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The legal purpose of section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is the protection of certain wild animals.

Tackling biodiversity loss is a key priority for the Scottish Government and as outlined in our 2021-22 Programme for Government, we are committed to preventing any further extinctions of wildlife and halting declines by 2030, and making significant progress in restoring Scotland’s natural environment by 2045.

Programme For Government includes a commitment to develop a model for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution.

This model will aim to reduce stigma and criminalisation experienced by women and encourage better access to services. Ensuring that women are supported and that services are responsive to their needs is central to this work. We have also committed to engaging with those with direct or lived experience to shape services, and design measures which will protect them from harm and provide service users the support they need.

There are several considerations which must be made in designing the model, including ensuring it’s alignment to the Equally Safe Strategy and our unique legal landscape in Scotland. The model must operate effectively not only to hold those who buy sex to account, but to deter them from purchasing sex. Any changes proposed to the current criminal law would require legislation.

The criminal law is only one aspect of the model and it is vital that a package of measures is developed in parallel to underpin any changes which are brought forward.

We will continue to work across government and with stakeholders as our work on Scotland’s future approach to prostitution progresses. A Short Life Working Group with key stakeholders considering the fundamental principles to underpin a model for Scotland will hold its initial meeting, later this month.

The Scottish Government notes that paragraph 1(b) of response VII/8s published by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) endorses the findings of the ACCC's response VI/8k that progress has been made by Scotland. However, the ACCC considers that more needs to be done in respect of the requirements set out in paragraph 2(a), (b), and (d) of VII/8s. We are considering what action to take in respect of this and, as requested by the ACCC, will be submitting a plan of action, including a time schedule, by 1 July 2022.

As stated in the Programme for Government in September 2021, we will be introducing a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament and consulting on a Human Rights Bill in this Parliamentary year. In addition, in the next few weeks, we will be consulting on court fees for the years 2022 to 2025. In drafting these consultations and this legislation, we will give serious consideration as to how we can improve access to environmental justice.

The ACCC indicated that it had concerns about the operation of the system of protective expenses orders (PEOs). PEOs are the responsibility of the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) and the Scottish Government will raise the matter with SCJC.

The new statutory scheme is for bus travel only and does not extend to ferry travel. The soon to be published Island Communities Impact Assessment will discuss this in more detail and ferry fares are being reviewed as part of the forthcoming Islands Connectivity Plan.

We are also committed to taking forward our Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares, looking at the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry. The review will look at both cost and availability of services.

Internal ferries, including the setting of fares and holding information about services and travellers, is wholly the responsibility of the local authority. However, recognising the challenges this brings, the Scottish Government has provided over £50m to local authorities in the last four years on top of the local government settlement to support internal ferries.

Since 2014 the Scottish Ambulance Service has delivered a comprehensive 4 day training course, developed in-house, to provide the required training for Community First Responders - delivering a more detailed and comprehensive training package than the basic 2 day FPOS scheme.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) published stakeholders consultation https://consult.defra.gov.uk/joint-nature-conservation-committee/911c8988/ , including a list of provisional recommendations regarding the addition, retention, regrading or removal of each species on 08 November 2021. Those proposed recommendations do not include the removal of schedule 5 legal protection for mountain hares.

We will carefully consider the JNCC recommendations of the seventh Quinquennial Review. Before making any recommendations regarding species removal from schedule 5, we must be satisfied that there would be no detrimental impact to the individual species or to the wider biodiversity and environmental landscape in Scotland.

Mountain hares are now a protected species following the passage of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) Act in June 2020. The protection came into force on 1 March 2021, meaning that the species can no longer be taken for sporting or recreational purposes. We will also continue to work with several partner organisations to continue to improve our understanding of mountain hare populations across Scotland, along with other work, to support the conservation status of this iconic species.

Development and implementation of the IT systems required to deliver Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is a matter for the individual organisations that will play a role in delivering DRS, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Circularity Scotland Ltd, and businesses.

SEPA is currently preparing to register producers that fall under the regulations. This includes developing a new digital registration service, which has been designed through targeted user research with expected users of the service. Producers who wish to place scheme articles on the Scottish market will be able to register with SEPA directly or via the Scheme Administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd.

The Scottish Government is working intensively to develop and agree a plan to deliver the scheme that the Scottish Government, the industry and stakeholders can have confidence in. As my statement set out once a timeline is agreed, clear milestones for delivery by Circularity Scotland will be published. However it must be noted that consistent with other producer responsibility schemes, the responsibility for practical implementation of DRS resides with individual retailers and producers, not the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35206 on 23 February 2021. Scottish Government officials engage regularly with representatives of the other UK administrations to understand their intentions regarding the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). We are open to working with the other administrations to ensure our schemes are compatible, but this must be on the basis of this not diluting the ambition of our own scheme.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Development and implementation of the IT systems required to deliver Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is a matter for the individual organisations that will play a role in delivering DRS, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Circularity Scotland Ltd, and wider industry. In particular, procurement of reverse vending machines is a matter for retailers choosing to operate automatic return points.

SEPA is working with retailers to help them understand their obligations as return points operators under the Regulations and in compliance with other applicable environmental regulations.