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Overview of the changes
1. Executive officials met with a number of key organisations, with an interest in the General Licences, in the course of 2005.
2. Differences in stakeholders' viewpoints were apparent in some areas. However, a broad consensus emerged for the need to make the licences clearer and more relevant. Clear in the sense that they should be easily understandable, unambiguous and easy to use; and relevant in several senses; firstly, that the licences fit the occupations of the people who use the licences, secondly that they are relevant to the present day needs of licence users; and thirdly, that they are relevant to the conservation status of the birds which are licensed to be controlled.
3. A way forward would be to rationalise the licences so that they better fit the various needs. For this reason the proposed new licences, which can be found at Annex A, are defined in terms of function, rather than, as presently, by method. At present a person wishing to take air safety measures, protect wild birds, agriculture or human health would have to read and understand several separate licences. It is proposed in future to have one licence for Air Safety, one for protecting Wild Birds, one for Agriculture and one for Public Health etc. The following list of licences is proposed:
4. This would result in fewer licences than under the current arrangements, 16 as opposed to the existing 23 - the reduction in number being achieved largely as a result of the rationalisation process. The only current licence which would be deleted would be SEGEN 11, which allows for the sale of three species of gulls, namely, the Great Black-backed, the Lesser Black-backed and the Herring Gull. This licence is proposed to be deleted as no current use for this licence is known.
5. The proposal also re-groups the licences to make the order of the licences more logical. The first four licences relate to the control of birds. The next three deal with caring for wild birds including cleaning out nest boxes. SEGEN 8 - SEGEN 12 are for the keeping, sale and showing of birds, 13 licences the taking of mallard eggs in certain circumstances, 14 is for the incubation of Schedule 4 Birds and 15 & 16 are for the sale of parts of dead birds and whole dead birds respectively.
Species Conservation Issues
6. There is concern that certain birds which appear on the current General Licences are birds of Red or Amber conservation status, namely Starlings, Sparrows, and the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, as identified by the leading governmental and non governmental conservation organisations in the UK.
7. In the case of starlings and sparrows, although they are birds of red conservation status in the UK as a whole, the Breeding Bird Survey 2003 showed no significant decrease in the numbers of these birds for Scotland in the period 1994-2003.
8. The Herring Gull, an amber listed bird, has been shown to be declining in Scotland, and the Lesser Black-backed gull is on the Amber List as the UK holds the majority of the global breeding population of the race L. f. graelsii. However, Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Back Gulls continue to cause a large amount of public safety concern to the public, and are also reputed to cause damage to grouse moors.
9. It is proposed where the damage a particular species of bird is thought to cause to a particular sector is minimal, the bird should come off the General Licence for that sector. This should especially be the case where the bird is a species of Amber or Red concern.
Traps and Cages
10. The only birds which it is proposed may be used in a Larsen Trap are Crow and Magpie. It is understood that in over 99% of cases it is these birds which are currently used, due to the threats they pose to game birds and their territorial behaviour, which makes them compatible with the use of this trap.
11. The new SEGEN 1 now makes it possible to use more than one bird as a decoy, and does not force the operator to destroy the old decoy bird at each visit.
12. A condition has been introduced to ensure that if a trap is left unattended, it must be immobilised in such a way that the immobilisation could not easily be reversed.
13. Traps must now be inspected at least every 24 hours, and the inspection must be a physical inspection.
General Conditions
14. For all control licences, if a person goes onto another person's land, even with permission, he or she must now make clear to that other person the purpose of their entry upon that land.
15. The conditions of the control licences have been tightened to ensure that the licences are not used as an excuse to 'cull' certain species on the basis that they are generally considered a pest species.
16. A person using a General Licence must now have considered alternative non-lethal methods of control, be convinced that they could not prove effective without excessive cost, and be able to explain their reasoning to an officer of the law if so required.
Shooting
17. The use of artificial light, sighting devices etc, is now only restricted to the control of feral pigeons.
Proposed Changes to the General Licences
The new SEGEN 1 (Land managers' Licence)
18. A licence for Game keeping has been created by amalgamating parts of current SEGEN 1, SEGEN 5, SEGEN 9, SEGEN 10, SEGEN 22 and SEGEN 23.
