Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has been working with all key organisations in the sector including local authorities, voluntary adoption agencies and other adoption services providers to improve the adoption services in Scotland and extend the reach of voluntary adoption agencies and their capacity to meet demand including the establishment of the National Adoption Register.

We have provided funding to BAAF in Scotland, Birthlink and Adoption UK in Scotland, all of which have a charitable status, under the Unified Voluntary Sector Fund (UVSF) from 2008-09 to 2012-13. The amounts of funding and the assessment criteria for UVSF are listed in the following table.

* transitional funding for April 2013 only

Following a review of UVSF, a new funding mechanism was created under the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund (TSEIF) and Strategic Funding Partnership Funding (SFPF). The assessment criteria for these funds are listed in the following tables.

The following funding has been awarded to Adoption UK under TSEIF.

The following funding has been awarded to Birthlink and BAAF under SFPF.

In addition, the Scottish Government has provided the following grant funding to BAAF in Scotland to operate the National Adoption Register:

The Scottish Government have also provided grant funding of £10,000 in 2012-13 and £75,000 in 2013-14 to St Andrew’s Children Society to expand their adoption services in the North East of Scotland and recruit more prospective adopters in this part of Scotland.

The previously ring-fenced funding for adoption for local authorities that amounted to £2 million was rolled-up into the overall local government finance settlement with effect from 2008-09. From 1 April 2008 there is no longer a separate allocation of funding for adoption but the funding remains within the overall block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives.

The list of detailed eligibility criteria will be sent to the member directly and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament library.

The Scottish Government believes that full legal protection for brown hares is unlikely to reverse the declines that the species has experienced. Hares are shot both as game and because of the damage they can cause to crops. There is evidence that even though spring shoots may reduce the population by 50% or more, there is little, or no, apparent long term effect on population levels. The main issues affecting this species are changes in farming practices and in particular the loss of mixed habitats.

The release of non-native animals can have unpredictable and serious impacts on biodiversity and human health. For these reasons it is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) to release, or allow to escape, any animal outwith its native range. The eagle owl is outwith its native range in Scotland.

No accurate population data for the period requested is available. The last brown hare population estimate for Scotland was in 1995. This indicated a population of 187,250 (+/- 25%). Population trend data for Scotland is available from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s National Gamebag Census, and shows that there was a significant decline in the bag index between 1961 and 1985. The trend stabilised at this low level thereafter. It has been suggested that the decline may have resulted from the loss of arable pockets in a broadly pastoral landscape as agriculture intensified, especially in the uplands, as well as from increased predation pressure as fox numbers rose.

Representations were received from the Hare Preservation Trust in 2010 as part of the consultations on the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill. The Wildlife and Natural Environment Act (Scotland) Act 2011 subsequently introduced close seasons for brown hares and mountain hares, during which the animals could not be hunted. The aim of the close season was to protect hares during the period when they were most likely to have dependent young. The close season for the brown hare is from 1 February to 30 September.

It was estimated in 2008 that there were at least 3,000 eagle owls kept in the UK and that up to 65 birds escape or are lost on an annual basis. This estimate was based on the Independent Bird Register and CITES Article 10 certificates, as no register is kept of captive eagle owls.

Many escapes occur in urban and suburban locations and attempts are made by owners and others such as Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to catch these birds where possible.

Figures held by the Scottish Government show that from 2007 to 2012, there were 298 wildlife crime cases in the former Northern Constabulary area. The deployment of wildlife crime officers within Police Scotland is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The deployment of wildlife crime liaison officers within Police Scotland is a matter for the chief constable.

Any operational officers within Police Scotland can deal with wildlife crime. In addition, 109 officers specialise in wildlife crime. The Scottish Government is aware that each division in Police Scotland has a wildlife crime liaison officer (WCLO). There are currently five full-time WCLO and nine part-time WCLO posts across Scotland. In addition, a full-time wildlife crime coordinator is based in the specialist crime division.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The deployment of wildlife crime liaison officers within Police Scotland is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

Data are not currently collected in ways that would allow the direct attribution of any individual death to exposure to air pollution. To separate out the specific impact of poor air quality from the many other influencing factors would be a complex piece of work for which we do not at present have a suitable methodology.

It is extremely unlikely that anyone dies directly from exposure to poor air quality alone. However, long term exposure to poor air quality is likely to be a contributory factor that will reduce the life expectancy further of anyone with pre-existing poor health.

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution, an expert committee that provides advice to the UK Government and devolved administrations on all matters concerning the effects of air pollutants on health, has developed a methodology to allow assessment of the theoretical impact of air pollution on mortality at a local authority level. It is anticipated that data resulting from this methodology will be available later in 2013, although the exercise will not provide any information on the actual impacts of air pollutants on individuals.