MSPs dissect Scottish grouse Bill in first evidence session
BASC was present at the first of several oral evidence sessions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill last week in the Scottish Parliament.
BASC victory over outside-of-Scotland omission on wildlife management bill
A Scottish government committee has u-turned on its decision to exclude responses from those living outside Scotland after intervention from BASC.
The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee has published the responses to its call for views on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.
One of the committee’s reports was originally published with only responses from addresses in Scotland. However, BASC challenged this approach and the report was subsequently updated and all responses included regardless of location.
BASC Scotland’s Peter Clark said: “You don’t have to be living in Scotland to have a valid opinion of issues that affect key rural issues in the country.
“Thousands of people travel to Scotland every year to take part in shooting or to enjoy the landscape managed for shooting and their views and evidence are hugely important. We thank the committee for acknowledging this following representation by BASC.”
As part of its scrutiny of the Bill, the committee has published two documents. The first includes the full set of responses from the 109 organisations that responded, including BASC’s substantial response. The second report summarises the responses from the 5,596 individuals that submitted a response and now, crucially, includes responses from those outside Scotland.
As the updated report summarising individual responses is still split between Scotland and non-Scotland addresses, BASC has collated the two sets of data into the below table:
Mr Clark added: “The committee chairman described the level of response as “overwhelming” and it is clear from the summary that BASC’s publicity and actions to get individuals to respond was successful.
“BASC is entirely grateful to everyone who responded and provided their own evidence. As the committee moves on to the next stage of scrutiny, each and every response will be considered and aid its final decision.”
It has been confirmed that the committee will conclude its process by October this year.
To read more news from BASC Scotland, head to our dedicated pages here.
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