General Licensing Review - Terms of Reference 2026

Background

Since 2011, NatureScot has been the licensing authority for all terrestrial species licensing. Some of these licences are issued annually as General Licences, which permit certain actions against specific species of wild birds and mammals for a variety of purposes specified by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981, as amended). Since 2011, five reviews and public consultations have been carried out for these licences: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2019. It is now 6 years since the last review was completed. 

Introduction

General Licences enable people to carry out activities that would otherwise be illegal against species protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981, as amended) without the need to apply for an individual licence. Operators are required to adhere to the terms and conditions of the General Licence being used. This light-touch licensing approach is designed to provide, where appropriate, a more proportionate approach to wildlife management whilst not compromising the conservation status of a species. 

In Scotland, we have 16 General Licences currently being issued annually on the 1^st of January each year for a variety of legal purposes, including preventing serious damage, preserving public health, or safety, and conservation of wild birds, among others. Of these 16 General Licences, 14 relate to wild birds and 2 to mammals. 

Since the last review in 2019, our General Licences have only received annual light touch updates. Therefore, we now require a complete in-depth review of all 16 General Licences. 

We recognise the stakeholder interest in our General Licences and will therefore include stakeholder engagement and consultation with interested parties as part of the review process. 

The consultation is now live: Share your views on the proposed General Licences

Review process and expected outcomes 

The review will evaluate all 16 of our General Licences, the policies we use to issue the General Licences and the species included within the General Licences. The review will be made up of two work packages, each being completed over the coming years. During this process new General Licences will be developed and issued at the start of each calendar year. 

An internal consultation will be carried out to develop and propose a full suite of General Licences. Followed by an external public consultation, where participants will be asked to consult on the proposed General Licences. 

This review may need to consider approaches for other non-standard licences and our individual licence types. Cumulative impact of all licences will need to be considered when proposing new General Licences, to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the conservation status of the species affected. Additionally, the review will need to consider if approaches for individual licence types negates the need for a General Licence to exist. 

Recommendations may result in the creation of new General Licences or the removal of existing ones; and / or make changes to existing General Licences, including the species listed on them, which may require further evidence to be gathered before implementation of the recommended changes.

The Species Licensing Review, instructed by Scottish Ministers and completed in 2025, recommended a formal reassessment of each licensing test for each species included within general licences for lethal control. Therefore, this review will consider any new or updated research for the inclusion or exclusion of species on the General Licences, with particular focus on General Licence 01,02 and 03. Our species advisors will assess any new or update literature and provide clear justification for the inclusion or exclusion of a species from the General Licences.

Currently the conservation status of each bird species is based upon the UK Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) report which evaluates bird species at a UK level. The absence of a Scottish BoCC may mean that evidence for localised status for each species included with our General Licences may be limited. However, there may be other new relevant species specific research available to assist with aspect of the review. 

Species assessments and Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRAs) will need to be produced considering any new or update research and evidence acquired throughout the review process. Updated statements of reasons will need to be produced for each General Licence providing clear justification for the issuing of each General Licence.

The review will generate:

• An updated list of General Licences and their accompanying Statement of Reasons
• New Corporate statements for each species included in the review
• HRA’s for the relevant SPA’s 
• Review of General Licence report 
• Responses to consultation report

Exclusions

The review will not include any existing/future individual licences or look to amend existing, or propose new, legislation. 

Stakeholder engagement 

The consultation will be shared directly with interested stakeholders and made available to the wider public. 

External stakeholders will be notified of the planned review via direct communication and media platforms. Alongside this we would expect stakeholder groups to notify their memberships of the review. 

We will meet with stakeholders during review to ensure that we gather all necessary information that may prove important to the review, while ensuring that stakeholders feel heard and involved in the full process. 

Indicative timeline

• March - June 2026

  Launch internal review and propose General Licences to be published in 2027

• May - October 2026

  Bilateral discussions with key stakeholders to discuss concerns, evidence for species listings and consider further research needs etc

• 16 June - 31 August 2026

  Launch 10 week public consultation on proposed General Licences for 2027

• August - November 2026

  Review and consider consultation responses for proposed General Licences

  Stakeholder engagement to discuss views received to date & reach consensus on key issues regarding formulation of revised General Licences for 2027

• November - December 2026

  Finalise proposed General Licences after considering responses to consultation

  Publish new General Licences for 2027

  Publish consultation report

• January 2027

  Publication of responses to our General Licences

• 2027 Onwards

  Review the principles, suitability and future of General Licensing, building off responses to 2026 consultation:

  • Work with stakeholders to develop the new approach to General Licensing

  Identify where current constraints in legislation and where legislative mechanism may require changes 

  Launch a consultation to help develop the new approach to General Licensing:

  • Consider new General Licences, guided by consultation and development of a new approach
  • Develop new General Licences and launch consultation to consider these

  Finalise and issue new General Licences