Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2024
We listened to those concerns, and it would be prudent in the extreme to make sure that we have something in place, just in case there is an emergency.
The member is well aware of what a flit of rats looks like. If a building is demolished in Glasgow, for instance, a flit of rats could move from that place and get into a hospital or a food preparation area. I envisage that glue traps could be used in such very limited circumstances.
The power also sets out that the Scottish ministers can put conditions on the authorisations. Conditions could include requiring users to have completed an accredited training course; requiring authorised persons to adhere to the standards that are set out by the training course; or requiring authorised persons to stay on site while glue traps are set.
Sales would also be restricted to authorised suppliers, and conditions can be placed on those authorisations to reduce the risk that members of the public would be able to continue to purchase and use glue traps—for example, it may be a condition that glue traps be kept behind the sales counter.
That power will be subject to affirmative procedure, so if an instrument was laid to create an authorisation scheme, it would be for the Parliament to decide whether such a scheme should come into effect.
My remaining amendments 2 and 7 to 10 are all consequential on other amendments in the group, so I encourage members to vote for them.