Chamber and committees

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.

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.

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 poor health effects to exposure to air pollution in relation to socio-economic class. Many different factors interact to produce an overall effect on the health of any sub-group in the overall population and to separate out the specific impact of poor air quality would be a complex piece of work for which we do not at present have a suitable methodology.

Exposure to air pollutants is a factor that may exacerbate the symptoms of anyone suffering from pre-existing lung disease such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or from heart disease. Extended exposure to poor air quality may worsen the course of these diseases in those who already have them, but is unlikely to have a significant impact on otherwise healthy individuals.

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 of the actual impact by socio-economic class.

Data are not currently collected in ways that would allow the direct attribution of any such damage to poor air quality on an annual basis. To separate out the specific impact of poor air quality would be a complex piece of work for which we do not at present have a suitable methodology.

Cost benefit analysis is routinely undertaken to assess the potential impact on air quality of introducing or removing specific policies. However this approach produces only very broad estimates of future scenarios and does not generate any information on past trends nor on overall air quality.

Data are not currently collected in ways that would allow the direct attribution of poor health in individual children to the effects of exposure to air pollution. Many different environmental and socio-economic factors interact to produce an overall effect on children’s health and to separate out the specific impact of poor air quality would be a complex piece of work for which we do not at present have a suitable methodology.

Data are not currently collected in ways that would allow the direct attribution of any individual poor health effects to exposure to air pollution. Many different environmental and socio-economic factors interact to produce an overall effect on an individual’s health and to separate out the specific impact of poor air quality would be a complex piece of work for which we do not at present have a suitable methodology.

Exposure to air pollutants is a factor that may exacerbate the symptoms of anyone suffering from pre-existing lung disease such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or from heart disease. Extended exposure to poor air quality may worsen the course of these diseases in those who already have them, but is unlikely to have a significant impact on otherwise healthy individuals.