bill should remove them from the Scottish countryside – with no ifs and no buts.
“The impact of this Bill on killing grouse for sport will also depend much on the content of a yet to be written code of conduct that shooting estates must comply with. Only when that is finalised will we be able to appreciate the potential impact of this legislation. For example, hundreds of thousands of animals are killed each year so that there can be more grouse to shoot for fun and it’s not yet known if this Bill will change that.
“Killing any animal for entertainment is repugnant to the majority of people in Scotland. We therefore welcome any incremental steps that will make it more difficult to do.”
This morning the Scottish Government has introduced its long-promised grouse shooting bill, formally known as the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.
This draft legislation is a direct result of the game-shooting industry’s failure to stop illegally killing birds of prey on many Scottish grouse moors. That was the trigger, and there are also now other aspects to the Bill that are an attempt to tackle other poorly-regulated aspects of unsustainable grouse moor management.
The Bill contains provisions to:
Ban the use and purchase of glue traps and introduce licensing and training requirements for certain other types of wildlife traps;
Introduce a licensing regime for land used for the shooting of red grouse;
License all muirburn; and
Introduce enabling powers to allow the Scottish Ministers to extend the role of inspectors appointed under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to investigate certain wildlife offences.
As it has only just been published, I haven’t had time to read it properly or analyse its contents. I’ll comment further in due course.
Scottish Government has provided this overview:
Now the Bill has finally been introduced, this is how it will progress through Parliament over the coming months. There will be plenty of opportunity for comment on, and amendments to, this Bill.
In July last year, the Scottish Government finally got around to establishing an independent Taskforce to consider whether the Scottish SPCA should be granted additional powers to help investigate raptor persecution and other wildlife crime (see here).
As a quick recap, the SSPCA’s current powers (under animal welfare legislation) limits their investigations to cases that involve a live animal in distress (including some wildlife crimes). The proposed new powers would allow them to also investigate wildlife crimes under the Wildlife & Countryside Act legislation, e.g. where the victim is already dead, and also incidents where a victim may not be present (e.g. if an illegally-set pole trap or a poisoned bait was discovered). See here for further detail.
Under their current powers, the SSPCA wouldn’t be permitted to investigate a crime like this because the buzzard is already dead
This Taskforce, chaired by Susan Davies FRSB, was established after 11 long years of political can-kicking by the SNP only because the Scottish Greens insisted on its inclusion in the historic Bute House Agreement, the power-sharing policy document published by the two parties in 2021:
‘The independent taskforce to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime will be asked to report back in a timeframe that will allow any changes to the Scottish SPCA powers to be delivered by legislation implementing changes to grouse and other wildlife management in the course of this parliamentary session‘.
It was expected that the Taskforce’s recommendations would feed into the forthcoming draft legislation on grouse moor licensing (the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill) that is expected to progress to Stage 1 of parliamentary scrutiny in the coming weeks (see here).
Indeed, in December 2022, the Scotsman ran an article suggesting that the Scottish Government had said the Taskforce’s review was complete and would be published ‘within weeks‘ (see here), just in time to be considered alongside the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill.
However, as has happened so often on this particular issue, it looks like the Scottish Government has moved the goal posts.
I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Scottish Government at the beginning of January 2023, asking, amongst other things, for details of when the Taskforce’s review would be published.
The Government’s response, which I received yesterday evening, said the review had been submitted to the Government on 22nd October 2022 but wasn’t expected to be published until ‘prior to summer 2023‘. That’s quite a different response to the one the Scotsman reported of the Government expecting it to be published ‘within weeks‘.
Does that mean the Taskforce’s recommendations won’t be fed into the Scottish Parliament’s consideration of how the forthcoming grouse shooting licencing scheme will operate and be enforced? How does that meet the requirements laid out in the Bute House Agreement between the Scottish Greens and the SNP?
But that’s not the only concern uncovered by the FoI response.
I also asked the Scottish Government some questions about which organisations and individuals were invited and had contributed evidence to the Taskforce review. The answer is alarming to say the least, with invited participants heavily weighted to the game-shooting industry:
Apart from RSPB Scotland, where were the invites to other conservation and wildlife organisations such as Scottish Badgers, Scottish Raptor Study Group, OneKind, League Against Cruel Sports, REVIVE coalition, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Environment Link etc? Why were they excluded, when they all have legitimate and evidenced concerns about the poor level of wildlife crime enforcement that has led to the proposed extended powers for the SSPCA?
