The management of wild deer in Scotland: Deer Working Group report

Section 30 Recommendations

Part One - Wild Deer in Scotland

Section 1 Legal Status, Hunting Rights and Regulatory Framework

1 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Parliament should amend the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 to replace the references in the Act to the Deer Commission for Scotland, Secretary of State and the Houses of Parliament with Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament respectively (paragraph 72).

Section 2 National Distributions, Populations and Culls

2 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should develop its own more detailed distribution maps for wild deer in Scotland; that Scottish Natural Heritage should more accurately report the basis of national population estimates for wild deer which it publishes; and that Scottish Natural Heritage should make clear that the national cull statistics which it publishes are based only on the numbers reported through cull returns (paragraph 63).

Section 3 Public Authority, Functions and Interests

3 The Working Group recommends that section 1 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to make explicit that Scottish Natural Heritage has distinct functions under the Act, to modernise the stated purpose of the Act to reflect contemporary public policy objectives, and to convert the list of interests to be taken into account into an inclusive rather than exclusive list (paragraph 37).

Part Two - Public Safety and Deer Welfare (in all circumstances)

Section 4 How wild deer can be killed lawfully

4 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should make a clear commitment to end the use of lead bullets to shoot deer in Scotland, carry out the necessary research and promotion to enable that change to be made after a transition period and, as a part of that, amend The Deer (Firearms, etc.) (Scotland) Order 1985 so that the specifications in paragraph 3(a) of the Order are suitable for the use of non-lead bullets (paragraph 21).

5 The Working Group recommends that the use of a shotgun to kill wild deer should be made subject to authorisation by Scottish Natural Heritage through a new provision in the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, that the owner or occupier of any land should be able to apply for such authorisation and that the terms of paragraph 4 of The Deer (Firearms, etc.) (Scotland) Order 1985 should be amended accordingly (paragraph 31).

6 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should instruct Scottish Natural Heritage to carry out the planned trials into the use of night sights without further undue delay (paragraph 38).

7 The Working Group recommends that, subject to the successful outcome of Scottish Natural Heritage’s trials, paragraph 5(b) of The Deer (Firearms, etc.) (Scotland) Order 1985 should be repealed to allow the use of night sights to shoot deer (paragraph 40).

Section 5 Times of year when deer can be killed lawfully

8 The Working Group recommends that The Deer (Close Seasons) (Scotland) Order 2011 should be replaced with a new Order in which the close season for females of each species is set to start on a date in the period 1^st to 15^th April (inclusive) and end on a date in the period 31^st August to 15^th September (inclusive), and in which no close seasons are set for males of each species (paragraph 67).

9 The Working Group recommends, firstly, that section 5(6) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to apply to any land and to cover public interests of a social, economic and environment nature; and, secondly, that section 5(8) should repealed (paragraph 79).

Section 6 Times of day when wild deer can be killed lawfully

10 The Working Group recommends that section 18(2) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to refer to both owners and occupiers, to be applicable to any land and to cover public interests of a social, economic and environmental nature (paragraph 38).

Section 7 How and when wild deer can be taken lawfully

11 The Working Group recommends, firstly, that section 41(2) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended or replaced so that the taking of wild deer requires to be authorised by Scottish Natural Heritage and secondly, that section 37(5) should be amended at the same time to require Scottish Natural Heritage to produce a code of practice for the taking or live capture of wild deer (paragraph 26).

Section 8 Occupiers, Authorised and Competent Persons

12 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended so that the statutory rights of occupiers to prevent damage by wild deer should apply to the occupiers of any type of land and cover public interests of a social, economic and environmental nature (paragraph 19).

13 The Working Group recommends, firstly, that section 37(1A) should be repealed so that all out of season shooting authorised by Scottish Natural Heritage requires to be carried out by a person judged fit and competent for that purpose by Scottish Natural Heritage, and secondly, that section 10(4) should be amended so that an authorised person requires to be judged both fit and competent (paragraph 36).

14 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should make a clear statement of its commitment to establishing a register of persons competent to shoot deer in Scotland under section 17A of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, and develop proposals for a register as set out in this Report (paragraph 84).

15 The Working Group also recommends that section 17A of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended at an early stage as set out in this Report, to enable appropriate secondary legislation to bring the recommended register into effect (paragraph 85).

