Question reference: S5W-34151
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 17 December 2020
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Current status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 13 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the independently-chaired taskforce established to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime, which it announced on 17 June 2020.
Answer
As stated by the then Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Mairi Gougeon, in her letter of 8 June 2020 to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, the Scottish Government originally anticipated that a taskforce to consider the role of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in relation to the investigation of wildlife crime would be convened in summer 2020. However, the Minister also stated that this timeline may be subject to change because of the need to focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – a health crisis which has created an economic crisis – and preparations for EU exit.
We now expect the taskforce to be established later this year and will provide further details in due course.