Freedom of Information Request - Orkney Raven Licences
Date: 29 May 2025
Our ref: SIR180048/A5156712
Information Request – Orkney Raven Licences
Your Request
1. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney how many Raven licence applications were not approved, please provide the details by year.
2. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney how many Raven licence applications were revoked after previously being granted. Please provide details by year.
3. During the period 2020 - 2024, in Orkney how many expired licences were renewed Please provide the details by year.
4. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney what was the period of time each Raven licence was granted for. Please proved the details by year.
5. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney were any Raven licence holders who failed to complete a Raven removal licence return, subsequently issued a Raven removal licence during 2020 - 2024, despite not completing a return. Please provide the details by the year
6. Will those who failed to complete a Raven removal licence return in Orkney during 2020 - 2024, be refused a licence in the future due to failing to comply with past licence conditions.
7. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney Please provided all technical assessments which were made for raven License applications. Please provide details by year.
8. During the period 2020 - 2024 in Orkney, please provide details of any conditions that were a part of Raven removal licences. Please provide details by year.
Our Response
We have responded to each of your questions as follows:
1. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney how many Raven licence applications were not approved, please provide details by year.
None – all raven licence applications for Orkney submitted within in this time period were approved.
2. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney how many Raven licence applications were revoked after previously being granted. Please provide details by year
None – no licences were revoked after previously being granted
3. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney how many expired licences were renewed. Please provide details by year
2020 – 2 licences renewed that had expired in 2019
2021 – 4 licences renewed that had expired in 2020
2022 - 3 licences renewed that had expired in 2021
2023 - 3 licences renewed – 2 that had expired in 2022 and 1 that had expired in 2021
2024 – 2 licences renewed that had expired in 2023
4. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney what was the period of time each Raven licence was granted for. Please provide details by year.
| Year | Commence Date | Expiry Date |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 02/03/2020 | 30/06/2020 |
| 2020 | 18/03/2020 | 31/08/2020 |
| 2020 | 27/03/2020 | 31/05/2020 |
| 2020 | 03/04/2020 | 31/05/2020 |
| 2020 | 21/04/2020 | 31/05/2020 |
| 2020 | 24/04/2020 | 31/05/2020 |
| 2020 | 12/06/2020 | 31/07/2020 |
| 2020 | 24/07/2020 | 31/08/2020 |
| 2021 | 18/03/2021 | 31/07/2021 |
| 2021 | 02/04/2021 | 15/06/2021 |
| 2021 | 01/04/2021 | 31/05/2021 |
| 2021 | 19/04/2021 | 15/06/2021 |
| 2021 | 05/05/2021 | 15/06/2021 |
| 2021 | 10/05/2021 | 31/08/2021 |
| 2021 | 20/05/2021 | 30/06/2021 |
| 2022 | 13/04/2022 | 31/05/2022 |
| 2022 | 05/04/2022 | 31/05/2022 |
| 2022 | 11/05/2022 | 30/06/2022 |
| 2022 | 18/05/2022 | 30/06/2022 |
| 2023 | 01/04/2023 | 15/06/2023 |
| 2023 | 05/04/2023 | 31/05/2023 |
| 2023 | 26/04/2023 | 30/06/2023 |
| 2023 | 26/07/2023 | 30/11/2023 |
| 2024 | 20/03/2024 | 17/06/2024 |
| 2024 | 10/04/2024 | 30/06/2024 |
| 2024 | 04/04/2024 | 30/06/2024 |
5. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney were any Raven Licence holders who failed to complete a Raven removal licence return, subsequently issued a Raven removal licence during 2020-2024, despite not completing a return. Please provide the details by the year
No – we do not renew a licence if the previous licence has an outstanding return
6. Will those who failed to complete a Raven removal licence return in Orkney during 2020-2024, be refused a licence in the future due to failing to comply with past licence conditions.
An application is not refused if a return has not been submitted on the previous licence. Instead, the application’s assessment is “frozen” until we receive the missing return.
7. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney, please provide all technical assessments which were made for Raven licence applications. Please provide details by year.
For 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 technical assessments were made by a Licensing Officer and by consulting Area Officers.
From 2022 onwards a Statement of Reasons for granting each licence was issued. We have provided copies of these documents separately to this response.
In 2024 technical assessments were made by a Licensing Officer and by consulting Area Officers. One application was referred to Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Department (SGRPID) for advice.
We have redacted out personal data from the information being provided. Releasing this personal data into the public domain in response to an information request, would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We are withholding this information under EIRs Regulation 11(2)(Personal Data).
8. During the period 2020-2024 in Orkney, please provide details of any conditions that were a part of the Raven removal licences. Please provide details by year.
In 2020 all licences contained the following conditions:
− This licence only authorises killing raven for the purpose of preventing serious damage to livestock, and when there is no other satisfactory course of action.
− Shooting must target the particular birds seen to be causing the damage. Shooting must be carried out, away from the nest. Before shooting to kill is undertaken, other scaring methods must have been employed.
− No more than the number of ravens specified in the project details above can be killed unless otherwise agreed by a member of the SNH Licensing team in advance. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to ensure that shooting is appropriately coordinated so that this number is not exceeded.
− This licence permits the use of semi-automatic weapons but does not permit the use of any other firearm prohibited by section 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (see note 5 below).
− Decoys of any kind are not permitted to be used to aid killing of birds under this licence.
− Some shot birds may be found to bear leg-rings or other unique marks. Details of any such markings and the date and place of shooting must be reported to the British Trust for Ornithology. Instructions for doing this may be found on BTO website.
− The licence holder may appoint agents to operate under the terms of this licence, providing that he or she is compliant with all relevant firearms legislation, and that adequate health and safety precautions are maintained for the duration of this licence.
− While engaged in work authorised by this licence, the licence holder and agents must each be able to produce a copy of this licence to any Police Officer, authorised person, or official of SNH on demand.
− No later than one month after the date on which this licence expires or otherwise comes to an end, the licence holder must provide SNH Licensing Team with a licence return providing the following information: the number of ravens killed; the scaring methods used; how successful the shooting was at addressing the problem; the level of damage still experienced (please quantify). Please also indicate whether you anticipate similar problems next year, and why this is likely to be the case. Please send this information by email if possible (including your licence number in the subject line of the email) to: [email protected]
In 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 all licences contained the following conditions:
− This licence only authorises killing raven for the purpose of preventing serious damage to livestock, and when there is no other satisfactory course of action.
− Shooting must target the particular birds seen to be causing the damage. Shooting must be carried out, away from the nest. Before shooting to kill is undertaken, other scaring methods must have been employed.
− No more than the number of ravens specified in the project details above can be killed. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to ensure that shooting is appropriately coordinated so that this number is not exceeded.
− This licence permits the use of semi-automatic weapons but does not permit the use of any other firearm prohibited by section 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (see note 5 below).
− Some shot birds may be found to bear leg-rings or other unique marks. Details of any such markings and the date and place of shooting must be reported to the British Trust for Ornithology. Instructions for doing this may be found on BTO website.
− The licence holder may appoint agents to operate under the terms of this licence, providing that he or she is compliant with all relevant firearms legislation, and that adequate health and safety precautions are maintained for the duration of this licence.
− While engaged in work authorised by this licence, the licence holder and agents must each be able to produce a copy of this licence to any Police Officer, authorised person, or official of NatureScot on demand.
− No later than one month after the date on which this licence expires or otherwise comes to an end, the licence holder must provide NatureScot Licensing Team with a licence return providing the following information: the number of ravens killed; the scaring methods used; how successful the shooting was at addressing the problem. Please also indicate whether you anticipate similar problems next year, and why this is likely to be the case. Please send this information by email if possible (including your licence number in the subject line of the email) to: [email protected]
− Decoys of any kind are not permitted to be used to aid killing of birds under this licence.
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
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).