Section 9 Prevention of Suffering and Wildlife Crime

16 The Working Group recommends that consideration should be given to having a provision in the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 which provides exemptions to protect human safety where a deer poses an immediate threat, with those exemptions being similar to the exemptions in section 25 of the Act to end the suffering of a deer (paragraph 16).

Section 10 Wild Deer and Diseases

17 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that the role of wild deer in increasing the risk of Lyme disease is given greater prominence in its policies for deer management in Scotland, and that greater priority is given to that risk in considering the need to reduce deer densities in locations across Scotland (paragraph 33).

18 The Working Group recommends the Scottish Government and its agencies should, following the current Scottish Deer Health Survey, develop and maintain an ongoing national programme to monitor wild deer in Scotland for existing and potential diseases (paragraph 36).

Section 11 Wild venison and food safety

19 The Working Group recommends that The Licensing of Venison Dealers (Prescribed Forms etc.) (Scotland) Order 1984 should be replaced by a new Order that requires clearer and more robust information on the prescribed form about the source of any purchases or receipts of wild venison (paragraph 21).

20 The Working Group recommends that section 34 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to empower those with the authority under that section, to require a licensed venison dealer to submit a return summarising their throughput of wild deer carcases during a period not exceeding three years and in a form to be prescribed (paragraph 55).

21 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should review sections 33-36 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 that cover the licensing of dealing in venison, with a view to making changes in addition to the related recommendations in this Report, so that the arrangements are fit for purpose in contemporary circumstances (paragraph 60).

22 The Working Group recommends that section of 40 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 dealing with cull returns should be amended by inserting ‘and the use of the carcases’ at the end of section 40(1) (paragraph 65).

23 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that the requirement for those supplying venison to Approved Game Handling Establishments to be able to demonstrate Trained Hunter status under EU regulations is enforced (paragraph 67).

Section 12 Wild Deer and Other Deer

24 The Working Group recommends that section 43 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended at the end of the definition of farmed deer in s.43(4) to include ‘and be clearly marked to show they are kept as such’ (paragraph 21).

25 The Working Group recommends that the Animals (Scotland) Act 1987 should be amended to establish clearly that an owner or occupier of land can shoot a stray farmed deer on that land to prevent damage by the deer, where that is the only reasonable practical means in the circumstances to detain the stray deer under the Act (paragraph 28).

26 The Working Group recommends that there should be a legal requirement for all deer that are owned as private property and not farmed deer or deer in zoos, to be tagged to identify them as private property (paragraph 46).

27 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should give serious consideration to the introduction through the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, of a scheme to require an owner of deer to have a licence for the keeping of deer as private property that are not farmed deer, deer in zoos nor muntjac deer (paragraph 51).

28 The Working Group recommends that either the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 or the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 should be amended so that any release of captive red deer and captive roe deer into the wild requires to be authorised by Scottish Natural Heritage (paragraph 62).

29 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government and its agencies should agree and apply practical criteria to identify and correct situations where deer enclosed by deer-proof barriers are being managed as if they are wild deer, when it is clear from the assessment that they should be managed as captive deer (paragraph 83).

Part Three - Damage to Public Interests (in particular circumstances)

Section 13 Damage by Wild Deer

30 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should develop fuller statements of the public and private land use interests that can be protected under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, and that Scottish Natural Heritage should also ensure that the Wild Deer Best Practice guidance on damage is replaced (paragraph 18).

31 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that Scottish Natural Heritage has the capacity to encourage complaints of unacceptable levels of damage by wild deer and to respond by taking effective action where warranted to reduce the damage (paragraph 33).

32 The Working Group recommends that the phrase “or steps taken or not taken for the purposes of deer management” should be repealed from sections 6A(2) and 7(1) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, and that consideration might be given to whether an appropriately termed and practical power for Scottish Natural Heritage to reduce deer control on a property might be introduced through a new section in that Act (paragraph 49).

Section 14 Agriculture and Forestry

33 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should take a far more focused approach to identifying the current extent of damage to agriculture by wild deer in different parts of Scotland and take action to tackle the local issues involved (paragraph 17).

34 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should recognise much more fully than at present, the need for changes to the current statutory and non-statutory system for the management of wild deer in Scotland if the Scottish Forestry Strategy 2019-29 is to be implemented successfully (paragraph 77).

