Managing deer in the context of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill since July 2025: EIR release

Information requested

1.  “Any correspondence sent to Mairi Gougeon or Jim Fairlie on the topic of mandatory training for those managing deer in the context of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill since July 2025.

2.  Any correspondence sent from Mairi Gougeon or Jim Fairlie on the topic of mandatory training for those managing deer in the context of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill since July 2025.

3.  A copy of any briefing provided to Mairi Gougeon or Jim Fairlie on the topic of mandatory training for those managing deer in the context of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill since July 2025.

4.  Whether the Scottish Government has conducted any research into the consequences of mandatory training for those managing deer on deer management.”

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Questions 1 and 2

I have included copies of the information you have requested in Annex B.

On reviewing materials within the scope of your request, an exception has been applied in line with the EIRs. The exception applied can be found in Annex A.

Question 3

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as the Scottish Government has not produced specific briefings on the topic of mandatory training for those managing deer as part of the wider Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

Question 4

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested as the Scottish Government has not conducted specific research into the consequences of proposals for mandatory training for those managing deer which are included within

the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill. Therefore, with respect to your request this is a formal notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs confirming that the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has collated and published a number of research briefings and documents on the wider Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill which you may find helpful and can be found here.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. It is important to note that although we do not hold the information and have applied Regulation 10(4)(a) – information not held, it is a requirement that we have to apply the public interest test.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500491038 - Information Released - Annex A and Annex B

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