NEWS
| Approved Witness briefings | 25 October 2011 |
| Dates for next Approved Witness Briefing Sessions are as follows
14 November 2011 Edinburgh start time 19.45 hrs the Pitcairn Centre, High St, Bonnyrigg, Edinburg EH19 2AE 23 November 2011 Newtonstewart start time 19.30 hrs Venue Hunting Lodge Hotel, Newtonstewart, Co Tyrone BT78 4HR 6 December 2011 Marford Mill start time 16.00 hrs 6 December 2011 Fordingbridge start time 19.30 hrs You must notify Mandy Short DMQ Administrator on 01244 573025 to reserve your place at your selected venue. |
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| DMQ appoint new External Verifier for Scotland | 14 August 2011 |
| DMQ is pleased to announce the appointment of Rognvald Taylor as the new External Verifier (Scotland). The primary responsibility of this post is to quality assure the assessment processes for the award of the Deer Stalking Certificate at the 5 Scotland based DMQ Accredited Assessment Centres. Mr Taylor is at present an External Verifier with SQA for Game Management and Agriculture, and has recently left the post of Assistant Principal at North Highland College (Thurso). He has extensive deer management experience, and has had a close relationship with DMQ over many years. |
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| Firearms (Amendment) Regulations 2010 | 10 October 2010 |
| The Firearms (Amendment) Regulations 2010 came into effect on the 28th July 2010. The effect of the regulations is to raise the age at which people in England, Wales and Scotland may purchase or hire firearms or ammunition from the current 17 years of age to 18. There are also changes to the exemptions for lending and borrowing firearms regarding adult supervision of under 18's. There are also changes to Northern Ireland legislation. The regulations stem from the European Weapons Directive 1991 as amended in 2008. The UK are obliged to adopt changes within two years of any new Directive being passed. Full details may be found on the BASC website. |
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| Muntjac releases | 10 October 2010 |
| Natural England have clarified the position on where Muntjac may be released, in the following statement: " The original list of 12 counties came from a DoE policy document published in 1997, at the time that muntjac were added to Sch 9. This was simply a policy position, reflecting the ‘core’ distribution of muntjac at the time, where it was considered that limited releases would have no significant impact on further establishment or spread. Since the formation of Natural England, and our taking over this area of licensing, we have updated this position, modifying the list of ‘core’ counties in line with the changes in muntjac distribution over the last decade or so. The twelve core counties were: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Warwickshire. As a result of the expansion in range since 1997, the core counties have been increased to include Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Greater London. As a result of changes to county boundaries they also now include the county of Rutland. So the total is now 16, though one of these additions is simply as a result of boundary changes. This is simply a change in licensing policy. The legislation (Wildlife & Countryside Act) does not impose any restrictions on where licences can be issued, so there has been no change to the legislation. Incidentally, the requirement to release at site of capture or within 1km if that is not possible, is also simply policy, rather than something written into the legislation." |
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| DCS merges with SNH | 6 September 2010 |
| On 1 August, the Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS) merged with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Details of the merger and SNH's new role in managing Scotland's deer can be found on the SNH website. |
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| DMQ appoint new Board Members | 26 May 2010 |
| DMQ is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Directors: Bob McIntosh, who has been appointed Chairman, and Judith Webb. Andrew Hoon continues as Chief Executive. Dr McIntosh is a Forestry Commissioner, holding the post of Director Scotland within the Forestry Commission. Since 2005 he has chaired the Best Practice Steering Group, which oversees the production of Wild Deer Best Practice guidance notes and demonstration events in Scotland. He brings a wealth of knowledge and influence to bear, which is particularly valuable in the light of new Scottish legislation proposals made concerning competence. Ms Webb is a Non-Executive Forestry Commissioner, and chairs the England & Wales Best Practice Steering Group. She holds a number of other public appointments in the environmental field, Chairs the England Woodland Biodiversity Group, and has been a Trustee Director of the Deer Initiative. |
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| Proposed changes to Scottish Deer Law | 22 October 2009 |
| A consultation paper was published recently by the scottish government on changes to deer law in Scotland, that will affect all who wish to stalk unaccompanied in Scotland. The consultation paper can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/WildNatEnvBill.