Why were the majority of invited non-governmental organisations those who have previously been vociferous in their opposition to increased SSPCA powers (e.g. see here, here and here) and who presumably, despite their rhetoric about having a ‘zero tolerance’ for raptor persecution/wildlife crime, are still dead set against measures that would help tackle it?
I’ve gone back to the Scottish Government to ask for the ‘key list of stakeholders and those who had previously engaged with [the Scottish Government] on the matter of SSPCA powers‘ that was provided to the Taskforce Chair, to determine whether this bias was determined by the Scottish Government or by the Taskforce Chair.
Either way, if the Taskforce recommendations do not support increased powers for the SSPCA, this inherent bias in participation leaves the Government wide open to a potential legal challenge by conservationists who could argue that their exclusion from participating in the review has resulted in an unfair process.
There is an alternative view. Let’s say that the Taskforce review does recommend increased powers for the SSPCA, then by inviting an overload of anti-SSPCA game shooting organisations, the Taskforce Chair has cleverly covered off any opportunity for them to suggest their views were under-represented in the review process.
Unfortunately, it looks like we have many more months of waiting to find out what, exactly, the Taskforce review recommends. And if our experience of the Werritty Review is anything to go by, we may be waiting a further year for the Government to set out its response to the Taskforce’s recommendations.
UPDATE 7th February 2023: Scottish Government will provide response at same time the Taskforce review on SSPCA powers is published (here).
UPDATE 7th March 2023: More detail provided on why key conservation organisations were excluded from Scottish Government’s review on increasing SSPCA powers (here).
For those new to this subject, here’s the political timeline, now in its 12th year, that has led to the current position:
February 2011: Increased powers for the SSPCA was first suggested by MSP Peter Peacock as an amendment during the Wildlife & Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill debates. The then Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham rejected it as an amendment but suggested a public consultation was in order.
September 2011: Seven months later Elaine Murray MSP (Scottish Labour) lodged a parliamentary motion that further powers for the SSPCA should be considered.
November 2011: Elaine Murray MSP (Scottish Labour) formalised the question in a P&Q session and the next Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson MSP, then promised that the consultation would happen ‘in the first half of 2012’.
September 2012: Nine months later and nothing had happened so I asked Paul Wheelhouse MSP, as the new Environment Minister, when the consultation would take place. The response, in October 2012, was:
“The consultation has been delayed by resource pressures but will be brought forward in the near future”.
July 2013: Ten months later and still no sign so I asked the Environment Minister (still Paul Wheelhouse) again. In August 2013, this was the response:
“We regret that resource pressures did further delay the public consultation on the extension of SSPCA powers. However, I can confirm that the consultation document will be published later this year”.
September 2013: At a meeting of the PAW Executive Group, Minister Wheelhouse said this:
“The consultation on new powers for the SSPCA will be published in October 2013“.
January 2014: In response to one of this blog’s readers who wrote to the Minister (still Paul Wheelhouse) to ask why the consultation had not yet been published:
“We very much regret that resource pressures have caused further delays to the consultation to gain views on the extension of SSPCA powers. It will be published in the near future“.
31 March 2014: Public consultation launched.
1 September 2014: Consultation closed.
26 October 2014: I published my analysis of the consultation responses here.
22 January 2015: Analysis of consultation responses published by Scottish Government. 233 responses (although 7,256 responses if online petition included – see here).
I was told a decision would come from the new Environment Minister, Dr Aileen McLeod MSP, “in due course”.
1 September 2015: One year after the consultation closed and still nothing.
25 February 2016: In response to a question posed by the Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment Committee, Environment Minister Dr Aileen McLeod said: “I have some further matters to clarify with the SSPCA, however I do hope to be able to report on the Scottish Government’s position on this issue shortly“.
May 2016: Dr Aileen McLeod fails to get re-elected and loses her position as Environment Minister. Roseanna Cunningham is promoted to a newly-created position of Cabinet Secretary for the Environment.
12 May 2016: Mark Ruskell MSP (Scottish Greens) submits the following Parliamentary question:
Question S5W-00030 – To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce its decision regarding extending the powers of the Scottish SPCA to tackle wildlife crime.
26 May 2016: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham responds with this:
A decision on whether to extend the investigatory powers of the Scottish SPCA will be announced in due course.
1 September 2016: Two years after the consultation closed and still nothing.
9 January 2017: Mark Ruskell MSP (Scottish Greens) submits the following Parliamentary question:
Question S5W-05982 – To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its response to the consultation on the extension of wildlife crime investigative powers for inspectors in the Scottish SPCA.