Section 15 Public Safety

35 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should be working to ensure that the UK Department of Transport form used by Police Scotland to record Personal Injury Accidents (ST19), is modified for use in Scotland to include a separate category for deer (paragraph 11).

36 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that a more appropriate level of attention and resources is applied to addressing the continuing rise in road traffic accidents in Scotland involving wild deer (paragraph 24).

37 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be paying much more attention to the control of local deer densities alongside lengths of public roads with frequent road traffic accidents involving wild deer (paragraph 44).

Section 16 Natural Heritage

38 The Working Group recommends that the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage should adopt and enforce a clear policy against the establishment of any populations of Scotland’s two non-native deer species, fallow and sika deer, in the Cairngorms National Park (paragraph 47).

39 The Working Group recommends that the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Scottish Natural Heritage should have a much greater focus on the need to improve the management of wild deer in the Cairngorms National Park, to reduce deer densities in many parts of the Park to protect and enhance the Park’s biodiversity (paragraph 52).

40 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should remove the current references to deer from the Muirburn Code and end financial support for muirburn for wild deer through its Rural Payments and Services Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (paragraph 73).

41 The Working Group recommends that the Hill Farm Act 1946 should be amended to make it an offence to carry out muirburn for wild deer without a licence from Scottish Natural Heritage (paragraph 74).

Section 17 Non-Native Deer Species

42 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should develop its own maps of the existing distribution of fallow deer in Scotland and implement a clear strategy to prevent the further spread of these fallow deer populations, including the use of Scottish Natural Heritage’s regulatory powers under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 if necessary (paragraph 15).

43 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be more actively raising awareness that releasing or allowing fallow deer to escape from captivity is an offence, and that Scottish Natural Heritage should be taking enforcement action in any situation where that appears to have happened (paragraph 19).

44 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be taking a clearer, more robust approach to minimising the spread of sika deer in Scotland, and should be targeting areas where Scottish Natural Heritage intend to prevent or slow colonisation by sika deer (paragraph 41).

45 The Working Group recommends, firstly, that Scottish Natural Heritage should take a more rigorous approach to identifying sites with captive muntjac and knowing the numbers and sexes of muntjac and adequacy of enclosures at the existing sites licensed to keep muntjac, and secondly, that Scottish Natural Heritage should have a clear policy of not issuing any further licences for keeping muntjac in captivity unless exceptional public interest can be demonstrated (paragraph 55).

46 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be maintaining a more active focus on the likely routes by which muntjac deer may colonise Scotland from the north of England, and that Scottish Natural Heritage should have an annual programme of raising awareness about muntjac deer to reduce the risks of muntjac deer becoming established in Scotland (paragraph 65).

Section 18 Deer Welfare

47 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that a fuller contemporary interpretation of the welfare of wild deer becomes a more important factor in determining standards of deer management in Scotland than is currently the case (paragraph 22).

48 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be developing a fuller interpretation of the welfare of wild deer that is based on a wider consideration of their biological performance (paragraph 32).

49 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should make clear that the ongoing levels of annual winter mortality amongst red deer on open hill range in the Highlands are unacceptable and need to be reduced (paragraph 59).

50 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should consider developing the use of the average carcase weights of yearlings in the autumn as an indicator of the welfare of the local population of the deer species involved (paragraph 71).

Section 19 Other Public Interests

51 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be implementing a strategic approach to limiting ongoing dispersal by deer into both peri-urban areas from the wider countryside and urban areas from peri-urban areas, selecting target areas on a prioritised basis (paragraph 26).

52 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should ensure that increasing attention is focused on implementing effective deer management in peri-urban and urban areas to limit damage to public interests, and that Scottish Natural Heritage adopts a more focused approach towards achieving this (paragraph 39).

Section 20 Economics of Wild Deer

53 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should keep a clearer account of the expenditure by the public sector each year on the management of wild deer, and also ensure that it develops improved information on the estimated annual costs of damage by wild deer (paragraph 22).

54 The Working Group recommends that amendments to the ratings legislation in the 1975 and 1994 Local Government (Scotland) Acts should remove references to ‘deer forests’ in the phrase ‘shootings and deer forests’, and that section 6(8za) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 should be repealed (paragraph 58).

Part Four - Compulsory Powers

Section 21 Information – Cull Returns

55 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be planning to move its cull return system entirely online as soon as practically possible (paragraph 29).

