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Yes. On the specific point about the age limit, that is not something that I have considered directly, so I will go and have a look at it.

You are going to get a book back from me after this.

The code of practice is about ensuring good-quality grouse moor management and medicated grit will be part of that code of practice.

It is helpful to have that intention made clear in the bill, so I am happy to support amendment 83 and encourage committee members to vote for it.

I thank Colin Smyth for amendments 138 and 139. I understand the intentions behind them. However, I will not support them.

As the previous minister set out in her letter to the committee on 18 January, NatureScot is taking an iterative, collaborative approach to developing the code of practice for grouse moor management. A code working group that comprises a range of stakeholders has already been established to develop the structure and content of that code. The code will include guidance on wildlife management that will set out statutory requirements with which people who are undertaking wildlife management must comply, as well as providing advice about best practice.

It is important that the finer details of what is included in the code are informed by the wide range of experience and voices that the grouse moor management code group offers so that we can get a workable but robust code. We need to give the code working group space to determine what will be promoted as best practice and we should not be too prescriptive about what we set out in the bill. Therefore, I will not support amendments 138 and 139, and I encourage members to vote against them.

Amendment 20 from Edward Mountain is unnecessary, as the bill as drafted requires the Scottish ministers to consult on the code of practice for grouse moor management. Should the Scottish ministers exercise their powers to delegate the preparation of the grouse moor management code of practice to NatureScot, NatureScot would then be required to adhere to any consultation requirements set out in section 7 of the bill. I hope that that reassures Edward Mountain and that he will not move his amendment. If he does, I encourage members to vote against it.

Could you clarify your point, please?

It is quite strange to be sitting at this end of the table, having spent the past three years in the seat that Emma Harper is now sitting in. It feels a little odd for me—I do not know how odd it feels for you—but we will crack on.

I will speak to Edward Mountain’s amendments 180, 13, 14 and 16. The Werritty review recommended that trap operators must be required by law to complete training on the relevant category of trap. Training requirements are common in other professions, especially those relating to animal welfare. I know that the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and similar organisations already undertake a lot of training, and I welcome that. I was pleased to hear that Alex Hogg has indicated that the SGA is happy with the training requirements outlined in the bill. I assure him and the association that we would want its expertise and knowledge to inform the development of training alongside other stakeholders.

However, Edward Mountain’s amendments would create an unnecessary barrier for trap users and training operators. Amendments 13, 14 and 15 would exclude much of the existing training that trap users already undertake as part of their wider professional development and, in some cases, it would result in applicants being required to undertake licence-specific training over and above that. For example, the amendments would not allow the relevant authority, which is likely to be NatureScot, to validate courses such as the higher national certificate or higher national diploma in gamekeeping if they were to incorporate training on the use of traps in their curriculum.

In developing the framework for training courses, the Scottish Government and NatureScot will work with stakeholders to ensure that, if a fee is to be charged for training courses, the cost will be accessible and consideration will be given to providing for exemptions in certain circumstances.

Amendments 16 and 180 simply add an extra level of bureaucracy to the training course creation and approval process. The licensing authority will be responsible for ensuring that any approved training courses cover the standards that are required by the bill and other pieces of legislation. Should it feel that it is necessary to do so, the licensing authority already has the power to consult with anyone it deems appropriate as part of the training course designation process. The amendments are therefore unnecessary and they would impose additional duties on practitioners and the licensing authority at a point when the training courses are required to be updated, and lead to delays in the approval process. That would not be helpful to either the licence applicants or the licensing authority, which would have to manage the additional administrative burden created by the amendments. I cannot support amendments 180, 13, 14, 15 and 16, and I encourage members to vote against them.

On Colin Smyth’s amendments 120 and 121, the bill is not intended to introduce purposes for which some wildlife traps may be used but to ensure that wildlife traps that are used are operated in line with training and best practice. The traps covered by the provisions in the bill are largely used by professionals such as keepers and land managers rather than for domestic use. I therefore expect the training to be based around the existing conditions for the use of each type of trap, as set out in the Spring Traps Approval (Scotland) Order 2011, for example. That means that the training should be easily completed for anyone who is currently undertaking legal trapping. On that basis, I do not think that amendments 120 and 121 are necessary, as those aspects of trapping and best practice will be included in the required training course. If those amendments are moved, I would encourage the committee to vote against them.

To answer the convener’s specific question, the spring traps specified in the licence scheme are those specified in the Spring Traps Approval (Scotland) Order 2011, as amended. That order lists the traps that are compliant with the AIHTS and traps that are used for the capture of live birds are not required to be compliant.

I am happy to discuss amendment 13 further with Edward Mountain.

Following stage 1, the then minister, Gillian Martin, received feedback from stakeholders asking for an exemption to allow falconers to take red grouse without requiring a licence. Amendment 61 seeks to address those concerns. Having considered the amendment, I agree with and support it.

The purpose of introducing the licensing scheme is to implement the recommendations of the Werritty review, which focused on the management of grouse moor and, in particular, raptor persecution associated with grouse shooting rather than with falconry. Without amendment 61, falconers would need to apply for a licence or would be able to hunt grouse only by using their birds of prey on land that was already covered by a licence. Given that falconers take only a small number of red grouse across Scotland each year, that seems unnecessarily burdensome. I ask the committee to mirror that view and to support amendment 61.

In the interests of ensuring that I have declared everything that I need to, I should add, at this point, that my daughter has bought me a birthday present of a day of falconry.

I move amendment 61.

We will come on to training, so, in the interests of time, do you mind if we come back to that later?

As I have just said, there would have to be a clear indication that a crime had taken place. However, as we are not legislating in that area at this moment in time, the amendment merely gives ministers the powers, which would have to be brought back to the Parliament. There are safeguards for the industry to make its own defence if those powers have to be brought into force.

I give you the commitment that we can meet before stage 3 to talk about the issue, but I ask you not to move amendment 149 at this stage.