Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Overview

About the Bill

The Bill is in two main parts. Part 1 deals with wildlife management. It introduces four changes to the law:

• it makes it an offence to use or buy a glue trap that could be used to catch an animal other than an invertebrate
• it introduces a licensing scheme for the use of specific traps to catch wild birds and animals, which will require people to complete an approved training course
• it introduces a licensing scheme for killing certain birds (initially, only red grouse), which will require the landowner to have a licence to allow hunting on their land, and introduces a code of practice for managing that land
• it makes it possible to have Regulations that would give new powers to inspectors, for example from the SSPCA, to gather evidence around certain wildlife crime offences

Part 2 changes the regulation of muirburn. Muirburn is the burning of heather or other plants to manage the natural environment. It is often carried out to encourage new growth, maintain landscapes and habitats, and reduce the risk of wildfires.

If the Bill passes, people will need a licence to undertake muirburn at any point in the year. There would be different requirements depending on the time of year and whether the muirburn is taking place on peatland or not.

Current Status of the Bill 

 This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport on 21 March 2023.

Read and find out more about the Bill: Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill

Stage 1 

The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee has been designated as the lead Committee for the Bill. A separate call for views on the Bill’s policy provisions will be issued by the lead Committee in due course and published on this consultation platform.

Financial Memorandum 

As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM). 

Read the FM published alongside this Bill.

Making a Submission

Before making a submission, please read our Privacy Notice about submitting your views to a Committee. This tells you about how we process personal data. 

Please note that in most cases your submission will be published on the Scottish Parliament's website and may be quoted in the Committee's report or in Committee meetings (which are public and broadcast). 

Please use the Questionnaire provided for your submission:

1. Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made?  

2. If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM?  

3. Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?

4. If the Bill has any financial implications for you or your organisation, do you believe that they have been accurately reflected in the FM? If not, please provide details. 

5. Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate?  

6. If applicable, are you content that your organisation can meet any financial costs that it might incur as a result of the Bill? If not, how do you think these costs should be met?  

7. Does the FM accurately reflect the margins of uncertainty associated with the Bill’s estimated costs and with the timescales over which they would be expected to arise? 

The deadline to submit your views is: Wednesday 31 May 2023.

We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. Due to the time required to process and analyse evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the agreement of the Committee Clerk.