56 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should provide the option for land owners and occupiers completing cull returns to report whether they have experienced damage by deer in the year being reported and the nature of that damage (paragraph 35).

57 The Working Group recommends that section 40 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to enable secondary legislation to be used to add to the types of information that can be required on a statutory basis under the section (paragraph 40).

58 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should, as an essential step, start to increase substantially the extent of Scotland covered by the cull return system, taking a targeted and prioritised approach to the areas where the coverage is to be increased (paragraph 64).

59 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should replace its current online deer database with a new system and establish a publicly accessible National Cull Database (paragraph 59).

Section 22 Information – Other Powers

60 The Working Group recommends that section 40A of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to refer to ‘taken or killed’ and to enable the information required to cover a period not exceeding five years (paragraph 5).

61 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to remove the reference to the Code of Practice on Deer Management in section 6A(1) of the Act (paragraph 19).

62 The Working Group recommends that section 6A(5) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to change the period within which a Deer Management Plan is to be submitted to Scottish Natural Heritage, so that the period is not less than three months and not more than 12 months as Scottish Natural Heritage may determine, according to circumstances (paragraph 25).

63 The Working Group recommends that section 15(3)(b) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to include sections 10 and 11 of the Act, rather than just sections 7 and 8 (paragraph 39).

64 The Working Group recommends that the period of notice required to enter land under section 15(2) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, should be reviewed with the intention of making the period of notice shorter (paragraph 41).

65 The Working Group recommends that section 15(3) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to include as a purpose for entering on land, carrying out an assessment of the impacts of deer in any area in pursuance of Scottish Natural Heritage’s functions under section 1(1) of the Act (paragraph 47).

Section 23 Emergency Control Measures

66 The Working Group recommends that section 10(1) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 Act should be amended to include damage, directly or indirectly, to the natural heritage and that section 11 of the Act should be repealed (paragraph 31).

67 The Working Group recommends that section 10(1)(b) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be repealed (paragraph 36).

68 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should amend Section 10 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, so that the owners of land where Scottish Natural Heritage implements measures under section 10(4) have a liability for any net cost involved in carrying out the measures, subject to scope for Scottish Natural Heritage to waive any net cost in appropriate circumstances (paragraph 45).

69 The Working Group recommends that the title of section 10 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be replaced with ‘Control Actions’ or a title similar to that and that the section should be amended to cover public interests of a social, economic or environmental nature (paragraph 55).

Section 24 Control Schemes

70 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to remove references to the Code of Practice on deer management from section 7(1) and (3) and from section 8(1) (paragraph 27).

71 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to repeal section 8(2) and that, as a consequence, s.7(2) should also be repealed (paragraph 38).

72 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to re-instate section 8(5), which was repealed in 2011 (paragraph 44).

73 The Working Group recommends that paragraph 13(2) of Schedule 2 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended, so that the grounds for appeal are that a control scheme is not within the powers of the Act or that any of the requirements of the Act has not been complied with (paragraph 54).

74 The Working Group recommends that paragraph 13(4) of Schedule 2 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended, so that the options for the Land Court are to confirm the scheme or direct Scottish Ministers to revoke it or part of it in so much as it affects the applicant (paragraph 55).

75 The Working Group recommends that the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament should consider holding a short inquiry into the use of section 7 Control Agreements under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 in the Caenlochan area (paragraph 68).

76 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should ensure that it sets out any section 7 Control Agreements in terms that can be readily converted into a section 8 Control Scheme under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, and that Scottish Natural Heritage should also ensure that it already has the evidence to enforce a section 8 Control Scheme if Scottish Natural Heritage is entering into any new section 7 agreements (paragraph 79).

Part Five - Non-Statutory Arrangements

Section 25 Scottish Government

77 The Working Group recommends that the review of Wild Deer: A National Approach (WDNA) which is due in 2020, should be a major and thorough review of the WDNA approach and should result in a more focused and targeted outcome (paragraph 38).

78 The Working Group recommends that section 5B of the Deer (Scotland) Act should be amended to remove the requirement for compliance with the Code of Practice on Deer Management to be reviewed every three years (paragraph 57).

79 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should instruct Scottish Natural Heritage to carry out a review of the contents of the current Code of Practice on Deer Management with the aim of producing a clearer and more effective version of the Code (paragraph 63).

