Chamber and committees

Okay, but if, hypothetically, you had worked out that you might be fined and it was not part of court proceedings and it was not that particular issue, where would that money come from?

I will pick up on that. Currently, if there is a general authorisation, it means that NatureScot is collecting data. In this situation, without an authorisation, it will not be collecting data.

You mentioned that you took advice from the ECP, but that remains a little bit of a mystery to me. The HSE did not seek new advice

“from the ECP on the 2023 application as no new scientific questions were identified for independent advice.”

The ECP states that it is

“a scientific committee and ... could only provide substantive advice when adequate data are supplied to enable Members to reach conclusions”

and that it operates

“on a precautionary basis and would continue to do so on occasions where Members were unable to reach a conclusion due to lack of data.”

How did you make the conclusion when the ECP did not advise the HSE, the data was inconclusive, and no new data was provided?

Well, why did you recommend it last year?

I have a number of questions. First, before she advised land managers to use mechanical controls, had the minister visited a bracken-affected area to enable her to understand its topography?

The Bracken Control Group would contest that there is on-going research on the use of Asulox.

The response from the Government remains a bit sloppy. The response was that the Government had taken advice from the ECP; however, if the ECP advice has remained unchanged since 2022, that was technically incorrect, despite the minister now saying that other information was forthcoming.

What assessment has the Scottish Government carried out of the carcinogenic effect of the increase in the growth of bracken by watercourses?

Stakeholders have told me that they had very little time to engage in the process. The separate piece that you are talking about of publishing your proposals, which met legal requirements, was different. A considerable number of stakeholders were not asked to respond to the consultation within the 20 working days. A number of people have come to me and said that they were not asked to respond to your consultation. Why was that?

How many of those responded?

I have a brief question on road traffic accidents. To register my interest, I note that my daughter had a very bad accident like those that you have described, but she is fine. I do not understand how road traffic accidents can be prevented if male deer are being shot near pregnant hinds, causing them to bolt. How will you monitor the number of road traffic accidents if you are using the SSI to bring the numbers down? I do not understand how you can monitor the reduction in the number of accidents due to the SSI.

Was that—