Hansard

I am reluctant to close the petition, because the response from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency raises a number of questions. For example, I want to ask SEPA where we are with the research and the trials on potential biocontrol measures for invasive non-native species. I have heard that some biocontrol work is taking place, but we do not know where that has got to. It would be useful to find out how far SEPA has got with that research. Another issue that is raised by SEPA’s letter is the fact that the amount of money that is made available to tackle invasive non-native species seems to be going down on an annual basis, but the problem seems to be increasing. Are enough resources available? What the minister, SEPA and others have told us is that the voluntary control mechanism that has been put in place does not seem to be working. The minister says that two statutory control agreements have been put in place, and it would be useful to find out how successful those have been. A couple of weeks ago, there was an issue in my area with someone who claimed that they had a licence to clear Japanese knotweed. I doubt very much that the individual or the organisation that he claimed to be working for had such a licence. There are concerns about who has the right to remove non-native species such as Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and Himalayan balsam, so I would like us to get clarification of that. In the past, as I have mentioned previously, I have tried to find out which organisation to contact to report the illegal removal of Japanese knotweed. I discovered that there is no Scottish Natural Heritage or SEPA helpline at the weekend, and the police claim that it is not their responsibility to monitor such matters. For many people, it would be useful to know which organisation it is best to get in touch with. SEPA seems to say that it is SNH, while SNH says that it is not really sure, because the enforcement is sometimes SEPA’s responsibility. It would be useful to get clear guidance for members of the public to follow in relation to how to tackle the illegal removal or the spread of invasive non-native species in their communities.