Chamber and committees

All night shooting of deer requires a specific authorisation by NatureScot. That means that anyone seeking to shoot deer at night must apply to NatureScot and provide the details of the planned management, including where and when the deer will be culled.

There are requirements for a deer stalker to be fit and competent as part of that process and NatureScot will be updating the Night Shooting Code of Practice and Best Practice guidance will be developed ahead of these proposals being introduced.

We held a written consultation from May – June 2023 on proposed changes to night sights, ammunition weights and close seasons for male deer. The full Deer Management Round Table was invited to respond to this consultation. Responses will be published on the Scottish Government webpage imminently.

Since 2015 a total of 22,817 initial applications to Warmer Homes Scotland (WHS) did not progress to work being carried out under the scheme. The scheme is targeted at alleviating fuel poverty for the most vulnerable households and so the most common reason for an unsuccessful application to Warmer Homes Scotland is that the household does not meet the eligibility criteria for age or lower income.

Applications to the first phase of Warmer Homes Scotland closed on 31 March 2023 and at this time all households were required to meet all 6 of the high-level qualifying criteria:

• Be a homeowner or tenant of a private sector landlord
• Live in the home as a main residence
• Lived at the property for more than twelve months (unless in receipt of DS1500 or BASRiS certificate)
• Live in a property with a SAP of 72 or lower which is under 230m 2 in floor size
• Live in a home that meets the tolerable living standard set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006
• Not received support for energy efficiency measures though WHS funding in the last 5 years

As well as meeting the six high level criteria, customers must be 16 or over and be in receipt of certain benefits. The exception to this is if you are 75 or over with no working heating system, then there is no benefits receipt requirement.

The table below outline the most common areas of eligibility that are not met by households. This information is from the launch of WHS in September 2015 to the close of applications on 31 March 2023.

NatureScot undertook a trial into minimum bullet weights to shoot deer to ensure that animal welfare would not be compromised. We considered this, alongside advice from NatureScot on deer welfare when making these proposals.

A copy of that report is available here: https://www.nature.scot/doc/naturescot-research-report-1312-review-minimum-bullet-weight-lawful-culling-all-deer-species

As outlined in response to S6W-20504 on 1 September 2023, culling deer at night can only be done under authorisation from NatureScot. In order to be authorised to shoot deer at night applicants must be able to evidence fit and competent status and comply with Best Practice.

To register as fit and competent applicants must provide evidence that they have completed either Deer Stalking Certificate Level 2 (DSC2) or Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 (DSC1). They must also provide two referees (one of whom must be DSC1 certified) who can provide evidence that the applicant meets required standards.

In 2019-20, 17.33% of total deer culled in Scotland were shot under a night authorisation.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

No. The Scottish Government understands that, for the purposes of the law of divorce, adultery is defined in the common law (case law) as voluntary heterosexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse.

The issues relating to the legal definition of adultery were considered by the Scottish Government when the legislation introducing same sex marriage was prepared: Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill Policy Memorandum (paragraphs 127 to 143) .

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 inserted section 1(3A) of the Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976 so that adultery has the same meaning for same sex marriages as for mixed sex marriages.

Our position remains unchanged: we have no plans to bring forward legislation to extend the definition of adultery.

A spouse seeking a divorce because of sexual infidelity which is not covered by the current legal definition of adultery can cite unreasonable behaviour or non-cohabitation to demonstrate the irretrievable breakdown of their marriage.

The Scottish Government is committed to the creation of a Scottish Veterinary Service (SVS) to ensure there are highly trained staff to provide Scotland with good animal health and food safety to meet all our needs across the public and private sector for animal health issues.

The Extension to the Review of Field Delivery of Animal Health Services in Scotland report, conducted by Professor Charles Milne, followed up on the earlier Field Delivery of Animal Health Services in Scotland, and was based on interviews with individual sand organisations involved in animal health services in Scotland and beyond.

A Programme has been established to manage the work required to create an SVS. The Programme continues to collect evidence on staff turnover and retention, career progression etc from organisations with different delivery models and in particular from Northern Ireland, where the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs provides an integrated veterinary service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20615 on 14 August 2023 which provided an update on the Scottish Government’s REM policy, including links to the publication of the outcome report from the consultation which ran from 15 March to 22 June 2022. That report can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805256588

The REM consultation outcome report confirmed that legislation relating to the mandatory introduction of REM to all scallop dredge and large pelagic vessels fishing in Scottish waters, and to all Scottish scallop dredge and pelagic vessels fishing outwith Scottish waters, will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in 2023.

The report also confirmed that further work will be undertaken to scope options for the wider use of REM in other fleet segments (specifically vessels in the demersal fleet with an overall length of 12 metres or more) but that this will be considered in conjunction with the development of the Scottish Government’s Future Catching Policy.

The Scottish Government has also published a consultation on extending vessel tracking and monitoring technology on under 12 meter commercial fishing vessels. The consultation documents can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/improving-inshore-fisheries-data/ The consultation closes on 7 November 2023.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20615 on‎ 14 August 2023 which confirmed that the Scottish Government had launched a consultation seeking views on proposals to extend the tracking and monitoring requirement to under 12 metre commercial fishing vessels.

I urge all stakeholders to engage with this consultation, which closes on 7 November 2023. The consultation documents can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/improving-inshore-fisheries-data/

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Citizens’ Assembly for Scotland published its final report in January 2021. The Scottish Government published a detailed response on 23 November 2021. Since then, Scottish Government’s commitments on participatory and deliberative democracy have been developed through the Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (IPDD) working group, which published its recommendations on 25 March 2022. Scottish Government published a response to on 27 March 2023 and work is ongoing to deliver the commitments set out.

This work is included in the Citizens’ Participation and Public Petitions (CPPP) Committee’s scrutiny remit. Since Spring 2022, the CPPP Committee has been undertaking a Public Participation Inquiry – it will publish its final report in September 2023, and plans to follow this with a debate in Parliament.