Chamber and committees

The number of wildlife crimes committed in each quarter of 2014-15 is shown in the following table.

A total of 284 offences relating to wildlife crime, as defined in the Wildlife Crime in Scotland Annual Report, were recorded by the Police in Scotland in the financial year 2014-15.

It should be noted that these figures detail only the number of offences brought to the attention of the Police and do not represent prosecution data.

As indicated in response to S5W-03348 and S5W-05292, I wrote to the Right Honourable Liam Fox MP, the Secretary who State for International Trade on 18 November 2016. I have not yet received a response. On 12 January 2017, I received a letter from The Lord Price, Minister of State for Trade Policy, updating me on the current status of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. This letter has been placed in SPICe (Bib number 58483).

As I haven’t received the assurances I sought from Dr Fox I have written to Lord Price in similar terms seeking his assurances.

The Scottish Government is currently implementing the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, which will drive land reform across urban and rural Scotland.

We are working to improve the transparency of land ownership in Scotland and we intend to introduce a public register of persons with controlling interests in landowners and tenants. The consultation on this closed on 5 December and the responses are currently being analysed. Our proposals seek to ensure that land in Scotland is sustainably owned, used and developed in the interests of landowners, communities and wider society, by delivering increased transparency about the individuals taking decisions about Scotland’s land. These proposals, once implemented, will deliver a number of benefits to the people of Scotland, which potentially may include assisting in the identification of perpetrators of wildlife crime.

Marine Scotland is a Directorate of Scottish Government. The Scottish Government is not a formal consultation body for Ship to Ship Licence applications under the Merchant Shipping (Ship-to-Ship Transfers) Regulations 2010. We expect an invitation from the UK Government torespond on a revised application.

There have been no specific meetings between Ministers or officials and Cromarty Firth Port Authority at which their proposals for ship to ship oil transfers were discussed. However the matter was an agenda item at the Cromarty Firth Port Authority Annual and Board meetings on 24 and 25 November 2016 in Invergordon, attended by a Transport Scotland official as an observer. Officials occasionally attend various trust port board meetings as part of their role in developing guidance for the port sector.

The decision on any licence for ship to ship oil transfers is a reserved matter and the responsibility rests with the Secretary of State for Transport.

As stated in Parliament by the First Minister on 12 January 2017, on the basis of the current information, the Scottish Government is unconvinced that ship-to-ship oil transfers can, or should, take place at anchor in the Cromarty Firth without unacceptable risk to the marine environment.

The licensing of port authorities for the purposes of ship to ship transfers is a matter for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Once a licence is issued by the MCA, it would be for individual port authorities to ensure that such activity was not inconsistent with its byelaws before any such activity commences.

On the basis of the current information, the Scottish Government is unconvinced that ship-to-ship oil transfers can, or should, take place at anchor in the Cromarty Firth without unacceptable risk to the marine environment. The Scottish Government expects to be fully consulted by the MCA on any revised application put forward by the Port of the Cromarty Firth.

As part of the Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy (MESAS) programme undertaken by NHS Health Scotland, retail alcohol sales data are used to estimate per adult consumption of alcohol at a national level. NHS Health Scotland assessed the validity and reliability of retail alcohol sales data in 2012 (report is available at http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/25959-MESAS%20validity%20reliability%20update%20-%20Aug%202015.pdf) and estimated that online sales leads to a 0.1 litre underestimate in overall adult consumption of alcohol from retail sales data. This represents less than 1% of the estimated 10.8 litres of pure alcohol sold per adult in 2015. We will be introducing a refreshed Alcohol Framework shortly and will be considering on-going monitoring arrangements, including for online sales.

As regards availability of alcohol, the provision or overprovision of licensed premises within a local area is a matter for local licensing boards to consider. In assessing the extent of any overprovision in a locality, the licensing board will have regard to the number and capacity of existing premises rather than sales volume.

The Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit (a specialist unit within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service that, inter alia, deals with reports of wildlife crime) comprised four lawyers during the financial year 2014-15.

The use of such chemicals in coastal waters is regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency through the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011, in the form of conditions in licences issued to salmon farms. If SEPA finds evidence of incorrect use of such chemicals, the Regulations enable SEPA to take appropriate enforcement action for non-compliance with the licence conditions.