Chamber and committees

Jim Fairlie has a short supplementary question.

Rachael Hamilton has questions on section 7. Rachael, can you also cover your questions on sections 4, 8 and 9?

I genuinely accept and absolutely take on board the need to consider both wildlife management and the welfare of animals, but there must be a practical solution to the issue.

We will move on to Jenni Minto.

It will need to be—we are running out of time fast, I am afraid.

I have a final question about enforcement. The offence in the bill is one of hunting using a dog. Dogs are an absolutely essential ingredient throughout the bill. The mode of transport that is used to accompany the dogs should surely be irrelevant, yet the bill suggests that there could be disqualification orders for dogs and that horses could be seized. Why are those on horseback being singled out in the bill when, for example, the owners of quad bikes are not?

That concludes our business in public. We will now close on BlueJeans, and we will meet in private session.

I have some supplementary questions on that point. It has been suggested that the only reason for bringing in a two-dog limit is to absolutely stop traditional hunting with packs. That is the only reason; it is not actually down to animal welfare. First, are you confident that there is enough expertise in NatureScot to decide whether, for example, three, five, six or 11 dogs is the most animal-welfare-friendly number of dogs to use in relation to individual licence applications?

Secondly, where will the licences apply? In some places, you might find that it is appropriate to use three dogs; in other places, it might be appropriate to use 11 dogs. Will individual landowners have to apply for multiple licences to cover different types of land, to ensure that the best method of humanely controlling pests is undertaken?

We now move on to agenda item 2, which is consideration of a statutory instrument. I refer members to papers 3 and 4. Do any members have any questions or comments to make on the regulations?

As members do not, do members agree with the Scottish Government’s decision to consent to the provisions set out in the notification being included in UK, rather than Scottish, subordinate legislation?

Members indicated agreement.

Rachael Hamilton will wind up with questions on sections 4, 8 and 9.

Sorry, Jenni, but we have jumped a question theme and got ahead of ourselves. To try to keep things together, I ask Jim Fairlie to ask his questions about border controls and transitional staging.