Meeting of the Parliament 09 December 2014
I thank committee members, and the committee clerks and support staff, for their help in working through the bill in the Health and Sport Committee. I also thank Joseph Robertson, the Food Standards Agency in Aberdeen and the other organisations that hosted the committee’s visit. It certainly made our job easier to see how the bill will impact in practice. The bill could have been very dry and difficult to deal with, but when we saw how companies had to put food standards and labelling into practice, that made it a lot easier for us to scrutinise the legislation.
I congratulate Ross Finnie on his appointment as chair of food standards Scotland; it is very welcome, and every member in the chamber has been happy to congratulate him on it, and wish him all the best in his new role.
We are supportive of the bill and recognise the need for it following the breaking up of the Food Standards Agency at UK level. We hope that it will provide a really robust regulatory regime that protects consumers, because consumers needs and protection must be at the heart of everything that food standards Scotland does. Those high standards not only protect consumers but help to promote our produce and protect our producers, as they give them the reputation—which other members have mentioned in the debate—that allows them to sell their products not only in Scotland but throughout the UK, in Europe and beyond.
I ask the minister to bring forward a procedure for appeal against the fixed-penalty notice, which a number of members including Nanette Milne and Jackson Carlaw mentioned. It is important that justice is seen to be done and is seen to be fair. Many people are keen on the fixed-penalty notice because it cuts through bureaucracy, time and cost, but it also needs to be fairly administered to ensure that any errors can be picked up and that people have a right to appeal against any judgment that is made.
I turn—as Richard Simpson said I would—to trading standards officers. An awful lot of the regulation will come from food standards Scotland, but we must ensure that it works and that the inspection and examination are done by local government, through trading standards officers, meat inspectors, food hygiene inspectors and environmental health officers. All those professionals have vital roles to play in protecting consumers and making sure that the work of food standards Scotland is carried out properly and is regulated at ground level. However, local government is facing cuts, and the worry is that the regime that food standards Scotland implements will not be properly policed at council level. We are looking for some reassurance that that will happen in order to protect consumers and producers alike.