Scottish ministers were warned more than two years ago that new powers to intervene in deer management were unworkable, legally risky and unlikely to deliver environmental benefits, according to documents released after a long-running freedom of information battle.
The briefing note, written by civil servants in June 2023 for then Minister Lorna Slater MSP, was only disclosed after Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) appealed to the Scottish Information Commissioner, who ruled that NatureScot had wrongly withheld it.
The advice relates to Section 6ZB of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, which would allow NatureScot to reduce deer numbers for undefined “nature restoration” purposes.
Rural organisations argue the plan is vague, ignores the impact of other herbivores, and threatens the collaborative system under which about 80% of deer management is carried out voluntarily by private estates.
Civil servants warned ministers that reducing deer alone would not deliver the Government’s objectives unless similar action was taken on sheep numbers. They stated that “significantly reducing deer numbers, without corresponding reductions in sheep numbers… will not produce the required results… and will therefore be, in effect, a waste of public money and effort.”
Yet Ministers have repeatedly insisted livestock numbers will not be cut. Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon told the 2025 Royal Highland Show: “Let me be crystal clear: this government has no policy, and will have no policy, to cut livestock numbers.”
Officials also highlighted legal risks, noting that expanding intervention powers beyond preventing damage could attract challenges under European human rights legislation, particularly on property rights.
Despite the warnings, the Scottish government included the powers when the Bill was introduced in February 2025. MSPs will debate amendments on Wednesday (3 December), with a contentious committee session expected. Rural groups say the FOI release confirms their long-standing concerns.
Tom Turnbull, chair of the Association for Deer Management Groups (ADMG), said the proposals take “a one size fits all approach” and fail to consider other grazing pressures, warning they “could risk jobs and livelihoods in the deer sector.”
Peter Clark, Scotland director of BASC, said the powers were “wholly unworkable” and that “the Scottish government ploughed on regardless and put the powers in the Bill” despite civil service advice.
Scottish Gamekeepers Association chair Alex Hogg said the measures would “destabilise the voluntary deer sector and cost jobs at a time when deer managers need to be valued.”
SLE’s Ross Ewing said it was “deeply concerning” that Ministers were warned in 2023 yet proceeded anyway. “To continue with these proposals would be to introduce legislation that their own officials say will waste public money and effort, while exposing the government to entirely avoidable legal challenges,” he said.
