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The Scottish Government announced on 1 July 2013 that a group would be set up to carry out a review to report to ministers on how wildlife crime is treated within the criminal justice system, including examining whether the penalties available for wildlife crime properly reflect the seriousness of the damage caused to vulnerable wildlife and fragile habitats and ecosystems. Part of this review will also consider whether the maximum sentences available are an adequate deterrent.

The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 inserted provisions relating to vicarious liability for certain offences into the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The new provisions were the subject of careful consideration by the Scottish Government Legal Department and by Parliamentary Counsel, as well as by the Parliament.

The new provisions came into force in January 2012. Vicarious liability can be considered in relation to all relevant offences that are investigated or prosecuted. When any investigation for a relevant offence is ongoing, the possibility of an arrest or prosecution under the vicarious liability provisions will be considered.

However, to date vicarious liability has not so far been tested in the courts. Decisions on what charges to bring in any case are solely a matter for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The Scottish Government has no reason to believe that the vicarious liability provisions are not robust.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15765 on 15 July 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, birds of prey, including white-tailed eagles, are protected. The provisions of the Act make it an offence if a person recklessly or intentionally kills, injures or takes a bird of prey.

It is also an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to: take, damage, destroy or otherwise interfere with a bird of prey nest, including white-tailed eagle, whether in use or being built; obstruct or prevent a bird of prey, including white-tailed eagle, from using its nest; take or destroy the egg of a bird of prey, including white-tailed eagle; intentionally or recklessly disturb a bird of prey, including white-tailed eagle while it is in a nest or is building a nest, or is on, in or near a nest containing eggs or young; and intentionally or recklessly disturb the dependent young of a bird of prey, including white-tailed eagle.

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White-tailed eagles are also listed on Schedules A1 and 1A of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Variation of Schedules A1 and 1A (Scotland) Order 2013) came into force on 18th March 2013 and added golden eagle to Schedule A1 and 1A of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and hen harrier and red kite to Schedule 1A only. Schedule A1 of the 1981 Act lists bird species whose nests are protected at all times from disturbance, including outwith the breeding season and Schedule 1A of the 1981 Act lists those bird species which are protected from harassment.

The Scottish Government does not track the location of eagle nests directly, however Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee fund periodic surveys of all known golden eagle territories in Scotland. The surveys are undertaken by the Raptor Study Group and RSPB and the next survey is due in 2015. For the reintroduced white-tailed eagle, SNH contracts RSPB to monitor all the territories in Scotland on an annual basis.

The Scottish Government does not inform landowners or occupiers of nests on their land. Eagles are territorial birds which hold a territory all year, and in the case of golden eagle are usually long established. There are usually several nests within a territory which get used alternately, although some may only have one or certain favoured nests. Most landowners and occupiers are aware of the presence of eagles on their land, though may not know all nest sites. With golden eagles those people monitoring the territory will often inform the landowner of the nest, but this does not always happen and in some cases information is not shared due to suspicions about persecution or disturbance. With white-tailed eagles, the RSPB does inform landowners or occupiers without publicising the locations more widely.

On 1 July 2013 the Scottish Government announced new measures aimed at tackling wildlife crime. These are:

The Lord Advocate has instructed the specialist prosecutors in the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit to work with Police Scotland to ensure that law enforcement utilises all investigative tools at their disposal in the fight against wildlife crime.

A group will be established to carry out a review and report to ministers on how wildlife crime is treated within the criminal justice system, including examining whether the penalties available for wildlife crime properly reflect the seriousness of the damage caused to vulnerable wildlife and fragile habitats and ecosystems.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will be asked, in their capacity as the authority for licensing decisions under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, to examine how and in what circumstances they can restrict the use of General Licences to trap and shoot wild birds on land where they have good reason to believe that crimes against wild birds have taken place. These General Licences allow the holders to carry out actions that would otherwise be unlawful if undertaken without any reference to SNH. The Scottish Government regards the use of General Licences as a privilege that should not be extended in circumstances where there is evidence that their use may be facilitating illegal activities.

In addition to the above measures, the Scottish Government also intends, in the second half of this year, to bring forward a consultation on whether we should extend the powers of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as regards the investigation of wildlife crime.

The Scottish Government will also in the second half of the year be laying in Parliament an annual report on wildlife crime in 2012. This report will have a role to play in guiding the best use of resources in tackling wildlife crime.

The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 inserted provisions relating to vicarious liability for certain offences into the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The new provisions came into force in January 2012.

The Scottish Government has worked with stakeholders through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland to raise awareness of these provisions and has assisted with the production of guidance by PAW partners.

Decisions on whether to prosecute cases under the vicarious liability provisions are solely a matter for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Figures obtained from Police Scotland show there are currently 109 wildlife crime officers within Police Scotland. There is also a national wildlife crime co-ordinator, at sergeant level. There has been no change in the level of this resource since the advent of Police Scotland and there are currently no plans to review the present number.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. There is no specific wildlife crime budget within Police Scotland. All operational policing is managed locally and budgets are therefore held locally. As operational policing is devolved to local commanders, any budget would be held and managed within individual divisions.

The Scottish Government through Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) began discussion with representatives of Glenfeshie estate regarding the land swap in February 2010. There were no discussions prior to that although the estate asked FCS to consider an off-market sale of Tolvah forest for several years’, such approaches were declined as straight sale was not in the public interest.

The land swap that took place was complex over a number of sites and involved significant dialogue over close to three years. Matters discussed for the various sale and acquisition subjects included: valuation; preservation of a Forest Research experiment; Glenfeshie’s future management objectives for the woodlands they “acquired”; detailed assessment of the property purchased in the Borders for woodland creation by FCS; assessment of the Leasehold property in Glenmore and extensive conveyencing and other legal communication between the parties.

There have been no other formal meetings with Mr Povlsen or his representatives however the Minister for Environment and Climate Change was introduced to Mr Povlsen and a number of Cairngorm National Park Authority’s stakeholders at a Cairngorm National Park Authority event this month.