19. The newly proposed SEGEN 1 has been designed specifically with professional Gamekeepers, Conservationists and other land managers in mind. The new licence thus aims to exclude amateur usage of the licence, such as the siting of Larsen traps in residential gardens.
20. Due to their conservation status and the limited threat they pose to other wild birds, Herring, Greater Black-backed, and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Starling and Sparrow do not appear in this licence as they do not appear to present any significant threat to game rearing.
21. Feral pigeons have been retained on this licence as they pose a threat to food, including standing crops that are also available to other wild birds, and populations of feral pigeons may also act as reservoirs for psittacosis, salmonellosis, paramyxovirus and other diseases.
The new SEGEN 2 (Agriculture and Horticulture Licence)
22. A licence for agriculture has been created by amalgamating parts of current SEGEN 1, SEGEN 22 and SEGEN 23.
23. House Sparrow, Starling (except in the case of Orkney) and the Herring and Lesser Gulls have been removed from this licence, due to their red conservation status and the minimal threat they pose to agriculture.
The new SEGEN 3 (Health and Safety Licence)
24. A licence for Public Safety and Preventing the spread of Disease has been created by the amalgamation of SEGEN 1, SEGEN 10, SEGEN 22 and SEGEN 23.
25. This licence excludes Air Safety, which is now covered by SEGEN 4, and is limited to those species which may cause, on a fairly regular basis, a threat to public health or public safety, or pose a disease threat.
The new SEGEN 4 (Air Safety Protection Licence)
27. The proposed new licence combines current airport licence SEGEN 13 with elements of current SEGEN 10, SEGEN 1, and SEGEN 5.
28. The Collared Dove, the Jay and the Sparrow have been removed from this licence and Stock Dove and Mallard have been added. Oystercatcher and Lapwing have been added to the general list at the top of this licence, thus allowing their control and disturbance where necessary beyond the perimeter of the airport.
29. A condition in the proposed licence states that only airports which are implementing Civil Aviation document CAP 680 may make use of the General licence.
30. For airports, it is proposed that shooting from a mechanically propelled vehicle is permissible.
The New SEGEN 5 (Bird Rehabilitation Licence)
31. This licence combines the current SEGEN 12 and 21, and extends the period to fifteen days for which the RSPB and SSPCA may keep birds for the purpose of rehabilitation. It also licences police officers to receive and keep birds for the purpose of re-habilitation.
The new SEGEN 6 (Nest Box Licence)
32. This is the current SEGEN 15, allowing the removal of unsuccessful nest box eggs. Conditions have been tightened slightly to ensure that removed eggs are destroyed.
The new SEGEN 7 (Vets Licence)
34. This is the current SEGEN 19, allowing vets to keep certain Schedule 4 birds for purposes of treatment. There are no changes to the content.
The new SEGEN 8 (Sale of Captive Bred Native Species Licence)
35. This is an amalgamation of the current SEGEN 2 and SEGEN 8, allowing the sale of certain captive bred native birds including waterfowl.
The new SEGEN 9 (Mealy Redpoll Licence)
36. The previously separate licences for the keeping of and for the showing of the Mealy Redpoll ( SEGEN 17 and 18) have been combined into a single licence.
The new SEGEN 10 & SEGEN 11 (Competitive Showing of Birds Licences)
37. The current SEGEN 3 & 4, allowing the competitive showing of certain birds.
The new SEGEN 12 (Training of birds in show cages)
38. The previous SEGEN 14, allowing the keeping of certain birds in show cages for training purposes, but with no changes.
The new SEGEN 13 (Mallard egg Licence)
40. The current SEGEN 16, allowing mallard eggs to be taken, but with no changes to the content.
The new SEGEN 14 (Incubation of Schedule 4 chicks Licence)
41. Current SEGEN 20, allowing incubation of Schedule 4 chicks. There are no changes.
The new SEGEN 15 and SEGEN 16
42. These licences are the current SEGEN 6 and SEGEN 7, licensing the sale of dead birds and parts of dead birds.
Forestry and Fishery Derogations
43. The references to forestry and fisheries in the licences appear to be largely irrelevant and have been removed.
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