Regulatory Reform (Game) Order 2007

I hope I can answer the noble Lord’s final point by saying that during the course of this year, of which half is left, the Scottish Executive will be reviewing the situation regarding game licences in Scotland. I hope that they will arrive at a sensible conclusion, as I am sure that they will seek to do, as we do not want any cross-border issues like this. I suspect that the position is exactly the same in that it is not cost-effective to issue game licences. The legislation would be the original legislation. The money would be chickenfeed—it is an excessive piece of bureaucracy and an archaic piece of law. The consultation for the order included the question of Sundays, which proved incredibly controversial. This is not to say that it was good or bad, but it was so controversial that it would not be suitable for a regulatory reform order. The reason the House has approved the regulatory reform order process for changing primary legislation is because, generally speaking, it would not be done on a controversial issue, for which primary legislation would be required. In the consultation, support for two of the three issues to get on with it was over 90 per cent, while support for the other one was in the 70s. The noble Baroness referred to poaching. That part of the law is not being changed; taking game illegally is still illegal. I hope that Scotland will review matters. On the sale of game birds, the burden of proof will be on the prosecuting authority. I understand from my background notes that the policing of the legislation will be done by the police. The prosecuting authority, whether it is the local authority or other such body, will need to prove whether the birds were taken illegally. That is in response to the point of the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale. I hope that we can reach a satisfactory outcome regarding the Scottish situation. A similar range of legislation applies there, and a review will be under way during the course of this year. I think I have answered all the questions, but if not, I will try again.