Current status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 12 May 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable, and, if not, for what reason.
The Scottish Government has no plans to make the Scottish Kept Birds Register publicly searchable.
The Scottish Kept Bird Register is a mandatory register for bird keepers in Scotland under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024. It was established to allow Scottish Government and its deliver body, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to send vital biosecurity information to bird keepers to minimise the risk of the spread of notifiable avian diseases, particularly highly pathogenic avian influenza. The register also supports mandatory surveillance activities during disease outbreaks. The information has also been used to help support public health response in the offer of vaccinations to poultry keepers.
In accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 a commitment was made to those registering, in the Scottish Kept Bird Register Privacy Notice, as to how the data collected would be used. This can be summarised as to determine the size and location of the kept bird population in Scotland, for communication and disease control activities during notifiable avian disease outbreaks, and for promoting bird welfare and public health.
To make this data public would be in breach of the Data Protection Act of 2018, as the Scottish Government would be unable to control the uses to which the data was being put. The Scottish Government is legally required to make arrangements to ensure that the data collected is retained securely and protected from data breach. This is in common with registers for other animals and livestock across Scotland held by Scottish Government.