17 January 2017: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham responds:
A decision on whether to extend the investigatory powers of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will be announced in the first half of 2017.
31 May 2017: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham rejects an extension of powers for the SSPCA ‘based on legal advice’ and instead announces, as an alternative, a pilot scheme of Special Constables for the Cairngorms National Park (here). It later emerged in 2018 that this pilot scheme was also an alternative to the Government’s 2016 manifesto pledge to establish a Wildlife Crime Investigation Unit as part of Police Scotland – a pledge on which it had now reneged (see here).
November 2019: The pilot scheme of Special Constables in the Cairngorms National Park was an absolute failure as a grand total of zero wildlife crimes were recorded by the Special Constables but plenty were reported by others (see here).
June 2020: Mark Ruskell (Scottish Greens) proposed further powers for the SSPCA at Stage 2 of the Animals and Wildlife Bill. The latest Environment Minister, Mairi Gougeon persuaded him to withdraw the proposed amendment on the basis that she’d consider establishing a taskforce to convene ‘this summer’ to consider increased powers (see here).
December 2020: Mark Ruskell (Scottish Greens) submits two Parliamentary questions asking about the status of the taskforce and who is serving on it (see here).
January 2021: New Environment Minister Ben Macpherson says the taskforce has not yet been appointed but that it is “expected to be established later this year“ (see here).
September 2021: In the 2021 to 2022 Programme for Government it was announced that the ‘independent taskforce [Ed: still to be appointed] will report before the end of 2022’ (see here).
May 3 2022: In an interview with Max Wiszniewski of the REVIVE coalition for grouse moor reform, new Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: “It’s imminent and I wish I could tell you today but we are just finalising the last few points for the membership but I’m hoping to be able to make an announcement about that in the next few weeks“ (see here).
1 July 2022: Scottish Government announces Susan Davies has been appointed to lead the taskforce review and will ‘publish a report later this year’ (see here).
27December 2022: A Scottish Government spokesperson tells Scotsman journalist the taskforce has completed its review and its findings will be published ‘within weeks’ (see here).
31 January 2023: An FoI response from the Scottish Government to this blog’s author reveals the Taskforce’s review was submitted to the Scottish Government on 22nd October 2022 and will be published ‘prior to summer 2023’.
7 February 2023: Scottish Government tells journalist from The Scotsman that it will provide a response at the same time the Taskforce review on SSPCA powers is published (here).
The Scottish Parliament’s ‘Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee’ is currently considering a petition that was first submitted in February 2021 by a falconer, Barry Blyther, calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 to allow mountain hares to be hunted for the purposes of falconry (Petition PE1859, here).
The basic premise of the petition (and I’m simply summarising here – if you want the full details please read the petition details) is that Barry wants to be able to hunt mountain hares with his golden eagle for ‘sport’. Barry argues that since the mountain hare received full legal protection in 2020 after a late amendment from Scottish Green’s MSP Alison Johnstone to the drafting of the Animals and Wildlife Bill (here and here), he can no longer legally hunt mountain hares for fun, and he wants the Scottish Government to amend the legislation to provide an exemption for falconers.
Some of you may recall the furore that erupted amongst the shooting industry after the mountain hare was given full legal protection, because it meant an end to the grotesque annual slaughter of thousands of mountain hares on some driven grouse moors. For example, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said it was thinking of setting up a new political party “to ensure the working countryside is represented better” (here) and landowners’ lobby group Scottish Land & Estates wasn’t happy either (here).
The raw fury when their sense of entitlement had been so adeptly overridden was palpable, and that contempt was very much still in evidence by several pro-fieldsports MSPs during a Petitions Committee hearing on 21st December 2022, held to further consider Mr Blyther’s petition on ‘upland falconry’ and his desire to hunt mountain hares for ‘sport’.
I watched the archived video of that hearing this afternoon and would encourage you to do the same, if you have time (it’s here and it’s the first item on the agenda).
If you’d prefer to read the transcript, that’s here:
Environment Minister Mairi McAllan had been invited to this committee hearing to answer questions on this petition. She was accompanied by her senior civil servant Hugh Dignon and Stan Whittaker from NatureScot.
