Final vote on Scottish Government’s Natural Environment Bill ‘postponed’

Holyrood has delayed a final vote on a Bill that aims to protect biodiversity in Scotland and boost efforts on nature restoration.

The decision was made as debates on scores of amendments submitted to the Natural Environment Bill (Scotland) ran over schedule.

With more than 200 amendments put forward, Wednesday was the second consecutive night that MSPs sat late in the Scottish Parliament to vote on proposed changes to the legislation, which was brought forward by the Scottish Government.

But Deputy Presiding Officer Liam McArthur confirmed that the final vote on the Bill would not be able to take place on Wednesday evening.

He spoke to MSPs after a meeting of party business managers at Holyrood.

Mr McArthur said while they had agreed to continue with debates on the amendments, “the debate and final vote on the Bill will be postponed”.

The  Bill was introduced by the Scottish Government, with one of its key aims being to help tackle problems such as species decline.

If passed by Holyrood, the Bill would introduce a new duty on Scottish ministers to set legally binding targets for nature restoration.

It also sets out to modernise how national parks and deer are managed.