Meeting of the Parliament 01 October 2025 [Draft]
The issue of urban gulls resonates with many of us across the chamber. The concern has been raised repeatedly by constituents, councils and communities across Scotland. That is why, last Tuesday in Inverness, I convened the Scottish Government’s gulls summit, bringing together key stakeholders from across the country to address that growing challenge.
The summit was a direct response to the increasing public concern about the impact of gull populations in our towns and cities and to the commitment that I made in the chamber, in which I said that I take those concerns seriously and am determined to act to find solutions. For that reason, I worked with NatureScot to address the immediate dangers and issues that are being faced in the Elgin and Inverness areas, where it was clear that an area licence was required to deal with the immediate past nesting season. Outwith those areas, concerns have been expressed more broadly. Therefore, it was clear to me that there was a need for us to look nationally at the next steps. The first of those was the summit that I convened last week.
The primary purpose of the meeting was to listen, learn and begin shaping a co-ordinated national approach at pace. One of the functions of being a Government minister is to use that convening power to bring people into the room, which is particularly important when we have thorny issues—