The rude, disrespectful and frankly unpleasant manner of some of the Petitions Committee members towards Mairi McAllan is quite shocking. I’ve seen behaviour like this, first hand, from the pro-grouse shooting MPs in Westminster (here) but I haven’t previously seen this in the Scottish Parliament. Convenor Jackson Carlaw MSP (Conservative), Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP) and Alexander Stewart MSP (Conservative) deserve particular rebuke for their style of questioning. Jackson Carlaw told the Minister the committee was “quite exercised” by the Government’s response to the petition – that’s one way of describing it.
Mairi McAllan handled it brilliantly, calling them out a few times and delivered a well-considered response, superbly supported by Hugh Dignon, explaining that the mountain hare is protected because there are concerns for its conservation status, that falconers could still practice falconry without the threat of prosecution if they take care to hunt in areas with a low density of mountain hare, and in a nature emergency, the conservation status of the mountain hare is of greater importance than sporting or recreational activity.
I particularly enjoyed her wry smile when the Convenor spoke over her (again) and instead turned his attention to Hugh Dignon for an answer:
I think the considered explanations from Mairi and Hugh fell on deaf ears though because at the next hearing of the Petitions Committee, held on 18th January 2023, the Committee decided to go back to the Minister for further clarification on a few points (they seem to have missed the main point about the conservation status of the mountain hare being the primary priority) and Fergus Ewing, who likes to get his own way, says:
“I forgot to say that, at the very end of the letter to the minister, we could perhaps politely indicate that all members of the committee feel particularly exercised and concerned about this matter, and it is therefore our intention to pursue it. We should indicate that we are treating it very seriously indeed, and perhaps thereby inject a little bit of lead into the ministerial pencil“.
Here is the transcript from the hearing on 18th January 2023:
We’re all well aware of Fergus Ewing’s strong support for the fieldsports industry – I’ve blogged about it many times before (e.g. see here) so his position on this particular pro-fieldsports petition is no surprise whatsoever.
The other two, Jackson Carlaw MSP and Alexander Stewart MSP are both Scottish Conservatives so their positions shouldn’t come as a surprise either, although the evident vitriol in their questioning style is a bit more perplexing.
I note with interest that Alexander Stewart MSP attended this BASC lunch in November to celebrate Great British Game Week. Purely coincidental, I’m sure.
Press release from League Against Cruel Sports (24th January 2023):
The Scottish Parliament has today (Tuesday) voted to pass the new Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill. The vote was passed by 90 for and 30 against, with no abstentions.
The new legislation was introduced last year, two decades after a failed attempt by the Scottish Parliament to ban hunting with the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act, back in 2002.
The new Bill will bring into force a number of measures which significantly curtail mounted hunting activity, including reducing the number of dogs which can be used to hunt a wild mammal to just two, instead of a full pack, and reducing the number of dogs which can be used below ground to just one.
The Bill also includes a pre-emptive ban on trail hunting. Trail hunting is a sport which was created after hunting was banned in England and Wales following the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004. Its inclusion in the Bill means trail hunting can not be established north of the border.
Video footage from the League Against Cruel Sports shows a hunter throwing a fox to a baying pack of hounds (Credit: here)
The League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, has welcomed the new legislation. Director Robbie Marsland said:
“As of today, Scotland has the most robust law anywhere in the UK to prevent the cruelty of chasing and killing wild mammals for sport – and this is something to celebrate. Despite a persistent campaign from those resolute to keep hunting alive in the Scottish countryside, the Scottish Government has been determined to end the sport of hunting, a sentiment which has today been supported by the Parliament.
“The passing of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill now provides an opportunity to right the wrongs of the last two decades and close the loopholes which allowed hunters to continue with hunting as though the law didn’t exist.
“The inclusion of a ban on trail hunting is a significant victory for Scotland, meaning hunts will not be able to use this so-called sport as a smokescreen for traditional hunting.”
The new Bill also includes a licensing system which will allow for a full pack of hounds to be used in certain circumstances. The detail of the scheme has yet to be developed but animal welfare campaigners have concerns this has the potential to be exploited.
Robbie Marsland added:
“After twenty years of flawed legislation it is critical that this Bill is not simply a way of creating new loopholes for hunters to exploit, and the League is yet to be convinced the licensing scheme won’t do this.
“Despite the best of intentions to ban hunting, the determination and deep rooted defiance among those who wish to chase and kill foxes should not be underestimated. The League will work closely with Nature Scot and other stakeholders to ensure the licensing system is robust, effective and fit for purpose.”
The Hunting with Dogs Bill is expected to receive royal assent in the next few weeks and come into force in the autumn.
