Scottish Government

Covering Letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

CONSULTATION ON AMENDING THE WELFARE OF ANIMALS (SLAUGHTER OR KILLING) REGULATIONS 1995
PERMITTING THE USE OF GAS OUTSIDE OF A SLAUGHTERHOUSE

I am writing to invite comments on the enclosed consultation document on a draft amendment to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995, which addresses the following:

• the use of gas to kill birds for welfare purposes where birds cannot be moved to a slaughterhouse
• the use of gas to kill laying hens at the end of their productive lives, in order to avoid their having to be transported to slaughterhouses; and
• the gas mixtures and the requirements for the delivery of gas when disposing of birds in these circumstances

The consultation package includes:

• A consultation document setting out the options for action; and
• A Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment

The purpose of the consultation is to seek views on how we can improve animal welfare at slaughter. It will, therefore, help us improve the quality of the policy proposals and outcomes through evidence-based input from a range of stakeholders. Comments are welcome on any part of the consultation document. In particular, I would like to hear your views on the key questions set out in each section. We wish to identify expected benefits/risks and the potential costs to industry - especially those costs that might fall on small businesses.

Comments on the proposals should be sent to the address below by 2 October 2006. I would be grateful if you would clearly indicate in your response which questions or parts of the consultation document you are responding to, as this will aid the analysis of the responses. We need to know how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to be made public. Please complete and return the Respondee Information Form (only required if you are providing a response to the consultation document) as this will ensure that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will regard it as confidential and we will treat it accordingly. All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Executive is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. We would therefore have to consider any request made under the Act for information relating to this consultation exercise.

Responses should be sent to:

By e-mail to animal.health@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
By fax to 0131 244 6616

If you have any queries about this consultation please e-mail or fax us as above, or call 0131 244 6482. Please let us know if you think anyone else should be consulted or feel free to pass this consultation on to other interested parties.

If you would like further copies of this consultation, or this document in an alternative format, such as large print, Braille, audiotape or disc, or in a community language please use the contact details above. I expect most respondents will find it easier to send in a written response, but if you would find it easier to respond in some other way (such as by telephone, audiotape or at a meeting) please contact as above to make the necessary arrangements.

This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive consultation exercises, can be viewed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out the location of your nearest Public Internet Access Point.

The Scottish Executive now has an e-mail alert system for consultations (SEconsult). This system allows stakeholder individuals and organisations to register and receive a weekly e-mail containing details of all new consultations (including web links). SEconsult complements, but in no way replaces SE distribution lists, and is designed to allow stakeholders to keep up-to-date with all SE consultation activity, and therefore be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most interest. I would encourage you to register.

Consultation is an essential and important aspect of Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many varied types of consultation. In general, however, consultation exercises aim to provide opportunities for all those who wish to express their opinions on a proposed area of work, to do so in ways which will inform and enhance that work. While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.

The views and suggestions detailed in consultation responses are analysed and used as part of the decision making process. Depending on the nature of the consultation, exercise the responses received may:

• Indicate the need for policy development or review;
• Inform the development of a particular policy;
• Help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals; and
• Be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented.

Where respondees have given permission for their response to be made public (via the Respondee Information Form) these will be made available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library by 30 October 2006. All responses, where agreement to publish has been given, will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website. The library is located at Saughton House, (K Spur) Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD and you can make arrangements to view responses by contacting the SE Library on 0131 244 4565. Responses can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for this service.

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the response address above.

Yours faithfully

Ian W Strachan
Head of Animal Welfare Team

RESPONDEE INFORMATION FORM
CONSULTATION ON AMENDING THE WELFARE OF ANIMALS (SLAUGHTER OR KILLING) REGULATIONS 1995
PERMITING THE USE OF GAS OUTSIDE OF A SLAUGHTERHOUSE

Please complete the details below and return it with your response. This will help ensure we handle your response appropriately. Thank you for your help.