Hansard

The Convener Con

Welcome back. Our next agenda item is consideration of a draft Scottish statutory instrument. I welcome to the meeting Jim Fairlie, the Minister for Agricult...

The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity (Jim Fairlie) SNP

I am pleased to appear before the committee to discuss the Animal Health (Fixed Penalty Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2026. These regulations introduce a n...

The Convener Con

Thanks, minister. I put on the record that the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered the instrument yesterday and agreed that it had no recomm...

Tim Eagle Con

I do not have a particularly big problem with the regulations, but I want to clarify a couple of things, if that is all right. There were a lot of individual...

Jim Fairlie SNP

This is a health issue rather than a welfare one, and it should be clear that the two things are legislated for separately. The regulations relate directly t...

Tim Eagle Con

I asked about that because it comes up in the consultation responses. Are you happy with the consultation’s reach?

Jim Fairlie SNP

Yes. I get that some responses were not entirely supportive. We do not have all the details about why some people were not supportive of the regulations, alt...

Tim Eagle Con

The consultation analysis says:“Several respondents disagreed with FPNs … commenting that ‘the introduction of an FPN process risks bringing in an enforcemen...

Jim Fairlie SNP

I would always expect education to be the first port of call. If, for instance, somebody goes on to a farm and finds health-related issues, the first thing t...

Tim Eagle Con

Fine. I am happy.

Ariane Burgess Green

I am supportive of the SSI, but I have a number of questions that I would like to run through with you, minister.On deterrence and proportionality, do you co...

Jim Fairlie SNP

Yes, the penalties are proportionate. By and large, people do not want to commit crime—they do not want to do anything wrong. There are any number of circums...

Ariane Burgess Green

Do you intend to uprate the penalties over time?

Jim Fairlie SNP

We will review that as we go along. I am looking at my officials, but I do not think that there is anything specific at the moment that says that we will loo...

Ariane Burgess Green

My next question is why you think that there needs to be an early payment discount and whether you would consider removing it, or at least tightening its terms.

Jim Fairlie SNP

I will turn the question around. Do you have a concern about the early payment discount?

Ariane Burgess Green

There are concerns that discounting could undermine the deterrence and create a perception that breaches can be resolved quickly and quietly.

Jim Fairlie SNP

Okay. I see your point, but, as I said at the start, I hope that we will get to a position in which FPNs will not be needed, because the issues will have bee...

Ariane Burgess Green

I get the point that you are trying to provide a deterrent, but I have a couple more questions. On the discretion to extend the payment period, what criteria...

Jim Fairlie SNP

I will turn to Eilidh Wallace to answer those questions.

Eilidh Wallace (Scottish Government)

Extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We will provide information in the enforcement guidance that we are developing for enforcement agencie...

Ariane Burgess Green

My point is that there is a sense that 28 days, which is almost a month, is a reasonable amount of time, but it is good to hear that—

Jim Fairlie SNP

People might be in the guts of lambing and calving, so there will be circumstances in which people physically cannot make a payment.

Ariane Burgess Green

Thanks for clarifying that.In relation to transparency and oversight, is the Scottish Government willing to commit to annual publication of the headline data...

Jim Fairlie SNP

I know that we could do that, but I do not know the details. How would we do that?

Eilidh Wallace

Under section 81 of the Animal Health Act 1981, we can request information from enforcement agencies and gather that data, which we intend to publish. We alr...

Ariane Burgess Green

That is very helpful. I am looking for reassurance that FPNs will not be used as a substitute for prosecution in cases in which the offences are serious, del...

The Convener Con

I have a very quick question about appealing FPNs. Currently, appeals are reviewed by the relevant enforcement authority that issued the FPN. That could be t...

Jim Fairlie SNP

Currently, you would appeal to the authority that issued the FPN, but you would be dealing with a different person. If you wanted to appeal a notice that you...

The Convener Con

Thank you.As there are no further questions, we move to agenda item 4, which is formal consideration of the motion to approve the instrument. I invite the mi...