ENDS
This is a significant win for campaigners in Scotland, including REVIVE coalition members the League Against Cruel Sports and OneKind, and will increase pressure on the Westminster Government to follow suit.
The proposed licensing scheme, which will allow the use of more than two dogs in “certain limited circumstances” has undoubtedly been brought in to help fend off any legal challenges but the details and effectiveness of the licences remain to be seen.
For example, will the licensing authority NatureScot think that footpacks running amok in public forests, killing foxes to protect gamebirds on grouse moors (e.g. see here) is an appropriate and licensable activity? We’ll see.
There’s plenty of media coverage of this story today:
The taskforce established by the Scottish Government earlier this year to consider whether the Scottish SPCA should be granted additional powers to help investigate raptor persecution and other wildlife crime has completed its review, which ‘will be published within weeks’, according to an article in yesterday’s Scotsman.
As a quick recap, the SSPCA’s current powers (under animal welfare legislation) limits their investigations to cases that involve a live animal in distress (including some wildlife crimes). The proposed new powers would allow them to also investigate wildlife crimes under the Wildlife & Countryside Act legislation, e.g. where the victim is already dead, and also incidents where a victim may not be present (e.g. if an illegally-set pole trap or a poisoned bait was discovered). See here for further detail.
Golden eagle on the Isle of Mull. Photo: Alamy
The taskforce, chaired by Susan Davies FRSB, includes members from the Scottish Government (civil servants), Police Scotland and the Crown Office. Importantly, it doesn’t include anybody from the shooting/landowner brigade, thus thwarting any attempts to disrupt, delay, or water-down the taskforce’s recommendations, in the way the Werritty Review was bastardised three years ago.
This taskforce was established after 11 long years of political can-kicking only because the Scottish Greens insisted on its inclusion in the historic Bute House Agreement, the power-sharing policy document published by the two parties in 2021:
‘The independent taskforce to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime will be asked to report back in a timeframe that will allow any changes to the Scottish SPCA powers to be delivered by legislation implementing changes to grouse and other wildlife management in the course of this parliamentary session‘.
The taskforce’s findings will feed into the current draft legislation on grouse moor licensing (the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill) that is expected to progress to Stage 1 of parliamentary scrutiny in the new year now that the Government’s consultation on it has just closed. Indeed, the consultation document contained the following statement:
‘The taskforce’s report is expected to be published later this year. Depending on the recommendations of the review we may include provisions relating to the powers of Scottish SPCA in the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill, in which case a separate consultation with interested parties will be undertaken‘.
I look forward to reading the taskforce’s report ‘within weeks’ and trust that the Scottish Government won’t delay its publication, or its response to it, in the same way it has previously dragged its feet (for 11 years!) on this important issue. I think it’s probably crucial that because the commitment was made in the Bute House Agreement, any further delays by the SNP won’t be tolerated or accepted by the Scottish Greens.
Journalist Alistair Grant ‘s article in The Scotsman yesterday includes quotes from me and also from Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell, who has been instrumental in keeping this issue to the fore of the political agenda.
The article is reproduced as follows:
The Scottish Government said a taskforce set up to consider the issue has completed its work and its findings will be published within weeks.
Campaigners have previously highlighted the “extraordinary” timeline of delays over the proposals, with the idea first mooted more than a decade ago.
There are ongoing concerns over the illegal killing of birds of prey in Scotland. Expanding the Scottish SPCA’s current powers would allow it to investigate cases involving animal deaths and illegal traps.
Conservationist Dr Ruth Tingay, author of the Raptor Persecution UK blog, said she had been tracking the debate for 11 years, “watching a succession of eight environment ministers kick it into the long grass“.
She said: “I hope the recommendation of the taskforce brings this excruciatingly embarrassing saga to an end and that the Scottish SPCA is given increased powers to enable its officers to work in partnership with the police and other agencies to finally get a grip on the illegal killing of birds of prey.
“These disgraceful wildlife crimes continue because the perpetrators know fine well the chance of being caught and prosecuted is minuscule. There is no deterrent.
“The involvement of experienced officers and investigators from the SSPCA will, I’m certain, have a significant impact on bringing those responsible to justice“.
Green MSP Mark Ruskell said the move would be a “crucial step forward“. He proposed new powers for the Scottish SPCA as part of legislation in 2020, but the Scottish Government instead committed to setting up an independently-chaired taskforce to consider the issue. This was then delayed.
