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Scottish Natural Heritage is working with key stakeholders to improve transparency and understanding about the reasons why some moorland managers continue to wish to cull mountain hares and the numbers involved.

If evidence emerges that large-scale culls are continuing, the Scottish Government will consider the case for tightening regulation of this issue.

The Scottish Government received one application in 2006 and a further application in 2007 for a licence to snare mountain hares for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease (Louping ill). The applications were refused on the basis that there was insufficient information about the impact on mountain hare populations.

The species licensing function, was transferred from Scottish Government to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) in July 2011.

SNH received one application in 2011 for the snaring of mountain hares, in order to protect new woodland. This was granted for a two year period between 2012 and 2014. Applications were received to make minor amendments to this licence in 2012 and 2013 and in each case amended licences were granted.

In 2014, SNH received two applications seeking permission to snare and shoot mountain hares. Licences were granted in both cases but did not permit snaring (i.e. they only permitted shooting). The reason for not permitting snaring is that SNH had received information by this point to suggest that the snaring of mountain hares could not be carried out without significant welfare concerns and the exposure of operators to the risk of committing offences in relation to the use of snares.

No snaring licences were revoked during this period.

The Scottish Government recognises that mountain hares may need to be controlled for land management purposes, but is opposed to large-scale culls of the species.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is working with key stakeholders to improve transparency and understanding about the reasons why some moorland managers continue to wish to cull mountain hares. SNH aims to work with land managers to put in place effective and sustainable management of mountain hares that is consistent with the species’ status on Annex V of the EC Habitats Directive.

To help achieve this, SNH met with Scottish Land & Estates, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and several Donside estates in April 2016 at Edinglassie estate to discuss the cull of mountain hares. Since then, a subgroup of the Moorland Forum has been charged with producing guidance for land managers on mountain hare management. In addition, the Cairngorm National Park Authority is advising land managers to count hares alongside annual grouse counts, share information on counts and cull numbers and set out the reason for culling hares in any given case.

The Scottish Government is not planning to use Nature Conservation Orders (NCOs) for this purpose at present. If we are advised by Scottish Natural Heritage that culls are threatening the conservation status of mountain hare, then we will consider whether NCOs or other regulatory mechanisms should be put in place.

The Scottish Government has serious concerns about the significant increase in the number of households affected by the revised benefit cap particularly since this is yet another cut from the UK Government which will impact hardest on low income families with children. We do not have access to accurate data on the types of households affected so we cannot fully assess the impact of this change but note DWP estimates that around 5,000 Scottish households will be affected, a more than 6 fold increase on current numbers. The average amount of reduction per week is around £60. The recent Chartered Institute of Housing report put the number of Scottish households affected at 6,700 containing 20,000 children. We will continue to monitor this closely as the policy is implemented over the next few months.

Our ability to respond to this is hampered by the reduction in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal DEL budget between 2010-11 and 2019-20 of £3.3 bn, 10.6% in real terms. In 2016/17 we are maintaining our commitment to support people in Scotland affected by the UK Government’s welfare cuts, via the Scottish Welfare Fund (£38m), mitigating the Bedroom Tax (£35m) and through our council tax reduction scheme (£23m). This money would be better spent tackling poverty.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-04563 on 16 November 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Places at Scottish medical schools are highly sought after and the selection process is very competitive with applications from well-qualified and highly motivated students.

Whilst the Scottish Government sets the annual intake targets for medicine, as autonomous institutions and in line with academic freedom, the selection and recruitment of individual students admitted to study medicine in Scotland is a matter for individual Universities. The selection procedures in scoring and assessing applications do take into account factors other than academic qualifications such as personal statements and UKCAT scores.

The Scottish Government is committed to taking forward the recommendations of the Commission on Widening Access which commented extensively on how university admissions could be made fairer, and we are currently working closely with the sector to progress those recommendations.

Our plans to introduce a national and regional workforce planning system across the NHS in Scotland will help to deliver the vision set out in the National Clinical Strategy. The production of a national health workforce plan in 2017 will be the first step in this process, and we will take account of the need to ensure parity between mental and physical health as we move our proposals forward.

The Scottish Government published the report of its Review of Public Health in February this year. That Review recommended the development of a public health strategy and a set of clear priorities for public health. The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Public Health review and will publish a strategy in 2017.

By the end of this year, the Scottish Government will set out a plan for a single framework which will bring together the delivery of the National Clinical Strategy, Health and Social Care Integration and our work on Population Health. This plan will include further information on the required investment for delivery of these policies

The Scottish Government accepts and welcomes the Mental Welfare Commission’s report, published on 8 September and its recommendation to establish a managed clinical network (MCN) for perinatal mental health. An application to establish a new MCN was last month unsuccessful at the National Specialist Services Committee of NHS National Services Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to improving early intervention and maternal and infant mental health. We are therefore pursuing alternative routes to establishing the MCN in line with the Mental Welfare Commission’s recommendation.