Chamber and committees

I have never advised anyone on bracken control.

Yes. The key reason is that Asulam is considered by the European Food Safety Authority to be an endocrine-disrupting chemical.

Do you mean with the chemical?

Yes, that is correct. The convener has understood it well. The ECP looks at the chemical. There was no new information about the chemical in question. The HSE looks at things much more in the round. I have the full report with me. I will not inflict that on you, but I note that the HSE’s assessment must include a series of tests, and the application must pass those tests. The application did not pass all the tests. For example, the test on the need for special circumstances was not met. Some tests were met, such as the danger test—we know that bracken is a hazard. The reasonable alternatives test was also met.

Another test is whether the emergency authorisation appears necessary to address the danger. That test was not met, because the danger from the 75,000 hectares of bracken, or however many there are, is not being met by treating only around 2,000 hectares of it.

The HSE looks at applications in the round. It agrees that bracken is a danger, but the application did not meet all the tests.

I can ask.

The deer management roundtable members include: Lantra Scotland, Mountaineering Scotland, the British Deer Society, the Confederation of Forest Industries, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Trees for Life, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, the Scottish Association for Country Sports, the Scottish Crofting Federation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Woodland Trust Scotland, Lowland deer groups, Transport Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Police Scotland, Food Standards Scotland, Country Sport Scotland, NatureScot, the National Trust for Scotland, various departments within the Scottish Government including the veterinary adviser, RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Venison Association, Scottish Land & Estates, the John Muir Trust, the Association of Deer Management Groups, the Scottish Countryside Alliance, Scottish Environment LINK, NFU Scotland, SSPCA, wild deer best practice guides, the Veterinary Deer Society, the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Community Land Scotland, Scottish Forestry, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, the James Hutton Institute, the Forest Policy Group and the Ramblers.

As we have said already, stalking at night can be done only under authorisation, and people doing that stalking have to pass the fit and competent test. We have not specified the types of scopes that can be used, because technology is always evolving, and there are many scopes on the market. The specific authorisation for night shooting is the mechanism for ensuring that people who are doing it are fully qualified to do so. Of course, as with all these matters, it is up to the operator—the person who is pulling the trigger—to correctly identify the target animal, identify potential risks and ensure a safe backstop. That remains true whatever equipment anyone is using at any time.

It is not a general authorisation because it is specific: it specifies a location, a time period, who will be doing the work and the outcomes. I do not have in front of me the detailed paperwork as to what that authorisation requires, but it is a detailed and specific authorisation for a particular night-shooting project—

That is a fair assessment for certain parts of Scotland. I know that some—in fact, many—land managers manage their deer very well, whether they are managing for regeneration or for specific interests.

Overall, though, the member is correct. With deer numbers doubling, the numbers are unsustainable and will not allow us to reach our biodiversity, nature restoration or carbon sequestration goals. Even commercial interests in forestry and crops are being damaged by deer, and we have already heard the numbers with regard to road traffic accidents and so on. An overabundance of deer is certainly causing issues.

That would certainly be the case in many places. Of course, many deer managers do manage for the health of the animals, and that requires culling the weak animals as appropriate to ensure that the herd is healthy.

The legislation that we are discussing just now will give land managers another option. It is an option that they already have, but they will now have it without the additional paperwork—that is the big change.