Last year, the Government said the group would report before the end of 2022. The taskforce formed part of the co-operation agreement between the SNP and the Greens.
Mr Ruskell said: “The present system is not working, and the only ones benefiting from it are the criminals.
“The reality is that wildlife crime has been rife for years, but overstretched police have been unable to take the action that is needed. This has only allowed it to continue unabated.
“Every other option that has been tried to improve the detection of wildlife crime has failed. At a time when policing budgets are under increasing strain this is the only practical way forward.
“For far too long, Scotland has had to endure persecution of birds of prey and other iconic species.
“We have been calling for the SSPCA to have additional powers for a long time and pushed for it in Bute House [co-operation] agreement negotiations. After years of delays, I hope that we can finally make it a reality“.
Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We are pleased that the consideration to award powers to the Scottish SPCA under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 have come to a conclusion. We have committed to help the Scottish Government combat wildlife crime following a suggestion made in 2010 by Peter Peacock MSP. We look forward to reading the findings of the plans over the coming weeks.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We take animal welfare very seriously and in recent years have introduced a variety of measures to combat wildlife crime.
“We committed to set up a taskforce that was to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should be given extra legislative powers to investigate wildlife crime. The taskforce has completed its work and its report will be published in due course.”
ENDS
For those new to this subject, here’s the political timeline that has led to the current position:
February 2011: Increased powers for the SSPCA was first suggested by MSP Peter Peacock as an amendment during the Wildlife & Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill debates. The then Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham rejected it as an amendment but suggested a public consultation was in order.
September 2011: Seven months later Elaine Murray MSP (Scottish Labour) lodged a parliamentary motion that further powers for the SSPCA should be considered.
November 2011: Elaine Murray MSP (Scottish Labour) formalised the question in a P&Q session and the next Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson MSP, then promised that the consultation would happen ‘in the first half of 2012’.
September 2012: Nine months later and nothing had happened so I asked Paul Wheelhouse MSP, as the new Environment Minister, when the consultation would take place. The response, in October 2012, was:
“The consultation has been delayed by resource pressures but will be brought forward in the near future”.
July 2013: Ten months later and still no sign so I asked the Environment Minister (still Paul Wheelhouse) again. In August 2013, this was the response:
“We regret that resource pressures did further delay the public consultation on the extension of SSPCA powers. However, I can confirm that the consultation document will be published later this year”.
September 2013: At a meeting of the PAW Executive Group, Minister Wheelhouse said this:
“The consultation on new powers for the SSPCA will be published in October 2013“.
January 2014: In response to one of this blog’s readers who wrote to the Minister (still Paul Wheelhouse) to ask why the consultation had not yet been published:
“We very much regret that resource pressures have caused further delays to the consultation to gain views on the extension of SSPCA powers. It will be published in the near future“.
31 March 2014: Public consultation launched.
1 September 2014: Consultation closed.
26 October 2014: I published my analysis of the consultation responses here.
22 January 2015: Analysis of consultation responses published by Scottish Government. 233 responses (although 7,256 responses if online petition included – see here).
I was told a decision would come from the new Environment Minister, Dr Aileen McLeod MSP, “in due course”.
1 September 2015: One year after the consultation closed and still nothing.
25 February 2016: In response to a question posed by the Rural Affairs, Climate Change & Environment Committee, Environment Minister Dr Aileen McLeod said: “I have some further matters to clarify with the SSPCA, however I do hope to be able to report on the Scottish Government’s position on this issue shortly“.
May 2016: Dr Aileen McLeod fails to get re-elected and loses her position as Environment Minister. Roseanna Cunningham is promoted to a newly-created position of Cabinet Secretary for the Environment.
12 May 2016: Mark Ruskell MSP (Scottish Greens) submits the following Parliamentary question:
Question S5W-00030 – To ask the Scottish Government when it will announce its decision regarding extending the powers of the Scottish SPCA to tackle wildlife crime.
26 May 2016: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham responds with this:
A decision on whether to extend the investigatory powers of the Scottish SPCA will be announced in due course.
1 September 2016: Two years after the consultation closed and still nothing.
9 January 2017: Mark Ruskell MSP (Scottish Greens) submits the following Parliamentary question:
Question S5W-05982 – To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish its response to the consultation on the extension of wildlife crime investigative powers for inspectors in the Scottish SPCA.
17 January 2017: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham responds:
A decision on whether to extend the investigatory powers of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will be announced in the first half of 2017.
