Found: congratulate the Government on all the excellent work they are doing in preparation for COP 29 and in the Environment

Found: Environment Bill summer policy statement: July 2019. GOV.UK . 948. WRAP (2023).

Found: Order of the British Empire Officer of the Order of the British Empire Amira AMZOUR Deputy Director, Environment

Found: services to Energy Consumers and Energy Security (London, Greater London) Amira AMZOUR Deputy Director, Environment

Found: Plans for departmental land, estates, development, and operations (aligning with the new duty in the Environment

Found: Biodiversity Net Gain and the Environment Bill – what does it mean for LPAs?

Found: This is the recognised metric for measuring biodiversity, as proposed in the Environment Bill.

Found: The Environment Bill Defra has introduced an Environment Bill that contains several measures with

Found: S tatement that biodiversity net gain for development will be mandated through the forthcoming Environment

Found: requirement for the planning system to deliver biodiversity net gain (BNG) through proposals in the Environment

Found: that metric 3 (together with the updated SSM) be put to formal consultation, as required under the Environment

Found: land and sea for nature by 2030 was to be undertaken in preparation for the introduction of a Natural Environment

Found: Bill or will require a standalone Bill later in Year 4 or Year 5, officials are currently considering

Found: . • Natural Environment Bill. • NHS Act Section 1 (1978). • Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010

Found: We have previously expressed our support for the upcoming Natural Environment Bill and the proposed

Found: Just Transition Fund, Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy and the Natural Environment Bill: EIR release

Found: Just Transition Fund, Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy and the Natural Environment Bill: EIR release

Found: The forthcoming Natural Environment Bill will strengthen our legal commitments to restoring nature in

Found: This year we will: lBring forward a Natural Environment Bill to establish the framework for statutory

Found: degraded peatland and create at least 10,000 hectares of woodlands.We will also bring forward a Natural Environment

Found: consideration. 11 Read -out Discussion with Ms Slater – 30 by 30, Protected Areas and the Natural Environment

Found: development in existing and emerging policy and legislation, including the Human Rights Bill and Natural Environment

Found: Economy Bill 2024-01-17 00:00:00Meeting / Video ConferenceMark Ruskell MSP, Ariane Burgess MSPNatural Environment

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the status of its proposed Natural Environment Bill and the anticipated timescale for its progress through the Parliament.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy

The most recent Programme for Government (2024-25) sets out the Scottish Government’s intention to introduce the Natural Environment Bill in this current parliamentary year.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish details of the specific case studies demonstrating that it had been unable to exercise powers under sections 7 and 8 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, which have led to the policy intention to establish deer management nature restoration orders under the proposed Natural Environment Bill.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

The Scottish Government does not intend to publish details of any case studies in relation to regulatory powers under sections 7 and 8 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996.

However any legislation brought forward under the Natural Environment Bill will be justified and accompanied by published policy notes and impact assessments.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the position is of NatureScot regarding the policy intention to establish deer management nature restoration orders under the proposed Natural Environment Bill, and whether it will publish all of the correspondence and advice, including the minutes of any meetings, that it has received from NatureScot regarding these orders.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

As set out in the 2024-25 Programme for Government, the Natural Environment Bill will include provisions to modernise the way in which deer are managed in Scotland.

In January the Scottish Government consulted on a range of potential reforms to deer management, including the introduction of new powers designed to secure effective deer management that supports Scottish Government nature and climate objectives (Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders). The 'Managing Deer for Climate and Nature: consultation' closed on 29 March 2024. We received around 1600 responses and the full analysis report of the responses was published on 9 September 2024.

The Scottish Government is currently giving careful consideration to all of the consultation responses, which will inform the development of the provisions to be included in the future Natural Environment Bill.

We have no plans to publish all correspondence and advice on the development of planned legislation. The minutes of the Strategic Deer Board relevant to the legislation are published on the Scottish Government website.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of them currently delivering a reported 80% of the annual deer cull, how it will ensure that the policy intention to establish deer management nature restoration orders under the proposed Natural Environment Bill will not adversely affect private deer managers, and what impact assessment it will carry out.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

We recognise the key role that private deer managers play in managing deer across Scotland. We expect to continue to work in collaboration with private deer managers in our objectives to modernise deer management across Scotland and want to work collaboratively with them.

As stated in the answer to S6W-30037 on 1 October 2024, we have consulted on a range of potential reforms to deer management. Alongside our public consultation we will also continue to speak with stakeholders to help inform any new legislation.

In addition to this we will be undertaking a number of impact assessments in relation to any provisions included in the Natural Environment Bill, including a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).

BRIAs are used to assess the costs, benefits and risks of any proposed or policy changes that may have an impact on the public, private, third sector or regulators. These impact assessments will be an integral and necessary part of evidenced-based policy development in relation to deer management.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what policy measures and incentives it is considering in order to reach its commitment to increase the national deer cull by 25% or 50,000 deer each year.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

The Scottish Government remains committed to modernising deer management to tackle high deer numbers, specifically in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. We continue to pursue a range of actions to deliver this commitment.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme has been set out as part of the 2024-25 Programme for Government. The Natural Environment Bill will be introduced this Parliamentary year, which will bring forward significant reforms to the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996.

In the meantime we are working on those Deer Working Group recommendations that do not require primary legislation through the Strategic Deer Board.

In addition to this there are three pilot incentive schemes led by NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park Authority which will launch this autumn to financially support deer managers to control numbers of deer in specific parts of Scotland in response to the climate and nature emergencies.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is committed to at least maintaining current funding levels for the Nature Restoration Fund during the remainder of the current parliamentary session, in light of the reported continuing loss of nature and the Fund's positive reputation amongst stakeholders.

Answered by Allan, Alasdair - Acting Minister for Climate Action

Protecting and restoring our natural environment is key to addressing the twin crises of nature loss and climate change. Our commitment to the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), and to introduce a Natural Environment Bill which will set a framework for statutory targets to restore and protect nature, are reiterated in our most recent Programme for Government.

While capital funding of £5 million from this year’s NRF allocation to Local Authorities has been redirected to fund the public sector pay offer, it will be restored in 2025-26. The competitive strand of the NRF, administered by NatureScot, remains unaffected by this temporary reallocation of local authority funding.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a Natural Environment Bill with statutory targets for nature recovery.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to protecting and effectively managing 30% of Scotland’s land and seas for nature by 2030, halting the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and restoring and regenerating it by 2045, and we continue to pursue a wide range of actions to deliver this commitment.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course.