Rural Affairs Committee, 07 Sep 1999

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 7, 1999

Official Report 282KB pdf

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Petition (Homing Pigeons)

Item 5 is on the petition on the problems associated with the killing of pigeons by peregrine falcons and sparrowhawks.

This is an issue on which I will invite members of the committee to comment, because I know—from my recent attendance at a number of Countryside Alliance meetings—that the issue of raptors inspires more heated debate than others on which one would expect heated debate.

Does anyone have any comments on the contents of the petition from the Scottish Homing Union?

This is an area in which there seems to be a distinct lack of scientific evidence, but about which there is much prejudice and people think they know what is going on. I understand that a group has been set up by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to gather evidence on the situation. That group is expected to report later this year. We should take no action in the meantime—certainly not until we have a firm base of evidence on which to proceed.

I agree—we should see the report before we discuss the issue. The report will help us to decide on the way forward.

Would it be appropriate to consider asking the Scottish Parliament information centre to correlate the information that is currently available with the forthcoming report.

Yes.

I agree with Alasdair and Cathy. The other thing that worries me a little is the owners' suggestion that they could legitimately protect their pigeons. What exactly are they driving at? If the owner has a shotgun, can he let it off when he sees a hawk? I am not quite sure what is being asked for.

We must consider in the longer term exactly what they have in mind. We will defer this matter until all the relevant information is available, but we will discuss what further investigations we think are needed by SPICe, and suggest to it that this might be an area that needs further examination.

We have been asked to refer our views to the Transport and the Environment Committee tomorrow—8 September. Do members have any views that would be appropriate for referral?

This is a controversial situation, and one on which it would be difficult for this committee to comment at this point. I question whether we are in a position to give a coherent view to that meeting.

Is there a lead committee on this matter?

The Public Petitions Committee did not appoint a lead committee. The Official Report of that debate suggests that the Transport and the Environment Committee might become the lead committee, but that is still to be resolved.

Is it the view of this committee that it would appropriate to report to the Transport and the Environment Committee?

Would not it be appropriate that we suggest to that committee that it, too, waits until it receives more evidence before coming to a decision, or should we merely report our desire to have more evidence presented to us?

That is a fair and appropriate comment for us to pass on.

In doing that, would we be suggesting to that committee that we would be able to come back to the subject?

Yes. It would certainly be appropriate that we comment once we have the relevant information.

I apologise for my late arrival. Are we going to get a chance to comment on that petition?

Yes. We have been asked to comment in advance of the Transport and the Environment Committee meeting tomorrow, but we have decided that it is not appropriate for us to comment at this point. We need to investigate this matter further and should make no further comment until we avail ourselves of the relevant information.