Freedom of Information Request – Hunting Act 2023 Review
Date: 28 August 2024
Our ref: SIR176558/A4715893
Information Request – Hunting Act 2023 Review
Thank you for your information request, which we received on 5 August. We have considered your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’).
Your Request
I believe that Nature Scot have recently undertaken a review of the Hunting Act 2023 and the legislation on flushing foxes to guns. Please supply any internal and external correspondence, minutes of meetings and any other relevant information.
Our Response
We have discussed your request with our Licensing and Wildlife Management Teams. They have searched the information that they hold and at the time of receiving your request, there were two documents that meet the terms of that request, copies of these documents are attached separately to this response.
We have redacted out a small amount of personal information from the documents provided, as releasing personal information in response to an information request would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We have the right to withhold this information under EIRS Regulation 11(2) (Personal Data).
There have been two internal meetings to discuss the review and the proposed stakeholder engagement questions, and another two meetings with Licensing Officers, who have dealt with most applications for hunting with dogs. All these meetings were informal, and nothing was recorded.
You should also be aware that NatureScot is carrying out a review of our licensing approach regarding the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 ("the Act"). We are not reviewing the Act itself or the legislation behind the Act, that would be for Scottish Government to do and not NatureScot.
Our review will assess our published guidance on the NatureScot website, the application forms for hunting a wild mammal with more than two dogs for preventing serious damage and environmental benefit purposes, and, our internal processes, to ensure that they are fit for purpose for both applicants and licensing officers.
We will be circulating questions for stakeholder feedback to inform our review in late August 2024, and the review is expected to conclude at the end of October 2024.
We will continue to review our approach to licencing for hunting with dogs on an annual basis until 2028.
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner's guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot [email protected]
Document downloads
Due to accessibility issues the attached information, referenced above, is available on request by contacting the FOI team at [email protected]. Please reference the case number (starting with SIR).
