A sum of £100,000 will be allocated to local councils to manage seagull populations prior to a summit on Tuesday, as announced by the Scottish Government.
Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie will lead a summit in Inverness on Tuesday, gathering council representatives, NatureScot, waste management companies, community organisations, and others to address the disturbances caused by seagulls and potential solutions.
The funding, provided by NatureScot, will facilitate the implementation of deterrents, which may include lasers, noise devices, roof spikes, and netting intended to prevent nesting.
The announcement follows months of political friction over seagull management, culminating in heated parliamentary exchanges between Conservative MSP Douglas Ross and government ministers. Ross had raised concerns about declining licensing approvals, citing statistics showing gull control licenses dropped dramatically from 2,041 in 2023 to just 505 in 2024. This sharp reduction has left communities and businesses struggling to address aggressive bird behavior that poses particular risks to children and elderly residents.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Fairlie emphasized the funding’s collaborative purpose: “This £100,000 is specifically about coordination and collaboration of local authorities… We need to understand habitats, we need to understand populations, we need to understand where their populations are growing, why that is bringing gulls into conflicts with humans and how we mitigate those problems”.
The funding comes as Scotland grapples with conflicting pressures around seagull management. NatureScot updated its licensing guidance in February 2024 following evidence that all five gull species breeding in Scotland have declined between 44% and 75% since 2000. The tightened criteria now require clear evidence of public health and safety risks before licenses are granted, moving away from previous approvals based on “nuisance” or “menace” factors.
This shift has created significant operational challenges for local authorities. Aberdeen City Council receives nearly 200 complaints annually about aggressive gull behavior, noise and property damage, primarily during April to September nesting seasons. However, councils report they have “no statutory powers or duty to deal with gulls” while facing mounting public pressure to address safety concerns.
Several Scottish councils have developed innovative approaches within existing constraints. Aberdeenshire Council is conducting a second year of trials using solar-powered sonar devices at schools and industrial sites, seeking evidence-based solutions before wider deployment. Inverness BID has secured funding reallocations up to £16,466 for pre-nesting management programmes, showing how business improvement districts are filling gaps in municipal responses.
Mr Fairlie said: “The summit allows us to share practical solutions, learn from real-world examples and identify gaps in current policies to develop a co-ordinated approach.
“We know that effective gull management often requires a range of solutions, particularly around litter management which provides food sources.
“Where public safety is at risk, NatureScot can issue control licences.
“Our focus now is on how we can prevent these issues from arising next year, with extra support provided – and I look forward to seeing the projects that this additional funding will help.
“By working directly with affected communities and expert advisers, we can ensure solutions are tailored to local circumstances with effective deterrents that make urban areas less attractive to gulls.”
Meanwhile, NatureScot chair Professor Colin Galbraith noted that the birds have adapted to food scarcity and climate changes by increasingly visiting urban areas, stating that the funding will assist councils to “develop proactive and collaborative plans to manage gulls in a way that balances their conservation with any control activities”.
This announcement follows shortly after a minister’s resignation in the wake of a confrontation with Tory MSP Douglas Ross regarding this issue.
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The £100,000 allocation, while symbolically significant, represents a modest response to what councils describe as an escalating crisis. Aberdeen City Council’s existing guidance emphasises that effective gull management requires sustained effort over several years, noting that “there is no quick fix to the problem of nuisance gulls, and control measures need to be kept up for several years to be effective”.
Success will likely depend on coordinated implementation of multiple strategies including waste management improvements, public education campaigns, and targeted use of non-lethal deterrents.
The summit outcomes and subsequent funding distribution will provide crucial indicators of whether Scotland can develop a sustainable approach to urban wildlife management that satisfies both conservation objectives and community needs.
