Mandatory CCTV Coverage in Slaughterhouses

Your request was about the following information:

I have been tasked with researching the potential implementation of Mandatory CCTV coverage in Slaughterhouses in Northern Ireland and was hoping you could help me answer a few questions?

Q1. Could you supply figures on animal welfare abuse in slaughterhouses in Scotland over the period 2013-2022 inclusively? (Cases raised, total prosecutions?)

Q2. When the regulations came into force in Scotland in 2021 did any slaughterhouses fail to comply with the new rules on CCTV Coverage?

Q3. If there was failure to comply what was the process? Enforcement penalties, closures?

Q4. Are any slaughterhouse businesses in Scotland exempt from the regulations? Micro businesses etc.

Q5. Was there funding made available to those slaughterhouses who had to purchase CCTV equipment to comply?

A1. Attached you can find the table that shows the total number of Score 4s animal welfare incidents. The data is provided under 2 categories "At Farm/ In Transport " and "In Plant". The date range is from 01 April 2015 (Inception of Food Standards Scotland) to 31 March 2023 and total entries capture the calendar years (January to December). Please note in Sept 2019 Food Standards Scotland (FSS) insourced the Official Veterinarians (OV) and had the direct management of their performance. In FSS we believe that this may be linked to the significant drop in score of 4s. Since 2018, when we set up our own FSS Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit, 3 cases were reported for investigation.

A2. Yes, when the regulations came into force in Scotland in 2021, there was a number of slaughterhouses that were not immediately compliant. A period of 6 months was granted to these slaughterhouses to achieve full compliance and most of them met this. Only a small number of slaughterhouses took slightly longer, mostly linked to their seasonal operational pattern.

A3. Some informal enforcement action was required, but no formal notices were served.

A4. In Scotland there are no slaughterhouse businesses exempt from the regulations.

A5. Yes, Scottish Government offered £5000 to each of six small island abattoirs that previously had no CCTV installed.