Concerns raised over draft welfare bill

SCOTTISH civil servants are expected to study, with concern, a critical verdict on the government’s draft Animal Welfare Bill by the Commons Select Committee.

The committee yesterday described the draft bill as "excessively simplistic" and called for more work to be done to present a more polished product, a conclusion the Scottish Parliament and Executive will be anxious to avoid.

"Any change in the law as it affects animals always arouses powerful emotions and great public interest," said Michael Jack, the chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee. "This draft bill is no exception."

Noting that the committee welcomed an approach to animal welfare that did not wait for a problem to occur, but enabled action to be taken before irreversible suffering took place, he added: "However, the draft bill very much had the feel of a ‘work in progress’.

"Before government takes its legislative plans into areas such as pet fairs, circuses and game birds, it must give a cast-iron guarantee that an obligation to consult will be enshrined in law. It must work hard to take the rough edges off its initial proposals before the bill reaches parliament."

The committee’s report noted: "[We] are unconvinced by the government’s justification for the breadth of powers which it seeks to have delegated to it under the draft bill," criticism which is now likely to delay the bill, announced in the recent Queen’s speech, until after the next election.

In turn, this could delay the introduction of parallel legislation - which applies to farm animals, pets and circus animals - in Scotland as devolved agencies also attempt to modernise pieces of animal welfare legislation up to 100 years old.

Scottish proposals went out for consultation last summer and draft legislation is expected to be published early next year. It is not expected to be put before the Scottish Parliament in its current session.