Freedom of Information Requests - Gull Infestation and Public Health Risks at NatureScot-Owned Building in Inverness
Date: 23 July 2025
Our ref: SIR180771/A5278410
Information Request – Gull Infestation and Public Health Risks at NatureScot-Owned Building in Inverness
Your Request
1. Please provide the number of complaints NatureScot received with regards to gulls with a breakdown for each month between January 2020 to date, as per below:
1.1. Complaints relating to Great Glen House (including Leachkin and Kinmylies) alone
1.2. Complaints relating to Highland area
1.3. Complaints relating to Scotland.
2. For each of the instances 1.1. - 1.3. please specify how many of the complaints were raised because of the:
2.1. Noise
2.2. Droppings
2.3. Damage to the property (including buildings, grounds, gardens, vehicles, furniture, possessions, etc.)
2.4. Gull aggression resulting in physical injury to:
2.4.1. Adults
2.4.2. Children
2.4.3. Other animals (including pets)
2.5. Effects of gulls on well being and mental health
2.6. Licencing
2.7. Management of gulls by NatureScot in general.
To clarify - if the complaint was raised due to multiple issues, please assign it to all the categories it related to.
3. For all gull-related complaints within the period specified above, please provide information on how many of the complaints were:
3.1. Upheld by NatureScot and the action taken
3.2. Rejected by NatureScot and with no further action taken
3.3. Rejected by NatureScot in the first instance and:
3.3.1. Upheld by NatureScot at the second stage and the action taken
3.3.2. Rejected by NatureScot at the second stage with no further action taken.
4. We noticed that the guidance on gull management was updated on your website on 25th June 2025. We would like you to provide the following information with relation to:
4.1. What prompted the update
4.2. What was the date of the previous update to the guidance
4.3. Has anything in the guidance changed between those two dates.
5. Could you please provide information on instances of a very loud alarm coming from Great Glen House, specifically:
5.1. What kind of alarm it is - fire, intruder or other
5.2. How many times has the alarm been activated outside of regular maintenance checks and scheduled tests/drills between the 1st January 2025 to date (29th June 2025) and what time and what day of the week it was
5.3. What was the reason for setting off the alarm
5.4. Should you not be able to disclose parts of the information in 5.3. please advise how many times was the alarm set off by gulls
6. Could you please supply the recordings from all outside CCTV cameras installed on or around Great Glen House, including the car park between Saturday 21st June 2025 from 00:00 and Friday 27th June to 23:59.
Our Response
Following a search of the information we hold our response is below.
Questions 1 – 3
The information is attached separately. Please note, the information provided relates to activity that has gone through our public complaints process.
There are several complaints where we did not receive any further correspondence after issuing a Stage 1 complaint response (e.g. where we provided information aimed at addressing the issue raised or to explain our actions). There are also complaints where the issue was resolved without further action being taken or where the information provided led to new licence applications being submitted and approved. We only formally uphold or don’t uphold complaints when they reach Stage 2 of our complaint handling process.
Question 4
4.1. What prompted the update?
A grammatical error was corrected, changing the word ‘below’ from the previous ‘above’ in the following sentence ‘If you have a problem you should try as many deterrents as possible in the hierarchical order described below.’ in the “Key Principles” section.
4.2. What was the date of the previous update to the guidance?
The last major update to the guidance was made on the 06 February 2024, when the guidance was clarified. We communicated with stakeholders and shared a press release ahead of the update going live. However, there may have been subsequent minor edits where grammatical errors were found.
4.3. Has anything in the guidance changed between those two dates?
We have removed the mention of umbrellas from the guidance document. We do not have a record of the exact date that change was made live on the webpage.
Question 5
5. Could you please provide information on instances of a very loud alarm coming from Great Glen House, specifically:
5.1. What kind of alarm it is - fire, intruder or other?
The Fire alarm is the loudest of our alarms, and the intruder alarm emits a low-level noise.
5.2. How many times has the alarm been activated outside of regular maintenance checks and scheduled tests/drills between the 1st January 2025 to date (29th June 2025) and what time and what day of the week it was?
The alarm has been activated four time over this period.
5.3. What was the reason for setting off the alarm?
• 06/05/2025 - this was a drill
• 03/06/2025 – this was an unplanned evacuation, following a high-level beam being activated during routine maintenance
• 30/04/2025 - this was a drill
• 13/01/2025 – this was the result of a power cut and associated security call.
5.4. Should you not be able to disclose parts of the information in 5.3. please advise how many times was the alarm set off by gulls?
No alarms have been set off by gulls over this period.
Question 6
6. Could you please supply the recordings from all outside CCTV cameras installed on or around Great Glen House, including the car park between Saturday 21st June 2025 from 00:00 and Friday 27th June to 23:59?
CCTV camera data contains personal data. We are withholding this information because releasing personal data into the public domain in response to an access to information request would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We are therefore withholding the information under 11(2) (Personal Data) of the EIRs.
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).
