84.Section 5A of the 1996 Act requires SNH to prepare and publish a code of practice on deer management. In conjunction with the addition of new grounds for when SNH may intervene in the deer management of an area (see paragraph 89), the Act amends section 5A to require SNH to set out the circumstances in which SNH may intervene.
85.Section 5B of the 1996 Act currently requires SNH to review compliance with the code of practice on deer management on a three-year cycle. Section 13 of the Act changes the approach to such reviews and enables SNH to conduct reviews at any time. However, it also provides that SNH must carry out a review if requested to do so by the Scottish Ministers, at an appropriate time after a change to the code of practice and at least once every 10 years.
86.The requirement to carry out a review at an appropriate time after a change to the code of practice does not include a timeframe. This reflects that in some cases the impact of changes will be ascertainable almost immediately. But in other cases it may take several years for changes to the code of practice to bed in and produce sufficient evidence. The provision therefore requires SNH to make a judgement as to when a review will be suitable.
87.The requirement to carry out a review not less than once every 10 years represents a backstop position which will ensure that, even if no changes are made to the code of practice, compliance is still formally reviewed. The expectation is that SNH will, in practice, carry out such reviews somewhere between 5 to 10 years after the preceding report.
88.When carrying out a review, SNH must consult those who have an interest in deer management and those with practical experience of deer management (new subsection (1B)). Details of this consultation must be published, along with any consultation documents or materials, as well as the results of the consultation (including views expressed by those consulted under new subsection (1B)).
The Act Code of practice on deer management Section 13 – Code of practice on deer management