Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections And Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020: information sharing report

Approach To This Report

Section 17 of the Act does not define the reason(s) for requiring this report, what purpose(s) is envisioned for any information shared, or who it is that the information is to be shared between.

The Scottish Government is assuming that the intent of Section 17 of the Act is to ensure that information is shared between relevant enforcement agencies within Scotland, including different Local Authorities, in order to ensure joined up enforcement. This could include, for example, enforcement of disqualification orders across LA boundaries, and consideration of licencing applications where declarations are made regarding relevant convictions.

Information on convictions brought about by the actions of one agency may be of importance to another agency being asked to consider a licence application relating to animal welfare, animal health, or wildlife.

Any information sharing regarding the personal data of individuals, including information regarding criminal convictions, must comply with data protection rules under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Methods

In order to prepare this report the Scottish Government has reviewed information available in relation to:

• Processes already in place for sharing enforcement related information between authorities.
• Functions of enforcement authorities where information related to a person is relevant, e.g. licensing applications
• Other forms of enforcement that do not necessarily result in one of the outcomes listed in section 17(3) of the Act
• Offences and convictions under legislation not listed in section 17(4) of the Act that are also relevant to the effective enforcement of measures for the protection of animal welfare and wildlife

Steps Taken On Information Sharing

Intelligence-led enforcement uses data analysis and intelligence gathering to proactively identify, assess, and manage crime risks. Targeting resources based on intelligence allows for more efficient use of enforcement officers. This approach to enforcement is being adopted across authorities, such as the Food Standards Scotland Food Crime and Incidents Unit.

For information sharing to lead to improved outcomes and more effective enforcement of animal health, welfare and wildlife protection measures, the information has to be relevant, complete, accessible, timely, and the systems used must not be unnecessarily burdensome.

The Scottish Government has taken steps to promote and support the adoption of intelligence-led approaches to enforcement of animal health, welfare, and wildlife matters (including, but not restricted to, those in scope of Section 17 of the Act)

A Scottish Livestock Welfare Group (SLWG) was created in 2017 chaired by the Chief Veterinary Officer, and with membership from Food Standards Scotland, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Scottish Local Authorities, and SSPCA. The purpose of the group was to share with each other information about animal welfare enforcement activity, such as emerging trends in non-compliances identified by each organisation, and agree a coordinated response. Information on persons or organisations subject to enforcement action (whether within the scope of subsection (3) or not) is shared within this Group.

The Scottish Government considers that the SLWG has been successful at promoting a joined-up approach to animal welfare enforcement within the livestock sector, with particular successes such as the development of a strategy for the identification, reporting and enforcement of welfare in transport breaches due to the movement of cattle and sheep in the latest stages of pregnancy.

The SLWG is no longer active as a stand-alone group, but its coordination function continues through other groups with the same or similar membership and following the same template.

NatureScot and Police Scotland continue to share licensing data related to wildlife crime, particularly in the context of bird persecution and other wildlife offences. NatureScot may restrict the use of licences on land where there's evidence of wildlife crime, and Police Scotland shares relevant information with NatureScot to support these decisions.

NatureScot, Police Scotland, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit meet quarterly to review new information and identify potential cases for licence restrictions.

Gap Analysis

Information in relation to persons to whom section 17(3) of the Act applies is relevant, but is only a small proportion of what constitutes good intelligence.

Intelligence-led enforcement also intends to be pro-active and provide early warning of potential criminal activity, while information on offences and convictions will only emerge at the end of enforcement action. And the primary objective of enforcement is to achieve compliance, with only a small proportion of cases ever reaching the Courts.

Other relevant intelligence is likely to include

• Offences and convictions under subordinate animal health and welfare or wildlife legislation not listed in section 17(3) of the Act, including, for example, regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972 such as the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, and other animal welfare Regulations made under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
• Offences and convictions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. An important component of intelligence-led enforcement is the tracking of individuals who may have been convicted of an offence and move elsewhere in order to avoid detection.
• Enforcement action initiated but not resulting in an offence or conviction. This is likely to make the majority of relevant information, since only a small proportion of enforcement action reaches the Courts
• Other actions as a result of non-compliances with animal welfare requirements, in particular penalties resulting in a reduction in agricultural payments.

On the other hand, information is only useful if it is used. If shared with no clear purpose it only adds to the administrative burden carried by enforcement authorities. Any sharing of personal data must also be compliant with data protection legislation. To ensure value-for-money it is critical that enforcement authorities identify the types of information that would be useful and add value to their activities, and the way that information should be shared

Next Steps

In view of the success of the Scottish Livestock Welfare Group, and having identified that intelligence-led enforcement should be promoted, the Scottish Government has initiated engagement with enforcement authorities with the purpose of gathering information on effective and efficient information sharing.

A survey questionnaire has been sent to the organisations in Annex 1 to gather their views on:

• Current Information Sharing Systems in place
• Benefits of Information Sharing
• Potential Future Information Sharing
• Challenges of Information Sharing

Responses are expected later this year, the analysis of which will inform further action in due course.