Chamber and committees

The requirement for corroboration is a basic principle of Scots law. An amendment setting aside the requirement for corroboration in relation to an offence or offences would normally be made to the legislation containing the relevant offence(s). Offences relating to the unlawful killing of wild birds are principally set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35007 on 23 July 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Local authorities who need to control gulls may do so under the terms of a Scottish Government general licence, provided that they meet the conditions which are set out on the licence. The licence can be downloaded from the link below. The Scottish Government does not keep a record of general licences issued. The general licence does require returns. The current licences expire on 31 December 2010.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/16330/general-licences.

The Scottish Government has received recommendations for species to be added to, or deleted from, Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 from the 5th Quinquennial Review carried out by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The Scottish Government will shortly be consulting on these recommendations.

The Scottish Government does not provide any funding directly to the Langholm Moor project. Projected Scottish Natural Heritage funding is £973,491 over ten years. The Langholm Moor Project is also funded by Buccleuch Estates, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the RSPB and Natural England.

The Scottish Government does not hold any data on the number of properties which might be classed as sporting estates. Apart from those estates where game sport is the sole or primary activity, sport shooting or angling also takes place on many other properties in Scotland including, for example, on land where the primary business is agriculture or forestry. Recent research conducted as part of the Scottish Government''s Rural Land Use Study has estimated that at least 20% of Scotland''s land area is managed mainly for sporting purposes.

The Scottish Government presently does not consider that there is a conservation case for full protection of brown hares. However, the option remains available in the future, to add the brown hare to the species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act by secondary legislation at any time, and following consultation with Scottish Natural Heritage. Mountain hares already receive a degree of protection through The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 which prohibits certain methods of killing or taking this species, including any means which is indiscriminate and capable of causing the local disappearance of, or serious disturbance to, a population of them.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) consulted a wide range of interest groups before making their recommendations. These can be found listed in documents on the JNCC website at http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-4292. Section 22 of the 1981 Act requires the Scottish Government to consult Scottish Natural Heritage, and any other body it deems necessary before bringing forward proposals for changes to the schedules of the 1981 Act. The Scottish Government will shortly be issuing a consultation document which will be available on the Scottish Government website.

Scottish Ministers may by secondary legislation, add or remove species on Schedules 5 and 8 at any time, following consultation with Scottish Natural Heritage and any other body it deems necessary.

Special protection is afforded by the Act to plants listed on Schedule 8 as set out in Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This includes intentionally or recklessly picking, uprooting, destroying, or offering for sale, any plant on Schedule 8.