Environment and Rural Development Committee, 27 Sep 2006

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Official Report 231KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2006 (Draft)

We have one affirmative instrument to consider. The Parliament must approve the draft Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2006 before it can be formally made. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development, Ross Finnie, is here to move the motion in his name inviting the committee to recommend to the Parliament that the draft order be approved. I welcome the minister and his officials. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has considered the order and circulated a note of its comments to us.

Before we debate the motion, we have an opportunity for colleagues to clarify any purely technical measures or to allow explanation of detail while the officials are at the table. Once the motion is moved and we move into the formal debate, the officials will not be able to participate.

I ask Ross Finnie to introduce his officials and to make any opening remarks. We will then move to questions and clarifications.

Thank you, convener. I am joined this morning by John Paterson, Claire McGill and Ian Strachan, all of whom operate in the animal health and welfare element of the Executive.

As the committee will be aware, this is the first order made under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. The order amends and repeals provisions in both primary and secondary legislation, which is why it is before the committee. Despite the complicated legal text, the purpose of the order is fairly simple. It amends provisions and references in a number of existing acts that deal with the welfare of animals to refer to the 2006 act. Where appropriate, it removes references to the Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act 1912. That will ensure that existing legislation is amended to take account of the provisions of the principal act.

Most of the substantive provisions of the 2006 act will be commenced on 6 October. The order has been laid in advance of commencement to allow the amendments made by it to apply from a date shortly after commencement. As the committee is aware, it is our intention to replace most of the existing animal health and welfare acts that the order amends by introducing new secondary legislation. As I indicated during the passage of the 2006 act, that process will take some time and in some cases will require additional consultation exercises. In the meantime, it is necessary to keep the existing provisions but to amend them to take account of the new act.

My officials and I will be happy to take any questions to clarify anything in the order that committee members wish to pursue.

Can I clarify that the order basically ensures that people who have committed a crime in the past or been found guilty of an offence under animal health and welfare legislation are prevented from looking after animals or having them under their control? Is that a correct interpretation?

Yes, that is one purpose. We are delighted that you have summarised the order so succinctly.

I have a point of information. You referred to the difficulties of understanding the legalistic wording and I had some difficulty in understanding what is intended, so can you confirm that none of the consequential provisions relates to the proposed banning of the shortening of dogs' tails?

That is not a matter before you at all. It is a delight yet to come.

If you go on too long, minister, we will ask you when the other regulations are coming. I would be very careful.

Schedule 2 makes changes to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995. Do they apply to individuals who are employed in a slaughterhouse or to the establishment?

The amendment in the order applies to the process for somebody seeking a licence to operate as a slaughterman.

Would that apply to the person in charge of the slaughterhouse rather than each individual? Would there be a vetting procedure for people working in an establishment?

I do not think so. I think that it would apply to the individual slaughterhouse.

It is for the slaughterhouse.

No, it applies to the individual slaughterman. We want to ensure that someone convicted of an offence under the 2006 act cannot get a slaughterman's licence or, indeed, can have their slaughterman's licence removed.

So there will be an onus on people who run slaughterhouses or abattoirs to ensure that their employees do not have any convictions under the act.

No, they have to ensure that anyone they employ has a slaughterman's licence.

The proposed changes are to the process of applying for a licence.

How will someone implementing the order or issuing a licence know that a person has previous convictions? Will there be a list of such people?

I am working with the Crown Office and another establishment in Scotland to get that information, which will be held by DEFRA on a central UK database. The database will provide details of anyone who has been convicted of any type of animal welfare offence. In that sense, it will be very similar to the sex offenders register.

So any court conviction would automatically go on to the central register.

It will be notified to the register and the organisations responsible for issuing licences, such as local authorities, will have access to that information.

So it is a bit like a Scottish Criminal Record Office check, except that the check will be carried out by a potential employer—

No. In most cases, the check will be carried out by the local authority which, after all, issues the licences.

So the local authority will carry out the checks.

That is correct.

As there are no other questions, we will move to the debate.

Motion moved,

That the Environment and Rural Development Committee recommends that the draft Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2006 be approved.—[Ross Finnie.]

Do you wish to speak to the motion, minister?

I have nothing further to add, convener.

Members do not seem to have any comments—indeed, I think that the committee is very happy with the order. We have certainly been interested in hearing how the system will operate and are pleased to find that it will have some rigour.

As it is at my discretion to give the minister the chance to wind up and given that there has been no debate, I think that we will quit while we are ahead and go straight to the question.

Motion agreed to.

That the Environment and Rural Development Committee recommends that the draft Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2006 be approved.

We will inform the Parliament of our decision. Minister, I thank you and your officials for attending this morning. You may now leave.

I am obliged.

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TSE (Scotland) Amendment (No 3) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/430)<br />Cereal Seed (Scotland) and Fodder Plant Seed (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/448)

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Plant Protection Products (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations<br />(SSI 2006/449)<br />Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/450)

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Pig Carcase (Grading) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (SSI 2006/451)

We will now consider five sets of regulations under the negative procedure. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has considered all the instruments, but has commented only on the first of them. Members will find the relevant extract of that committee's report in their papers.

As members have no comments or questions, I take it that everyone is content with the instruments and happy to make no recommendation to Parliament.

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you.

As agreed last week, we now move into private session to discuss our supplementary stage 1 report on the Environmental Levy on Plastic Bags (Scotland) Bill. I invite the public, the press, any visiting members, the official report and broadcasting staff to leave.

Meeting continued in private until 12:13.