80 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should make a policy decision with the Scottish Government’s support, to continue to management the Wild Deer Best Practice project for at least the next five years (paragraph 77).

Section 26 Scottish Natural Heritage

81 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should ensure an appropriate level of distinction between Scottish Natural Heritage’s responsibilities under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 and the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 respectively (paragraph 15).

82 The Working Group recommends that section 2 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to include provisions requiring, firstly, Scottish Natural Heritage to report annually to Scottish Ministers on the exercising of Scottish Natural Heritage’s functions under the Act and secondly, Scottish Ministers to present a copy of Scottish Natural Heritage’s report to the Scottish Parliament (paragraph 20).

83 The Working Group recommends Scottish Ministers should no longer be responsible for appointing the members of a panel under section 4 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 (paragraph 33).

84 The Working Group recommends that the sequence of assessments of Deer Management Groups carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage in 2014, 2016 and 2019 should come to an end and that Scottish Natural Heritage’s focus should now be ensuring the standards of practical deer management implemented on the ground by land owners minimise the damaging impacts which deer can cause to public interests (paragraph 69).

Part Six - Refocused Approach

Section 27 Deer Authority

85 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should avoid over-emphasising the need for formal collaborative groups for deer management and adopt a more flexible approach to supporting other forms of liaison and collaboration where these develop, including in open hill red deer range (paragraph 25).

86 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should adopt 10 red deer per square kilometre as an upper limit for acceptable densities of red deer over large areas of open range in the Highlands, and review that figure from time to time in the light of developments in public policies, including climate change measures (paragraph 37).

87 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should very substantially reduce the extent to which Scottish Natural Heritage carries out direct counts of red deer on open hill range and refocus Scottish Natural Heritage’s limited resources on building up more information on the impacts that deer are having on the natural heritage, woodlands, forestry, agriculture and other public interests in Scotland (paragraph 43).

88 The Working Group endorses Scottish Natural Heritage’s identification of the need for significant changes in deer management as an important issue in climate change mitigation measures, and recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage treats this as a high priority (paragraph 50).

89 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should allocate a significantly greater share of its resources as the deer authority under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, to the management of wild deer in Scotland outwith open hill red deer range (paragraph 64).

90 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should be using suitably experienced staff based in Scottish Natural Heritage’s seven Areas and acting for Scottish Natural Heritage’s responsibilities under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, to develop a systematic account of deer management and deer impacts in all parts of Scotland where wild deer occur (paragraph 74).

91 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should, in fulfilling its responsibilities for deer management under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, be developing Local Authority areas as an important intermediate level between national and local levels (paragraph 79).

92 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should, in making its annual budget allocation to Scottish Natural Heritage, distinguish between the budget allocated to Scottish Natural Heritage for its functions under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 and the budget allocated for Scottish Natural Heritage’s functions under the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 (paragraph 88).

Section 28 Regulatory System

93 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should start obtaining returns under both sections 40 and 40A of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, by combining the notices that are sent and providing space for each return on Scottish Natural Heritage’s cull return form (paragraph 15).

94 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should, as part of developing Local Authority areas as an intermediate level for considering deer management, appoint a Panel under section 4 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 for each such area with a membership made up of public sector representatives (paragraph 22).

95 The Working Group recommends that section 4 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should be amended to allow a member of Scottish Natural Heritage staff to be a member of a Panel established under section 4, in order to represent Scottish Natural Heritage’s natural heritage functions under the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991 (paragraph 25).

96 The Working Group recommends that Scottish Natural Heritage should make more use than so far of its powers under sections 6A and 10 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, where deer are causing or are likely to cause damage to public interests (paragraph 37).

97 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government develop proposals for a planned cull approval system that would work to best effect in Scotland and then amend the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 to provide scope for such a system to be introduced by secondary legislation as and when required (paragraph 88).

Section 29 Conclusions

98 The Working Group recommends that the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 should, after amendments to implement recommendations in this Report, be replaced with a new Deer (Scotland) Act (paragraph 16).

99 The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage should develop and implement a programme of changes to the current system of deer management based on the Group’s recommendations, so that Scotland will have a system that ensures effective deer management that safeguards public interests and promotes the sustainable management of wild deer (paragraph 24).