The DMQ response can be viewed or downloaded |
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| Trained Hunter Upgrade | 11 May 2009 |
| Any DSC1 holder registered before 1 May 2006 who has not converted to Trained Hunter, may do so by sitting a Game Meat Hygiene assessment (by arrangement with any Assessment Centre) and paying the appropriate fee to the Assessment Centre. This fee will include the re-assessment cost plus a payment of £15 to DMQ for the re-issue of the certificate.
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| Latest Wild Game Guide published | 2 October 2008 |
| An updated version of the FSA wild game guide was published on 1 October 2008. Targeting hunters who supply game that has not been plucked or skinned and those selling small quantities of wild game meat, it gives information on hygiene regulations and ways to make sure meat is safe to eat. The Agency produced the guide in partnership with the Meat Hygiene Policy Forum Working Group and the Wild Game Group, which is made up of stakeholders from the wild game meat industry. The guide covers food safety advice, commonly-asked questions, approved game handling establishments and relevant training options. There is an easy-to-follow flowchart on hygiene regulations and checklists for hunters to follow. |
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| New Witness Guide published | 16 April 2008 |
| A new Guide has been published for both Accredited and Credible Witnesses. It is available as a PDF file for downloading, or from DMQ. The Guide contains advice on witnessing procedures, an example of a completed Individual Cull Record, and examples of questions that might be asked during a witnessed stalk. | |
| Changes to DSC1 Visual Assessment | 24 January 2008 |
| Candidates are shown 20 images covering the 6 species of wild deer in the UK. Now the species and the sex have to be identified for each image, and both must be correct to gain a mark. To pass, candidates must obtain at least 16 marks out of the possible 20. | |
| New DSC1 question banks | 17 October 2007 |
| Following changes to Game, and Deer, Laws in England
and Wales, question banks for DSC1 have been updated.
PDF versions can be downloaded via the following links: Written assessment Meat Hygiene assessment Safety assessment |
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| Bluetongue now in UK | 28 September 2007 |
| The notifiable disease Bluetongue has been confirmed
on farms in Suffolk. Information on Bluetongue, and the latest position,
can be found at the following website pages: DEFRA The Deer Initiative BASC BDS |
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| Changes to Deer laws and to Game laws | 10 August 2007 |
| An Order
which comes into force on 1 October 2007 will amend the Deer Act,
1991 in the following ways: 1. Allow the use of 0.22 centre fire rifles for shooting Muntjac & Chinese Water Deer; 2. Allow any reasonable means of humanely dispatching deer that are suffering due to illness or disease; 3. Allow dependent deer to be taken or killed if they have been, or are about to be, deprived of their mother, at any time of the year; 4. Enable licences to be issued to kill or take deer during the close season where there is a serious risk that the deer will cause deterioration of the natural heritage or there is a serious risk to public health and safety, provided there is no other satisfactory alternative; 5. Enable licences to be issued to kill or take deer at night for the reasons outlined in 4 above and to prevent serious damage to property provided there is no other satisfactory alternative. 6. Shorten the close season for female red, roe, sika and fallow deer by moving the commencement date to 1st April. 7. Introduce a close season for Chinese Water Deer and hybrid species from 1st April to 31st October inclusive. To maintain protection for female Chinese Water Deer the close season will also apply to males as it is difficult to distinguish between the two sexes. 8. Amend the meaning of mechanically propelled vehicle in the Deer Act to permit discharging of firearms or projecting missiles from a mechanically propelled vehicle that is stationary and the engine is not running. The licensing authorities will be Natural England and The Welsh Assembly Government in England and Wales respectively. An Order which came into force on 1 August 2007 removes requirements in England and Wales for venison to be sold only to game dealers and allows venison which was legally obtained to be sold in the Close Season. There will be no requirement to hold a Game licence in England or Wales. These changes will be reflected in assessments as the Orders come in to force |
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| Deer Commission accept DSC2 for Fit and Competent | |
| The Deer Commission for Scotland has accepted the DSC2 as evidence of competence in culling deer for inclusion on the Fit & Competent Register. The current proviso, however, is that only those awarded in the last 5 years are acceptable, as there is a DCS requirement for a 5 year review. DMQ and the DCS are discussing how to take this forward in the future. |
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