The Tuberculosis (Scotland) Order 2023: business and regulatory impact assessment

Consultation

Within Government

The Scottish Government have discussed the proposed changes from the 2022 public consultation with APHA, the Scottish Government’s lead operational delivery partner for implementing TB control policy.

The Scottish Government also consulted with colleagues in Defra and the Welsh Government at an early stage to review both current provisions and recent disease control amendments for bovine TB within their jurisdictions and to identify what other changes are being considered for the future. Colleagues in the devolved administrations have been kept up to date through groups such as the TB Liaison Group, the Cattle Vaccination group and the Badger Vaccination group.

Defra consulted and launched a Call for Views in 2021 and the Welsh Government consulted in early 2022 on changes to TB legislation and the outcomes of these consultations have been considered as part of these proposals.

Public Consultation

The consultation on proposed amendments to the Tuberculosis (Scotland) Order 2007, as amended, was live on Citizens Space from 9 May 2022 until 1 August 2022 - a total period of 12 weeks. This consultation set out proposals to introduce changes to disease control measures and compensation arrangements for bovine TB in Scotland.

There were 19 responses to the consultation, and this included 7 key stakeholder organisations, such as National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS), the Scottish Beef Association (SBA), the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA). Disease control for Bovine TB is quite a specialised subject, and so a limited number of responses is not entirely unexpected.

The consultation helped to gauge attitudes towards these proposals and supported decision making on whether proposals would be taken forward or not. It also helped to identify any unanticipated impacts that these changes would have on the farming industry.

The responses provided useful feedback which has been used to inform how Scotland’s TB policy will be developed. It was clear that there was support among the various respondent groups for the changes proposed. SG has therefore decided to take forward six out of the eight changes consulted on.

Change implemented in The Tuberculosis (Scotland) Amendment Order 2022

Amend the provisions for the application of diagnostic tests, to include a requirement for the prior written permission of Scottish Ministers where non-statutory and private samples are taken with the intention of applying a diagnostic test for TB.

Changes being implemented in 2023 Consolidation

• End the practice of accepting a clear final short interval test (SIT) at the end of all TB breakdowns as a valid pre-movement test. – The majority of respondents (78.95%) agreed with this proposal, with several respondents expressing that they supported it on the grounds that they believed it would reduce the risks to Scotland’s OTF status.
• Shorten the period during which a pre-movement test with negative results remains valid, from the current 60 days to 30 days after tuberculin injection. – The majority of respondents (84.21%) agreed with this proposal, with several respondents commenting that this would reduce the risk of disease entering Scotland and further protect Scotland’s OTF status.
• Reduce compensation for unclean cattle at slaughter by 50%. – A slight majority agreed (63.16%), commenting that public money shouldn’t be spent when there is bad husbandry, and penalties will keep incidents low, encourage best hygiene practices and promote good cattle biosecurity.
• Include requirements for ‘isolation’ in legislation to ensure that proper isolation of reactors and inconclusive reactors is undertaken. – Everyone who responded to this proposal agreed with it, and only one respondent did not answer. Many agreed that this would be useful in conjunction with clear advice from APHA or their private vet.
• Reduce compensation for reactors or inconclusive reactors which are not properly isolated. - A small majority agreed with this proposal (52.63%) with respondents stating that this should be common sense and would be a failure in biosecurity, for which a reduction in compensation would be appropriate.

Changes not being implemented

• Strengthen the TB isolation requirements by specifying a location for isolation to take place – Although a small majority (52.63%) agreed with this proposal, it would require a significant amount of resource to action, and the benefit was not considered to be great enough to change this from the status quo. Feedback from APHA highlighted that it is often difficult to know the location where an animal will be isolated when TB infection is initially disclosed, and this would be difficult to implement given the farmer may need to change this location. A more appropriate route was considered to be providing clear guidance on the isolation requirements, in tandem with the requirements which will be provided through a change in legislation.
• Include a reduction in compensation where subsequent reactors in the herd are found as a result of a failure to properly isolate a reactor or inconclusive reactor (IR) - The majority of respondents disagreed with this proposal (52.63%) with many noting that this would be very difficult to prove and infection could occur for a number of reasons other than insufficient isolation of a reactor or IR. Following internal discussion on the consultation result, it was agreed that proving the source would be difficult and as a result the proposal is not being taken forward.

A full analysis of the consultation results is available on the Scottish Government website.

Business

As well as being made publicly available on the Scottish Government website, the consultation was issued directly to a wide range of stakeholder groups, including livestock businesses and associations, enforcement agencies and animal health organisations with a potential interest.

The proposals outlined in the consultation were discussed with a range of stakeholder groups at the SG Animal Health and Welfare General Stakeholder Meetings, with regular reminders of where members could respond to the consultation. This group contains members with an active interest in this consultation from a range of organisations, such as the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA), the British Veterinary Association (BVA), and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). This was followed up with written correspondence to encourage these stakeholders to provide their views to the consultation.

Communications

The consultation was advertised through the SG website and through regular posts on the SG social media channels. In addition, the audience of these posts was boosted by organising retweets from the Chief Veterinary Officer Scotland and APHA.