Chamber and committees

In Scotland, wildfowling on the foreshore is a public right. While the Parliament could potentially legislate on wildfowling, the Scottish Government does not have any current plans to bring forward legislation to prevent wildfowling on the foreshore.

There is no licensing scheme regulating the shooting of woodcock in Scotland. Resident and migratory woodcock can only be shot during the open season, which is between 1 September and 31 January, as set out in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Outwith these dates, woodcock cannot be taken or killed.

Over the last 5 years, there have been 781 large outdoor fires, 243 of which were deliberate (31%). Th Scottish Fire and Rescue Service does not routinely gather information on the number of wildfires that happen as a result of Muirburn. However, a 2019 sample of the available evidence for the most severe wildfire incidents concluded that out of control burning was a relatively rare cause of these incidents.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) does not have a wildfire investigation capability as it is an extremely rare discipline in UK Fire and Rescue Services. As such, no official investigations were carried out into the large fires in Flow Country or Ballindalloch in 2019.

The Scottish Government understands concerns over the decline of European woodcock populations. At present, all woodcock in Scotland are classed as a quarry species and as such are listed on Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which determines the species that can be killed or taken.

As set out in my response to PQ S6W-14320, NatureScot are currently carrying out a review of Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Once the review has been completed, they will provide a report to the Scottish Government for Ministers to consider whether any changes to the Schedule are required.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15423 on 7 March 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

As the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) does not have a wildfire investigation capability it has not officially investigated any wildfires in the last 5 years beyond the information gathered by its Incident Recording System.

We have no current plans to legislate on (a) collection and reporting of data related to, (b) management of and (c) release of non-native gamebirds. However, as outlined in response to S6W-14758 on 1 March 2023, we plan to gather further information on the impact of non-native gamebird releases.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Green Heat Finance Taskforce will publish the interim report in spring this year. This report is one of a number of documents relating to Heat in Buildings that will be published this year, such as the Consultation on Proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, introducing powers to create a regulatory framework which drives energy efficiency and zero direct emissions heating across Scotland’s building stock.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The release of non-native common pheasant and red-legged partridge for shooting purposes is permitted under Section 14 (2A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is no statutory requirement under this legislation (or any other) requiring those releasing non-native gamebirds to submit records of release sites.