Scottish Government launches managing deer for nature consultation

by Hamish Hope, Surveyor

On 5^th January 2024, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on major proposals to change the law around deer management in Scotland.

The proposals outlined in the consultation, Managing Deer for Climate and Nature, are designed to ensure that legislation aligns with challenges posed by the biodiversity and climate crises. 

Surveyor Hamish Hope, from Bell Ingram’s Beauly office, says: “It is widely understood that deer management is a required and effective tool to manage forestry and land. With increasing concerns regarding climate change and the biodiversity crisis, we welcome the opportunity to respond to the consultation and will be encouraging our estate clients to upload their feedback to ensure that any decisions are made with a sound understanding of the issues and implications.”

With no natural predators, people have long been the managers of deer to protect forestry and biodiversity loss while providing much needed employment in rural communities. 

The consultation is seeking views set out within six themes: enhancing the natural environment, compliance, wild deer welfare, changes to close seasons, venison and kept and farmed deer. The purpose of the consultation is to update legislation regarding how deer is managed to ensure the law is fit for purpose to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises.

The new proposals include:

Granting NatureScot additional powers through the creation of Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders. This would allow NatureScot to enter land to carry out deer management activities where it sees fit.

Welfare of wild and kept deer. This includes the recommendations that the use of a shotgun to kill wild deer should be subject to authorisation by NatureScot; the taking of live deer should be authorised by NatureScot; and a code of practice should be produced for the taking or live capture of deer.

Changes to close seasons, recommending the removal of the close season for male deer and to introduce a new order to alter the close season for females to 15^th April to 15^th.

There are further proposals and recommendations in the consultation for consideration including venison licensing and kept and farmed deer. The full consultation can be read and responded to here and is open for response until 29^th March 2024.

Juggling care and career: Why supporting carers in the workplace is the right thing to do

My lovely mother-in-law describes her 50s, 60s and 70s as her “golden years”. As she keeps reminding my husband and I: “Your father and I were travelling the world when we were your age, or we were out and about meeting friends or at the bowling club.”

And so they were! Able to draw their pensions (state and private) at 60 and 65-years-old respectively, they enjoyed a long, happy and comfortable retirement unencumbered by caring responsibilities either for each other or for their parents who had passed away decades beforehand.

At 57, my “golden years” on the other hand are shaping up somewhat differently. Since May 2022 when my mum (86) collapsed with sepsis from a urinary infection, I’ve been sharing her care and that of my 92-year-old father, who has late-stage prostate cancer, with my younger sister (53), who is herself recovering from cancer treatment. Both mum and dad are now housebound and require 24-hour support which includes everything from meal preparation to toileting.

Fortunately, we were able to access a council care package for mum, which means two carers visit four times a day, but my dad is still waiting to be assessed. To pick up the slack and allow our much-loved parents to remain in their own home, my sister has given up her full-time job to be their primary carer with me staying over 48 hours each week to give her a break.

Added to this are my caring responsibilities for my mother-in-law who, despite living quite independently at 93-years-old, was widowed during the Covid lockdown and requires help with shopping and all the other bits and pieces that become so much more difficult when we get that little bit older.

Throughout all of this my job as Marketing Manager at Bell Ingram has been a lifeline, not just financially (as my husband was forced to retire earlier than expected due to a stroke), but as a means of living a life outside caring. Just having a natter with other people and hearing the banter of office life is a real tonic when things are rough at home.

I consider myself extremely lucky to work for a company which believes that supporting carers is the right thing to do and this ethos has allowed me to stay in a job that I love and progress my career.

It’s important to stress that Bell Ingram doesn’t just pay “lip-service” to carer inclusion. In practical terms, my boss has given me the green light to work from my parents’ home two days a week which has been a game-changer. Instead of driving back and forward from Perth to Glasgow twice a week, I now have a home office in their flat where I can do a full day’s work, while still being available to cook meals, let in doctors and carers, and keep an eye on them during the night.

Being a carer can be overwhelming at times and I also count myself blessed to work with people who have been amazingly supportive when I’ve had a bit of a tearful meltdown in ladies’ loo or on one mortifying occasion while serving drinks at our stand at the Royal Highland Show!

I am also part of Bell Ingram’s Carer Network which was formed recently as a platform for colleagues who identify as carers to talk frankly about the challenges of juggling our caring responsibilities with our working lives.

We met for the first time on Teams earlier this month and I found it really helpful to share my experiences with people who fully appreciated the physical and emotional toll of caring for loved ones.

It was also a chance to share information about the support that’s available from local or national charities, benefits that can be claimed, and tips on how carers can maintain their own well-being.

I know it’s a cliché but the last three years have been a rollercoaster for me and my family, and it’s taught me to be grateful for what I’ve got, to celebrate the small wins and not dwell on the future. I may not be travelling the world like my in-laws did at my age, but I have my family, my friends and a job I love … and that’s more than enough.