Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have not spoken with Police Scotland since the committee’s round-table meeting; I am not sure whether officials have done so. We have been in contact with Police Scotland since the bill was introduced and we have been able to clarify certain points—for example, about the training of police dogs. I think that you raised that point in the stage 1 debate. We will continue to discuss with Police Scotland how to create the best possible enforcement situation. This is an odd situation whereby we are having this helpful but nonetheless extraordinary evidence session. I will certainly engage on that again prior to stage 2 proceedings.

That would be a question for the police. I am not proposing any enforcement powers within the bill that are additional to those that already exist in legislation to manage those activities in the countryside. Ultimately, how the police respond to complaints—vexatious or otherwise—is always a matter for them.

For me, that would create an inconsistency in policy terms, but I can understand and see why that would be an easier situation for the police evidence-wise. Although I will not put words in the mouth of Police Scotland, I suspect that its concerns about the position as it stands, some of which were expressed last week, relate to the belief that a two-dog limit per event would be easier for the police. Would that be proportionate for the rough shooters? I do not think that it would. Would it create inconsistencies in the bill? Yes. However, things would certainly be easier evidentially.

Of course, in some ways that is hypothetical, but, equally, nobody talked about flushing to guns prior to 2002. We have proof that, after the 2002 act—I know that this was discussed in your round-table session—that became a cover for illegal hunting, so there is form in that regard.

I am not sure that I can answer that.

I have said that that would be unlawful.

Scottish ministers will not direct Police Scotland on how to conduct its investigations.

No. That would be four dogs for one activity. If they worked separately and pursued individual quarry, or if the dogs did not work together, that would be fine.

Thank you for the question. On the first part of it, yes, I believe that there will be an improvement—I certainly hope that there will be. As we have discussed in relation to including rabbits, Police Scotland and others have told us that, when they are trying to gather evidence on hare coursing, they find that shooting rabbits is often used as a guise. Therefore, it should follow that, by bringing rabbits within the scope of the bill, that guise will no longer exist, which will ease the detection of crime on the part of Police Scotland.

In terms of the impact of the bill, as with other bits of legislation, the Scottish Government will track its success and the impact that it has. I do not know whether there is anything specific on the face of the bill in that regard, but the Government will always track the impact of what it does.

Those are utterly hypothetical questions. Ultimately, it is for the police, whom I have confidence in, to observe what is happening in the countryside and determine what it is. Of course, I want that to be as clear as possible, but I will not entertain increasingly hypothetical situations.