Deer Management Strategic Board minutes: September 2024

Robyn Chapman - SG Nature Division (Secretariat)

Hugh Dignon - SG Nature Division

Simon Jones - Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority

Donald Fraser - NatureScot

Alan Hampson - Scottish Forestry

Jamie Hammond - NatureScot

Donald Henderson - Deputy Director SG Nature Division (Chair)

Robbie Kernahan - NatureScot

Grant Moir - Cairngorms National Park Authority 

Doug Knox - Forestry Land Scotland

Brodie Wilson - SG Nature Division

Paul Roberts - NatureScot

Apologies 

John Kerr - SG Agriculture Policy Division

Attendees and apologies

Robyn Chapman - SG Nature Division (Secretariat)

Hugh Dignon - SG Nature Division

Simon Jones - Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority

Donald Fraser - NatureScot

Alan Hampson - Scottish Forestry

Jamie Hammond - NatureScot

Donald Henderson - Deputy Director SG Nature Division (Chair)

Robbie Kernahan - NatureScot

Grant Moir - Cairngorms National Park Authority 

Doug Knox - Forestry Land Scotland

Brodie Wilson - SG Nature Division

Paul Roberts - NatureScot

Apologies 

John Kerr - SG Agriculture Policy Division

Items and actions

Welcome & Review                                  

Donald Henderson welcomed everyone to the meeting. The group agreed the minutes from the meeting of 5 June 2024 and discussed outstanding action points from previous meetings.

AP (SG) – Robyn Chapman to publish the minutes of meeting of 5 June 2024 on the Scottish Government website now that they are agreed.

 

Agenda Item 3 – Legislative Update  

Hugh Dignon provided a verbal update on the current legislative position of the Scottish Government’s deer management policies and advised that further information would be set out in the upcoming Programme for Government 2024-25. He also updated The Board that the ‘Managing Deer for Nature and Climate’ consultation analysis has been completed and would be published on 9 September 2024. (AP SG – Board Members to be sent the consultation analysis report)

Board members were reminded that confidential information in relation to the legislative position should not be shared outwith the group.

In the interim the Wildlife Management Team have been working on necessary policy instructions in relation to the Scottish Government’s deer management proposals. Board Members asked that these be shared with the group.

The group also discussed proposals around further regulatory powers for NatureScot. It was agreed that a separate meeting be set up to discuss this further (AP SG).

Agenda Item 4 – Deer Incentive Schemes and Future Funding

NatureScot updated Board Members on their two pilot incentive schemes launched earlier in the month. The details have been published on their website and applications are now open. The Schemes are due to go live from October until March 2025. NatureScot noted there hadn’t been a large uptake but expected numbers to rise towards the end of the first deadline.

Regarding future funding of deer management, Donald Henderson advised that board members of the Scottish Government’s recent budget advice. The Scottish Government and the whole of the public sector faces a financial position that is extremely challenging and we have had to re-prioritise our spending.

This has meant the SG are not currently able to proceed with a proposal to provide support for deer culling and the provision of larders as set out in the SG’s Climate Change Update package announced in April 2024.

Board Members welcomed the update and noted the further pilot scheme being developed in the Cairngorms National Park Authority. The group agreed it would be important to gather as much data and lessons learned from the pilots as possible to help inform and evidence future deer management policy.

(AP CNPA – Grant Moir offered to provide estimated data for the CNPA pilot)

 

Agenda Item 5 – Cohesive deer management across the public sector

The Board assessed the current picture deer management across public sector land in Scotland and gave consideration to how deer and whether management planning could be stepped up.

Board members noted that there were certain local authorities where deer management was not being prioritised and recognised the difficulty in trying to get locally elected officials to back deer management. It was suggested that some form of wording from the Strategic Deer Board may be useful to set the tone for conversations with local officers.

It was also noted local authorities have consistently faced cuts in funding and that deer management is not a high priority for them. The Board agreed that there was no specific action to be taken on this by them, but they would continue to consider how to engage local authorities in priority deer management areas.

 

Agenda Item 6 - Future of the Strategic Deer Board

Brodie Wilson presented a paper on the Future of the Strategic Deer Board. This highlighted that in November the Strategic Deer Board will be 3 years old.

The Board agreed there is a need to be clearer about the desired outcome of the meetings. The group also agreed there was an opportunity to develop a programme of work for the next 18 months, in the lead up to the next elections, providing support for the government’s position on deer management.

Board members flagged a lack of representation from SG AGRI colleagues, in some instances, prevented cross-policy work. Donald Henderson assured Board members that he worked closely with SG AGRI colleagues but agreed that there should be sufficient representation at future Board meetings. (AP (SG))

AP (SG) - The Board also agreed to publish an update encapsulating the work achieved to date and our plan for the future.

 

AOB

The next meeting is due to be held on 10 December 2024. This will likely be held virtually given the time of year and recent budget constraints.