Request about Information in Relation to Farm Animal Species

Your request was about the following information:

‘I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘the Act’) to please request the following information in relation to farm animal species only during the years 2022 and 2023 (broken down by year):

Q1. How many welfare complaints did you receive in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses?

Q2. How many welfare complaints did you investigate in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses?

Q3. How many slaughterhouses are under your authority?

Q4. How many slaughterhouses in your jurisdiction were inspected one or more times? For the avoidance of doubt, if the same slaughterhouse was inspected more than once then it should only be recorded once.

Q5. How many inspections at separate slaughterhouses showed non-compliance with animal welfare law? For the avoidance of doubt, if the same slaughterhouse was inspected more than once and showed non-compliance each time, then it should only be recorded once, similarly if it showed compliance on one inspection and not the other, then it should also be recorded as one.

Q6. How many slaughterhouses were inspected more than once in your jurisdiction?

Q7. What were the total number of inspections that were conducted in your jurisdiction?

Q8. What was the total number of inspections conducted in slaughterhouses in your jurisdiction that found non-compliance with animal welfare law?

Q9. What was your body’s budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement?

Q10. What enforcement action was taken by you out of the following when an inspection revealed non-compliance: a. Prosecution b. Enforcement notices under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations (Scotland) 2012 c. Improvement notices under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 d. Referral to another body and if so which one

Q11. How many prosecution proceedings did you commence or refer to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service or the local authority for prosecution for offences named in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006? a. Of those proceedings, how many resulted in a successful prosecution?

Q12. How many prosecution proceedings did you commence or refer to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, or the local authority for prosecution for offences named in the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012? a. Of those proceedings, how many resulted in a successful prosecution?

Q13. How many individuals subject to any of the above enforcement action had previously committed an animal welfare offence?

Q14. How many welfare complaints were referred to a local authority or APHA for enforcement of on farm or transport welfare issues?

Q15. In handling future freedom of information requests, is your authority able to respond to questions through a Google Form as an alternative to email response to enhance accessibility and efficiency?

We then asked you for some further information in order to identify and locate the information that you have asked for. In particular, we asked you to clarify the following points:

• Can you please clarify what is meant by “welfare complaints”? Do you refer to complaints received by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) from members of the public?

• In relation to questions 4-8, can you please clarify what is meant by “inspections”?

You replied:

• 'By 'welfare complaints' I mean where anyone has reported to the FSS any concerns with the way farmed animals are being treated. This could be members of the public, veterinary experts, or employees at the facilities in question.'

• 'Inspection' means where someone employed or instructed by the FSS attends a location where farmed animals are in an official capacity to investigate and assess the welfare and treatment of the farmed animals.’

Year 2022

A1. In Food Standards Scotland (FSS) we received no welfare complaint in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses.

A2. N/A

A3. 25 slaughterhouses are under FSS’s authority.

A4. 25 slaughterhouses in FSS’s jurisdiction were inspected one or more times.

A5. FSS approved premises with farmed animals are inspected on a daily basis, through FSS Official Veterinarians (OV). Most of the daily inspections in approved premises end with no Animal Welfare (AW) deficiencies. However every FSS approved slaughterhouse had at least one non compliance over the reporting period. Please see breakdown provided in Answer 8.

A6. 25 slaughterhouses were inspected more than once in FSS’s jurisdiction.

A7. Every operational day of every slaughterhouse in Scotland.

A8. As previously mentioned, all slaughterhouses in FSS’s jurisdiction have daily inspections. In 2022 we observed 333 non compliances.

A9. Under the Service Level Agreement (SLA) FSS have with Scottish Government (SG), animal welfare is split into 3 parts as tabled below:

• Annex 4 - Inspection, verification, and enforcement of the legislation for animal welfare standards to be undertaken by the OV, in line with instructions set out in the Scottish Manual for Official Controls (SMOC).

• Annex 4a - Services in Annex 4 also apply to broilers. However, to implement the Retained EU Welfare Directive 2007/43, additional enforcement and verification processes are necessary for intensively reared broilers.

• Annex 5 - The Head Veterinarian will provide assurances that the identified individuals who require a Certificate of Competency (CoC) to carry out any of the killing and related operations undergo training and independent final assessment in accordance with Article 21 of Retained Regulation 1099/2009.

2022/23 FY
Annex 4	Animal Welfare	£66,191.16
Annex 4a	Broiler Directive	£6,616.49
Annex 5	Delivery animal welfare priorities 15	£42,219.94

A10.

a. Prosecution - 1

b. Enforcement notices under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations (Scotland) 2012 – 2 in 2022

c. Improvement notices under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 - None

d. Referrals to Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Trading Standards (TS)

A11. FSS commenced or referred 2 prosecution proceedings to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal (PF) Service or the local authority for prosecution for offences named in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

a. Of these 2: one case – no proceedings by PF; the other pending trial is in 2024

A12. None.

A13. None.

A14. In 2022 in total 291 cases were referred to ALPHA and Local Authorities (LA). You can find below the breakdown of these cases:

• APHA - 130 cases

• Local Authorities - 161

A15. All future Freedom of Information Requests to FSS can only be done via the FSS Openness Mailbox (openness@fss.scot).

Year 2023

A1. In Food Standards Scotland (FSS) we received 1 welfare complaints in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses.

A2. In FSS we investigated 1 welfare complaints in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses.

A3. 24 slaughterhouses are under FSS’s authority.

A4. 24 slaughterhouses in FSS’s jurisdiction were inspected one or more times.

A5. FSS approved premises with farmed animals are inspected on a daily basis, through FSS Official Veterinarians. Most of the daily inspections in approved premises end with no Animal Welfare (AW) deficiencies. Every FSS approved slaughterhouse had at least one non-compliance over the reporting period. Please see breakdown provided in Answer 8.

A6. 24 slaughterhouses were inspected more than once in FSS’s jurisdiction.

A7. Every operational day of every slaughterhouse in Scotland.

A8. As previously mentioned, all slaughter houses in FSS’s jurisdiction have daily inspections. In 2023 we identified 372 non-compliances.

A9. Under the Service Level Agreement FSS have with Scottish Government (SG), animal welfare is split into 3 parts as tabled below:

• Annex 4 - Inspection, verification, and enforcement of the legislation for animal welfare standards to be undertaken by the Official Veterinarian (OV), in line with instructions set out in the Scottish Manual for Official Controls (SMOC).

• Annex 4a - Services in Annex 4 also apply to broilers. However, to implement the Retained EU Welfare Directive 2007/43, additional enforcement and verification processes are necessary for intensively reared broilers.

• Annex 5 - The Head Veterinarian will provide assurances that the identified individuals who require a Certificate of Competency (CoC) to carry out any of the killing and related operations undergo training and independent final assessment in accordance with Article 21 of Retained Regulation 1099/2009. 

2023/24 FY
Annex 4	Animal Welfare	£62,345.46
Annex 4a	Broiler Directive	£6,232.07
Annex 5	Delivery animal welfare priorities 15	£39,766.96

A10.

a. Prosecution - None

b. Enforcement notices under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations (Scotland) 2012 – 3 in 2023

c. Improvement notices under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 - None

d. Referral to APHA and Trading Standards (TS)

A11. None.

A12. None.

A13. None.

A14. In 2023 in total 315 cases were referred to ALPHA and Local Authorities (LA). You can find below the breakdown of these cases:

• APHA - 130 cases

• Local Authorities - 185

A15. All future Freedom of Information Requests to FSS can only be done via the FSS Openness Mailbox (openness@fss.scot).