7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish its response to the Werritty review recommendations on grouse moor management. (S5O-04655)

As set out in the Scottish Government’s programme for government, which was published on 1 September this year, a response to the report by the independent grouse moor management review group will be published this autumn.

I note the recommendation on licensing of grouse moors, which I hope will be adopted, given the concerns about the on-going risk to hen harriers, peregrines and other birds of prey. Will the Minister give more detail on the timescale for legislating for a licensing regime, should it be decided that that will be done? I hope that such a regime can be secured as early as possible.

I absolutely share Bob Doris’s concern about the matter, and I know that it is something that members across the chamber want to hear more about and are concerned about.

We are carefully considering the option of licensing, because that was one of the key recommendations in Professor Werritty’s report. If our conclusion is that licensing is to be introduced, we have indicated—the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform have already stated to Parliament—that we would likely implement it earlier than the five-year timeframe that the review group proposed.

Will the Scottish Government take into consideration the soon to be published stage 2 research into the socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of grouse moor management and the employment rights of gamekeepers before it responds to the Werritty review.

I am sure that Liz Smith will be aware that we had hoped to issue our response to the review earlier in the year, but because we have had to redirect resource due to the pandemic, that has not been possible. The response has been a long time coming; as I said in my response to Bob Doris, we want to publish our response as soon as we can.

We will, of course, take any relevant information into consideration, because the recommendations in the report would impact on other agencies, too. There are lots of things that we must take into careful consideration. However, I say again that we will be looking to publish our response in the coming months.

The large-scale killing of mountain hares on grouse moors was a key part of the grouse moor management group’s terms of reference, and the report recommended that action be taken on it. Ninety-four days ago, Parliament voted in support of my Amendment to the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill to make the mountain hare a protected species. Will the Minister provide an update on how that is being implemented and when it will come into force?

As Alison Johnstone said, that was the subject of an Amendment that we agreed in consideration of the bill. We will set out our timetable for commencement of the relevant sections of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 in due course.

We have to give careful consideration to how a future licensing regime would work in relation to mountain hares because, as I am sure members are aware, the amendment that was agreed to had the effect of removing the open season for mountain hares, thereby making it an offence to intentionally or to recklessly kill, injure or take them at any time of the year. That would, of course, be subject to certain permitted exceptions that might be undertaken under licence.

Those are the kinds of things that we have to consider. As I said, we will in due course come back and lay out our timetable for commencement of the relevant part of the 2020 act.