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PE1859, which has been lodged by Barry Blyther, on retaining falconers’ rights to practise upland falconry in Scotland. It calls on the Scottish Government to amend the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 to allow mountain hares to be hunted for the purposes of falconry.

In its submission, the Scottish Government explains that, during the passage of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, an amendment was made to schedule 5 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to include mountain hares as a protected species. The submission confirms that, when considering the amendment to include mountain hares as a protected species, it took into account the recommendations from the grouse moor management group report, which stated that

“the shooting of mountain hares should be subject to increased legal regulation”

and that

“should the conservation status of mountain hares prove to be ‘unfavourable’ then a licensing system for the shooting of mountain hares should be introduced.”

The submission highlights that, in certain circumstances, birds of prey can still be used to take mountain hares for purposes including to protect timber or agriculture.

In his submission, the petitioner explains that mountain hares need to be conserved at a high density to attract falconers, which in turn creates significant commercial value and supports isolated rural economies through visits by falconers.

The petition references UK animal welfare standards and guidance from the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that states that there is a

“legal obligation to allow ... trained captive-bred birds of prey ... freedoms”,

including

“the freedom to express the natural behaviours for the species”.

Therein, I feel, lies a bit of a conundrum with regard to consideration of the petition.

The petitioner has sent us a response to the Scottish Government’s submission. In it, he takes issue with what has been said about the ability of the species to exist by eating other species that are unsuitable.

Do members have any comments? I have to say that I found the issue to be quite complicated and technical as I tried to understand the relative merits of the legislation that is in place and the rights of birds of prey to express the natural traits of their species.

Mr Sweeney, did you want to add anything?

Do members have any other thoughts? I am minded to close the petition, but is there any merit in writing again to the Scottish Government to get some further guidance on when in the session it might bring something forward? The session is quite a wide canvas at this stage; it has only just begun, so it could be at any time in the next five years. It would be interesting to know when the Government is thinking of lodging any secondary legislation. However, we could close the petition in any event, seek that information and advise the petitioners of it. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

I was, at first pass, inclined to agree, but is there any way of quantifying how often the courts have overridden such principles? We are told that in the case of limitation it is already possible for a court to override the principal limitation time limits where it is persuaded that it is equitable to do so, but part of me worries that, despite that sentiment, this is actually a hurdle that is nearly impossible to overcome and, in fact, is overcome only very rarely. Instead of our taking this as some general provision that just sits there and allows us to say, “This is what people can do”, can we identify whether such an opportunity has been successfully pursued? I am mindful of constituents who have written to me and who I know felt as though they were banging their head against a wall when they tried to pursue matters. I just wonder how widely known the provision is.

Are members happy to find out a bit more about the process and whether our constituents have been able to exercise it, how many of them have done so and whether they have been successful in doing so? If we find that nobody knows that the process exists or that nobody is using it, it is not really serving its function.

There is nothing in the Scottish Government’s submission to suggest that it has any plans to amend founding legislation for public bodies on the basis that lifeline services to island communities require community representation on their boards. Shall we write to it to check whether that is the case?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1863, which was lodged by Mr Michael Campbell, calls on the Scottish Government to provide mandatory annual blood tests from the age of 55 to detect cancer.

The Scottish Government submission highlights that it recognises the importance of an early cancer diagnosis and its impact on cancer patient outcomes. It advises that it has already taken a number of actions to continue enabling an early cancer diagnosis. It notes that Scotland’s first early cancer diagnostic centres are being established in NHS Fife, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. It highlights that, although there is currently no single blood test that screens for different cancer types, there is some on-going research, which the UK National Screening Committee will review to make a recommendation for population screening.

We could write to one or two bodies to seek their views on the petition.

In my Eastwood constituency in East Renfrewshire, many taxi drivers have withdrawn from the industry, and I am sure that that pattern has been repeated in many other places. The same representations have been made to me about the fact that the tourism, business travel and hospitality sectors, which have been the bedrock of many taxi drivers’ packages of income, have been severely affected and are taking time to recover.

I am minded to keep the petition open, if the committee agrees. We should write to the Scottish Government in the light of the petitioner’s concerns regarding the current funding being inadequate and we should ask the Government to consider the suggestions that have been made in the petitioner’s additional submissions. As Bill Kidd suggested, it would be helpful if the Scottish Government could give us a little more detail on, and a timescale for, the stakeholder group that it proposes to establish, so that it does not become something that always seems to be on the horizon but never materialises.

If we take forward those points, would you be content with that, Mr Sweeney?

We will see what we get back.

The point is that we do not pursue individual cases—that is outwith our remit. The issue is the general provision. It would be useful to find out whether the safety net is assisting anybody or whether it is not known about and is not being used, in which case there is a deficiency.

Are members happy to do that?

Members indicated agreement.

PE1862, which was lodged by Rona MacKay, Angus Campbell and Naomi Bremner on behalf of Uist economic task force, calls on the Scottish Government to introduce community representation on boards of public organisations delivering lifeline services to island communities, in keeping with the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.

In its submission, the Scottish Government explains that the requirements for the appointments to a public body board will be set out in the public body’s founding legislation. In the case of more than 70 boards, the recruitment process is also regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. The Scottish Governments states:

“This means that, as far as possible, the recruitment process is fair, transparent and based on merit.”

In their response, the petitioners argue that a lack of local knowledge results in decisions being made that do not fully consider the practical impact on those living on the islands. They believe that introducing community representation on boards would lead to better decision making.

I note that some of our parliamentary colleagues have asked written and oral questions on this matter. Do members have any comments?