31 May 2017: Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham rejects an extension of powers for the SSPCA ‘based on legal advice’ and instead announces, as an alternative, a pilot scheme of Special Constables for the Cairngorms National Park (here). It later emerged in 2018 that this pilot scheme was also an alternative to the Government’s 2016 manifesto pledge to establish a Wildlife Crime Investigation Unit as part of Police Scotland – a pledge on which it had now reneged (see here).
November 2019: The pilot scheme of Special Constables in the Cairngorms National Park was an absolute failure as a grand total of zero wildlife crimes were recorded by the Special Constables but plenty were reported by others (see here).
June 2020: Mark Ruskell (Scottish Greens) proposed further powers for the SSPCA at Stage 2 of the Animals and Wildlife Bill. The latest Environment Minister, Mairi Gougeon persuaded him to withdraw the proposed amendment on the basis that she’d consider establishing a taskforce to convene ‘this summer’ to consider increased powers (see here).
December 2020: Mark Ruskell (Scottish Greens) submits two Parliamentary questions asking about the status of the taskforce and who is serving on it (see here).
January 2021: New Environment Minister Ben Macpherson says the taskforce has not yet been appointed but that it is “expected to be established later this year“ (see here).
September 2021: In the 2021 to 2022 Programme for Government it was announced that the ‘independent taskforce [Ed: still to be appointed] will report before the end of 2022’ (see here).
May 3 2022: In an interview with Max Wiszniewski of the REVIVE coalition for grouse moor reform, new Environment Minister Mairi McAllan said: “It’s imminent and I wish I could tell you today but we are just finalising the last few points for the membership but I’m hoping to be able to make an announcement about that in the next few weeks“ (see here).
1 July 2022: Scottish Government announces Susan Davies has been appointed to lead the taskforce review and will ‘publish a report later this year’ (see here).
December 2022: A Scottish Government spokesperson tells Scotsman journalist the taskforce has completed its review and its findings will be published ‘within weeks’.
UPDATE 1st February 2023: Wildlife Crime: key conservation organisations ‘excluded’ from Scottish Government’s review on increasing SSPCA powers (here)
In October this year, the Scottish Government finally launched a consultation seeking the public’s views on its plans for grouse moor reform. The consultation closes on Wednesday 14th December 2022, so this is your final chance to provide your views on what is being proposed.
Proposals under the Wildlife Management (Grouse) Bill include plans to introduce a licensing scheme for grouse shoots, muirburn licensing and increased regulation on the use of traps used to kill so-called ‘pest’ species on grouse moors.
To say that driven grouse moor reform is long overdue is somewhat of an understatement. This ‘sport’ has been virtually unregulated since it began approx 150 years ago and much of what happened in the Edwardian and Victorian age still goes on today (albeit more intensively and commercially in many areas) including the illegal killing of birds of prey, which is the principle reason the Scottish Government has finally decided to act.
August 1922: M McDonald, a member of Lord Woolavington’s House Party, with a gamekeeper in a hide during a grouse shoot on Mannock Moors. (Photo by W. G. Phillips/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
The campaign to get to this stage has been long and brutal and has come at a high personal cost to many of the individuals involved. It has been a hard-fought battle and this is why it’s so important that people now take part in the consultation process. The grouse-shooting lobby is urging its members to contribute – I’ve been sent a copy of how they are intending to respond, which includes ludicrous claims about there being ‘insufficient evidence’ of high levels of raptor persecution on grouse moors (I know!!). I’ll share their response in a separate blog but it highlights why we need to show a strong response in support of the Government’s licensing proposals.
That’s not to say the licensing proposals are perfect – they’re not – but this is our opportunity to make sure that they can be as watertight as possible.
I’m aware that some campaigners on ‘our side’ are very unhappy that licensing is coming in; they would prefer to see an outright ban on driven grouse shooting. That’s a view I understand but right now, a ban is not on the table. It’s either a licensing scheme or the status quo. Those are the two options. If licensing proves to be ineffective, then the campaign for a total ban will be strengthened. Maintaining the status quo is unthinkable, so let’s be pragmatic and work to secure the best standard of licensing that we can get.
The consultation is easy to respond to and anyone can participate – you don’t need to be a member of an organisation, your view as an informed member of the public is just as valid.
REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform, has provided an easy supporter’s guide to help you complete the consultation – see here.
Most of it is a tick-box exercise, but there are also sections where space is provided for you to add your own comments. REVIVE has listed some suggested topics that you may wish to include, but has deliberately not provided statements for cut and paste. It’s important that you use your own words to have greater impact – if everyone submitted identical responses, the Government is likely to lump them all together and count them as a single response instead of the views of many individuals.
