Chamber and committees

I would like a bit of clarity on licensing for environmental benefit, which you may have touched on a bit. Section 8 states that a licence in connection with section 7

“must not be granted unless the relevant authority is satisfied ... that killing, capturing or observing the wild mammal will contribute towards a significant or long-term environmental benefit”.

In order to balance the need to protect certain species and enhance biodiversity with the need to protect the welfare of all sentient animals and manage wildlife ethically, will guidance be published on how to determine what meets the criteria for

“significant or long-term environmental benefit”?

I have a supplementary question on the licensing scheme. I am keen to explore the transparency and accountability of the scheme. I would appreciate your views on Alison Johnstone’s proposal in the previous parliamentary session for a member’s bill on the protection and conservation of wild mammals. The proposal was:

“Any use of a licence must be conditional on reporting how many animals have been killed/hunted and that they have been killed in accordance with the licence. This information should be published by the licensing authority.”

On part 1, and still around the definition of “wild mammal”, I am interested in why rats and mice are not included in that definition, given that all animals are sentient.

It is a very good point that not everybody is aware of the possibility or the access that they could have. Work needs to be done on that.

Richard Crawford has indicated that he wants to come in on the same question.

It is quite illuminating that planners do not like common good land being fenced, and that is something to explore.

I am going to pick up the theme of the local food growing strategies. Lou Evans, you have started to share quite a lot of the extensive work that you have been doing in that regard. I am curious to get more of a sense from you of why there are approximately eight local authorities that still have not published their local food growing strategy, despite being required to have done so by April 2020.

That is a great offer, and thanks for some of the insight.

Do you think that the food strategies that exist are doing enough to demonstrate how allotment and community growing space provision is meeting the needs of all communities, including those experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage?

Thank you. I have been in the community growing movement for a long time, and when you called it “our sector”, I wondered where that came from, so it is great to hear where it emerged. That is another benefit from our challenging time in the pandemic.

I thank all the witnesses for a rich discussion. I close the public part of today’s meeting.

Do you have a sense of how that is being measured in any way?

We have lots of questions.

That is a very good suggestion. Lou Evans wants to come in at this point.