S.C.F.
Amendment Paper as at
Thursday 6th February 2003
STANDING COMMITTEE F
HUNTING BILL
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the Committee [7th January 2003].
Paul Holmes
347
Schedule 1, page 23, line 30, at end insert—
'(8) The seventh condition is that the hunting does not involve the use of more than two dogs'.
Mr James Gray
295
Schedule 1, page 23, line 30, at end add—
'Dog Walking
8 A person does not contravene section 1 where a dog for which that person is responsible chases or pursues a wild mammal and where the person's principal purpose for having that dog in that place is to provide the dog with exercise or other benefits of access to an outdoor area, provided that he takes such steps as he can to bring that dog under control as soon as possible.'.
Mr Adrian Flook
351
Schedule 1, page 23, line 30, at end add—
'Exempt hunting of deer
8(1) Stalking a deer, or flushing it out of cover, is exempt hunting if the conditions in this paragraph are satisfied; and the provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply in the case of deer.
(2) The first condition is that the stalking or flushing out is undertaken in an area which has been certified by the Secretary of State as being an area where deer hunting has traditionally been practised (a "deer management area").
(3) The second condition is that the stalking or flushing out is undertaken in accordance with a deer management scheme prepared by owners and occupiers of agricultural and forestry land and owners of shooting rights on such land (in this paragraph referred to as "owners") and by other bodies or people in that area concerned in the management of deer herds ("the managers") and registered with and approved by the Secretary of State, for the following purposes—
| (a) | the prevention or reduction of serious damage which deer would, in the opinion of the managers, otherwise cause— |
| (ii) | to game birds or wild birds (within the meaning of section 27 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69)), |
| (iii) | to food for livestock, |
| (iv) | to crops (including vegetables and fruit), |
| (vi) | to other property, or |
| (vii) | to the biological diversity of an area (within the meaning of the United Nations Environmental Programme Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992); or |
| (b) | the culling of deer by shooting in order to maintain the size of the deer herds in such number as would, in the opinion of the managers, be conducive to the good health and well-being of those deer; or |
| (c) | the removal of dead animals or the killing of sick or injured animals, or |
| (d) | the stalking of flushing of one or more deer out of cover, or the moving of deer from one part of a deer management area to another, in order to minimise over-concentration of deer that might lead to excessive inter-breeding or be damaging to the health or well-being of herds of deer in other ways. |
(4) The third condition is that the stalking or flushing out takes place on land—
| (a) | which belongs to the person doing the stalking or flushing out, or |
| (b) | which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the owner or the managers of a deer management scheme. |
(5) The fourth condition is that the stalking or flushing out does not involve the use of more than six dogs and that on no occasion are dogs used for hunting for sport.
(6) The fifth condition is that for the purposes set out in sub-paragraphs (3)(a) and (b) above, but only for those purposes, reasonable steps are taken by the managers to ensure that as soon as possible after being found or flushed out the deer may, if this appears desirable for the health and well-being of the herd, be shot dead by a competent person:
| | Provided that such shooting does not detract from the purpose set out in sub-sub-paragraph (3)(b) above. |
(7) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with those concerned—
| (a) | make regulations for the registration of deer management schemes; |
| (b) | provide for the periodic review of a deer management scheme; and, |
| (c) | if in his opinion a deer management scheme is not operating as an effective method of managing and conserving the deer herds in the deer management area concerned, revoke his approval of that scheme. |
(8) The Secretary of State make make payments to the managers of a deer management scheme to cover the expenses of managing and operating that scheme.
(9) The hunting of deer in any area certified under sub-paragraph (2) above as a deer management area shall be exempt under this Act until one month after the Secretary of State has approved a deer management scheme in that area under sub-paragraph (3) above so as to give exemption in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph:
| | Provided that if no such approval has been given within six months after the coming into force of this Part of this Act in respect of an area certified by the Secretary of State to be a deer management area, the hunting of deer in that area shall then cease to be exempt.'. |
Mr Adrian Flook
353
Schedule 1, page 23, line 30, at end add—
'Deer hunting
8. The hunting of deer in any area specified as a deer management area shall be exempt until one month after the Secretary of State has made an order for the appointment of a Deer Management Trust in that area under section (Management and conservation of deer herds) of this Act:
| | Provided that if no such order is made within six months of the coming into force of this part of this Act in respect of an area specified by the Secretary of State to be a deer management area, the hunting of deer in that area shall then cease to be exempt.'. |
Mr Adrian Flook
352
Schedule 1, page 21, line 5, after 'mammal', insert 'other than a deer'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Peter Luff
Gregory Barker
Mr Adrian Flook
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr John Gummer
212
Schedule 1, page 21, line 39, at end insert—
'Mink
(1A) The hunting of mink is exempt if it takes place on land—
| (a) | which belongs to the hunter, or |
| (b) | which he has been given permission to use for the purpose by the occupier or, in the case of unoccupied land, by a person to whom it belongs.'. |
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
51
Schedule 1, page 22, line 1, leave out paragraphs 2 to 6.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
73
Schedule 1, page 22, line 1, leave out paragraphs 2 and 3.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Gregory Barker
Mr John Gummer
Mr Nicholas Soames
Mr Hugo Swire
207
Schedule 1, page 22, line 2, after 'rats', insert 'mink and stoats'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
74
Schedule 1, page 22, line 20, leave out paragraph 5.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
52
Schedule 1, page 22, line 21, at beginning insert 'Stalking or'.
Mr James Gray
297
Schedule 1, page 22, line 21, after 'Flushing', insert 'hunting, stalking, and killing'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
53
Schedule 1, page 22, line 21, after 'cover', insert 'or below ground'.
Mr James Gray
298
Schedule 1, page 22, line 22, leave out 'bird of prey' and insert 'raptor'.
Mr James Gray
299
Schedule 1, page 22, line 22, after 'hunt', insert 'stalk and kill'.
Mr James Gray
300
Schedule 1, page 22, line 26, at end insert 'or which can be reasonably expected to be used in the case of an errant raptor, or by those that are being rehabilitated, or by those that are to be released into the wild by the use of hacking'.
Mr Mike Hall
Mark Tami
Rob Marris
Albert Owen
Ms Candy Atherton
Diana Organ
341
Schedule 1, page 23, line 1, leave out from 'under' to end of line 3 and insert 'close control.'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
54
Schedule 1, page 23, line 11, after 'be', insert 'orphaned'.
Paul Holmes
344
Schedule 1, page 23, line 11, leave out 'diseased or' and insert 'seriously'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
55
Schedule 1, page 23, line 13, after 'mammal's', insert 'starvation or'.
Paul Holmes
345
Schedule 1, page 23, line 13, leave out 'its disease' and insert 'the wild mammal'.
Mr James Gray
Mr Edward Garnier
Mr Hugo Swire
Gregory Barker
56
Schedule 1, page 23, line 14, leave out sub-paragraph (4).
