Police Scotland moves night shooting notices to dedicated inbox

Deer managers who shoot at night under NatureScot authorisation must now tell Police Scotland about planned shoots through a dedicated mailbox, with immediate effect. The change ends the use of the force’s Contact Us form, its general email address and 101 calls for night shooting notifications.

What has changed for night shooting notifications?

Notifications must be set out on the Notification of Authorised Shoot – Pest Control form and emailed to the force’s new planned-shoot mailbox, Plannedshoot@scotland.police.uk. The form sits at the foot of the firearms and explosives licensing page on the Police Scotland website.

No incident report number will be issued for notifications sent to the new mailbox, so the Scottish Association for Country Sports (SACS) advises holders to keep a copy of the email in their sent items for future reference. Police Scotland also no longer needs to be told when night shooting has finished.

Who does the change affect?

The new routine applies to holders of night shooting authorisations issued by NatureScot under section 18(2) of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996. NatureScot’s licensing team will write to all current authorisation holders about the change.

The authorised person’s wider duties are unchanged: the local police, neighbours and anyone who, to the best of their knowledge, is likely to be on the ground at the times night shooting will take place must still be informed.

SACS said the change “is simply best practice and should minimise the demands on both the certificate holder and the police”, adding that it removes “the need to dial 101 and endure the long wait”. The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has also alerted its members to the new routine.

What happens next

The change is already in force, so any night shooting planned from now on should be notified on the form and by email alone. Authorisation holders should look out for NatureScot’s letter, and can take questions to SACS or their own representative body.