Skip to main content
Loading…

Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Filter your results Hide all filters

Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 12 July 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 2160 contributions

|

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

We might have to look into some technical issues with that, but I hear your point.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

Again, no, I do not think that that would be appropriate at this stage. The code of practice will be worked out with stakeholders and the people it will be relevant to, and then we will bring it forward. We will not have the time to do it before we get to stage 3, but, as I have stated from the outset, it will absolutely be done in consultation with stakeholders, so that we get it right.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

If you put those things in primary legislation, they become primary legislation. We want them to be in the code of practice so that we have flexibility, because things might change, as we said earlier.

Putting the conditions into the bill will mean that they are put into primary legislation. I am dealing in the same way with another bill right now. If you set something out in legislation and then people want to change stuff later on because circumstances have changed, that is a whole different problem to deal with. Setting the conditions out in the code of practice gives us the flexibility to get it right.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

We will just have to work on making that relationship work better. Right now, all the evidence that I am seeing and all the engagement that I have had show that, by and large, there is a good working relationship between the deer management groups and NatureScot. There will, of course, be conflict—we cannot avoid having some disputes about certain areas—but, by and large, there is a general degree of trust that I hope that we will continue to build on.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

It will not be anywhere near the end of the process—the end of the process will be much further down the line. It is at the start of a process that NatureScot has previously instigated by trying to communicate beforehand.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

No, it will not come as a surprise. If somebody has received a five-day notice, NatureScot will already have made contact with them to say that it has a concern and that it would like to have a conversation. If it gets blanked or refused, it will come back and say, “Right, we need to have this conversation now.”

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

Yes. The important thing is that the order stays with the land, and that is as it should be.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

No, we would keep it as a control scheme at that stage, because people can say anything that they like. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, when they actually come in and start carrying out the measures that are required.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

If NatureScot were to de-escalate a control scheme and the new owner said that they would carry that out and then did not comply, NatureScot would be back to square 1. It would land back on the minister’s desk to be signed off, and so on. If the order stays with the land, the process is there. It is not about the individual; it is about the landscape-scale management of the deer in the area. If a control scheme stays in place, it is actually an incentive for the people who are selling their land to make sure that they have deer management in place. You generally do not sell an estate at the drop of a hat. If that is one of the preparations that a person has to do to make sure that there is no deer order on their estate, that would be a good thing from their point of view.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee [Draft]

Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 4 June 2025

Jim Fairlie

It would be far beyond my remit to give advice on how people should sell their land. I will leave that thought with you.