I’ll be submitting my own personal response this weekend. As mentioned above, I’m generally in support of the principle of licensing but I do have concerns about effective enforcement. Without that, a licensing scheme will be utterly pointless. I will be urging the Scottish Government to introduce a licensing fee that is sufficient to fund rigorous and effective compliance monitoring and enforcement, and to implement that fee now rather than later, as has been proposed.
I’m also deeply concerned that the proposed licensing scheme excludes the shooting of red-legged partridges and pheasants on land managed for grouse shooting, and instead focuses just on the shooting of red grouse. There is an increasing body of evidence that demonstrates red-legged partridges (RLPs), and to a lesser extent, pheasants, are being released on grouse moors for shooting, either as a proxy for red grouse (in low stock years) or as an additional target species to boost income. When the grouse shooting licence scheme is introduced, it would be very simple for shoot managers to switch from shooting red grouse to shooting RPLs, thus side-stepping the licence (which is currently red grouse specific) and continuing with the very activities that this licencing scheme seeks to end (illegal raptor persecution). It’s a gaping loophole that needs to be closed off before it is exploited.
[This photograph was taken on Buccleuch Estate earlier this year]
For those who haven’t yet read the Government’s proposals, you can do so here:
If you want to use REVIVE’s guide for responding to the consultation, please click here.
Remember, the consultation closes on Wednesday 14th December 2022.
Thank you for your help and support.
UPDATE 12th December 2022: Don’t laugh, but here is the grouse-shooters’ consultation response to licensing (here)
UPDATE 13th December 2022: ‘Golden opportunity to tackle bird of prey killings & stop peatland burning in Scotland’ – RSPB blog on grouse moor licensing (here)
REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform hosted another successful fringe event at the SNP’s Annual National Conference over the weekend, where the discussion centred on land reform and grouse moors.
Panellists included Scottish Environment Minister Màiri McAllan, Max Wiszniewski (Campaign Manager at REVIVE), Amanda Burgauer (Executive Director of Common Weal), Robbie Marsland (Director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland) and Mhairi Stewart (Policy Strategy Lead at the John Muir Trust).
A summary of the event will hopefully be published by REVIVE in due course but suffice to say, as before (here & here), there was considerable interest and strong support from SNP delegates.
REVIVE’s ingenious ‘Play Your Cards Right‘ game was once more available for delegates to interact with, helping them to engage memorably with the coalition’s concerns about the various damaging aspects of driven grouse moor management.
MSP David Torrance (Kirkcaldy), here with Max Wiszniewski from REVIVE, was one of many to have a go:
The Scottish Government’s long-anticipated move to draw up an effective and enforceable licensing scheme for grouse shooting (see here) is set to begin shortly with the publishing of a public consultation document prior to the drafting of legislation which will be subject to debate and amendments as the draft bill progresses through Parliament during this session, as set out recently in the 2022-2023 Programme for Government (see here).
UPDATE 21st October 2022: REVIVE coalition for grouse moor reform well received by SNP and Scottish Greens conferences (here)
UPDATE 12th September 2022:This event has been postponed due to recent events. It has been rescheduled for 29th October 2022 (here).
REVIVE Coalition partner OneKind, the animal welfare charity, is hosting a demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament on Saturday 17th September, from 11.30am to 1pm, calling for a complete ban on the manufacture, sale and use of snares in Scotland.
Thousands of snares are deployed on game-shooting estates every year, which maim and kill animals in order to protect stocks of red grouse, pheasants and partridge for ‘sport’ shooting. It’s currently legal to snare some species (e.g. foxes), despite the inhumane method, but as snares are indiscriminate up to 80% of species caught are non-target species, according to DEFRA figures, and these species include badgers, otters, deer and pet cats and dogs. This shocking report from the REVIVE coalition for grouse moor reform provides more detail.
The demonstration on 17th September is timed to coincide with the Scottish Government’s current review of snaring legislation and OneKind’s CEO Bob Elliot has written an excellent account of why a ban is needed and how this demo could help achieve that aim (see here).
For more information about the demo and to register your attendance, please see here.
If you’re unable to attend, please consider sending a letter to Environment Minister Mairi McAllan using this e-letter template from OneKind, urging the Government to introduce a full ban on the manufacture, sale and use of snares in Scotland.
Raptor Persecution UK 