At its meeting on 15 March 2022, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the delegated powers contained in the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill (“the Bill”) at Stage 1.ⁱThe Bill as introduced is available here

The Committee submits this report to the lead Committee for the Bill under Rule 9.6.2 of Standing Orders.

This Scottish Government Bill was introduced by Michael Matheson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, on 24 February 2022. The Lead Committee is the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee.

The Policy Memorandum states that the purpose of the Bill is to address widespread concerns that foxes and other wild mammals are being hunted (and killed) by dogs in contravention of the intention of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 (“2002 Act”). The Bill therefore places restrictions on the use of dogs, to seek to minimise the risk of wild mammals being caught and killed by dogs in the course of hunting.

The Bill repeals and replaces the 2002 Act. The 2002 Act introduced the initial ban on hunting with dogs in Scotland. The Bill broadly maintains the core provisions of the 2002 Act, but further limits the circumstances in which hunting with dogs is permitted. The Bill also provides new enforcement powers. The Policy Memorandum states that the Act addresses inconsistencies and ambiguities in the language of the 2002 Act, to make the law easier to understand and to enforce.

The Bill confers two powers to make subordinate legislation on the Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Government has prepared a Delegated Powers Memorandum which sets out the reasons for taking the delegated powers in the Bill and the parliamentary scrutiny procedure that has been chosen.ⁱThe Delegated Powers Memorandum is available here

The Committee determined that it did not need to draw the attention of the Parliament to the delegated powers in either of the following provisions:

• Section 21 – Ancillary provision; and

• Section 26 – Commencement.