Chamber and committees

ScotEID in partnership with Scottish Government issued a press release in mid-September 2019 in relation to developments on cattle electronic identification (EID), electronic data transfer (EDT) and changes to systems for the registration of cattle in Scotland. The ScotEID team then completed more than 30 roadshow events across Scotland during the autumn and winter of 2019-2020, speaking to around 1800 cattle keepers.

The primary aim of the roadshows was to demonstrate EID technologies and gather views on the operation of the new systems on ScotEID for cattle identification, registration and movements. The feedback from these roadshows was positive and supportive of the use of EID technology. At present, CTS is unable to support the transition to EID and EDT, the ScotMoves + functionality will do so. Further information is available on the ScotEID website.

Scottish Government have worked with the industry for more than 10 years during the development of the ScotEID system, as a multi-species database for recording births, deaths and movements of livestock. The purpose of the system is to support disease prevention, control and eradication and the protection of public health, whilst maintaining national and international trade. The development of ScotMoves+ is the final element of additional functionality for the recording of cattle information onto ScotEID.

The following groups have been involved in an industry-SG working group during this work: National Farmers Union Scotland, Scottish Beef Association, Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, Scottish Crofters Federation, Scottish Dairy Cattle Association and Quality Meat Scotland.

The Cattle Tracing System (CTS) which currently records all GB cattle births, deaths and movements is being replaced. CTS was introduced in 1998 and has served the industry exceptionally well, however due to its age it is now a legacy IT system.

The ScotEID system, originally developed to implement sheep Electronic Identification (EID), is modern, flexible and able to support the introduction of bovine EID and electronic data transfer (EDT).

ScotMoves+ is an extension of ScotMoves, which was introduced in 2017 and is already used by around 50% of Scottish keepers to record within-business cattle movements (previously CTS linked holdings). ScotEID has been used since 2013 to implement Scotland’s Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, it has also been used to implement the Beef Efficiency Scheme and the Scotch Beef Potential Eligibility Checker (SPECC) and is therefore familiar to a high proportion of Scottish cattle keepers.

There is no additional cost for farmers when they transfer from CTS to the new ScotMoves+ system.

Cattle keepers who use farm management software to assist with their farm record-keeping and other operational decisions incur an annual support cost of around
‎ £200 per year. Some cattle keepers who are using out-of-date farm management software or not paying annual support fees will typically pay a £100 set-up fee, plus an annual support fee of £200 per year to re-join a farm management system.

We expect the journey to net zero to require major contributions from a range of renewable sources, which will include onshore and offshore wind turbines, but also other generation technologies such as solar, hydro and marine renewables. Our work to refresh the Energy Strategy over the coming year will consider the various pathways to net zero, and what that might mean in terms of renewable energy generation as a whole. In the meantime, we have announced an ambition to deliver up to 11GW of installed offshore wind by 2030, and will consult later this year on an ambition to see between 8-12GW of onshore wind developed in the same time frame

The Terms of Reference for the independent review is available on the Scottish Government website at: Aquaculture: external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Professor Russel Griggs is already appointed by the Scottish Ministers as the Chair of the Regulatory Review Group which considers regulation, finds ways of improving the regulatory system, advises Ministers on all aspects of Better Regulation and acts as an independent and informed judge of Scottish Government and its regulatory agencies’ Better Regulation performance.

Professor Russel Griggs has been appointed due to his knowledge and previous experience of considering the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory systems.

The Scottish Government will publish its Out of Home Action Plan on the Scottish Government website on 10 September 2021. It can be accessed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/diet-and-healthy-weight-out-of-home-action-plan.

We asked the Salmon Interactions Working Group to consider the conclusions of the 2018 report by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Salmon Farming in Scotland , and to provide recommendations on a future interactions approach.

As committed to in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme, we will respond to the Salmon Interactions Working Group Report this month and there will be a consultation on the spatially adaptive sea lice risk assessment framework for fish farms which has been progressed by the technical working group of statutory bodies.

The regulatory review will help to inform what more can be done within the current regime to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory framework and consider options on how to deliver further reform in the longer term.

An overview of the expected phases of the external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming can be found on the Scottish Government website at: Aquaculture: external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)