Rural Affairs and Environment Committee, 17 Dec 2008

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Official Report 257KB pdf

---

Subordinate Legislation

---

Zoonoses and Animal By-Products (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/378)

Agenda item 3 is consideration of a Scottish statutory instrument subject to the negative procedure: the Zoonoses and Animal By-Products (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/378). The Subordinate Legislation Committee raised points on this SSI; the relevant extract from its report has been circulated to committee members. No motion to annul has been lodged, but I understand that Rhoda Grant wants to comment on it.

Under the heading "Consultation", the executive note reads:

"There has been no consultation on the amending Order"

because it is

"simply to set fees at … a level … to achieve full cost recovery."

However, there is still a cost to the industry from the instrument. I am a bit concerned because, even if there is no alternative, people should have been consulted, which would have allowed us to consider the instrument's impact on them. I spoke to the committee clerks about the issue, but I believe that they could not get a satisfactory answer. I am keen for us to write to the minister on the matter.

We do not need to complete consideration of the instrument today, so we can consider it again at our meeting of 7 January. In the meantime, we can write to the minister to inquire why the Government went down the road that it did. Would you be happy with that?

Yes.

Okay. I defer further consideration of the instrument until 7 January.