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Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (Consequential Provisions) (England and Wales) Order 2006

I thank the Minister for having laid out these matters so extensively. We have not always agreed to take all the Scottish orders at the same time, because we generally get quite a pot-pourri of issues and sometimes one can couple them together and sometimes that seems a little more difficult. I declare an interest as I rear livestock in Scotland. Having sat through some of the discussion of statutes this afternoon and having noted the trials that have beset Defra in trying to transpose legislation from one printed source to another, we must congratulate the officials this time around. They have managed to pick up parts of the Animal Welfare Acts from Scotland and England, include them in this order and change all the numbers and, as far as I can see, they have done so in a perfect and accurate manner. I sometime wonder whether someone would like to run a competition between the departments on legislative drafting to see which can make the most perfect legislation. In this case, the Scotland Office is coming out ahead. We are pleased at any moves to clarify or strengthen the powers that are needed to deal with an outbreak of infectious animal diseases. It is in everyone’s interest that someone who is proven guilty of the deliberate infection of animals, which is mentioned in the Explanatory Notes, should be subject to a disqualification. As the Minister mentioned, the duty of care towards animals in the Act in Scotland is parallel to that which was envisaged by the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The main question that still arises, and which must be of concern to the Government and the rest of us, is whether to ban in Scotland the docking of certified working puppies’ tails. The proposal has been withdrawn in Scotland and is now out for consultation. One can envisage that being an issue. Would the owner of a dog which has been certified and docked in England, who takes up residence with his dog in Scotland, which had a ban, be subject to a disqualification order? If this were so, would the order be upheld if the owner then returned to England? There are great possibilities for a new economic trade in what we might term ““docking tourism””. Clause 44 of the 2006 Act contained powers to subject those disqualified in England and Wales to the same sanctions if they removed themselves to Scotland. As the Minister pointed out, this measure provides for an equivalent power to operate in the other direction. Perhaps the Minister might be able to clear up an anomaly. If one breaches the disqualification order in England, one is liable to imprisonment for 52 weeks or a fine not exceeding level 5. If one then goes to Scotland and commits a breach there, one will be liable to only 26 weeks’ imprisonment and a level 5 fine. However, if one is disqualified in Scotland and commits a breach in England, one is liable under Article 3(3) of this order to only 13 weeks’ imprisonment or a level 5 fine. It cannot be that the Scots are always more ready to pay the fine, but there must be some reason behind it. I express my interest in the transfer of functions order as someone who hopes to gain some benefit from renewable energy generation. The Healthy Start scheme seems to be entirely to be recommended. The rest of the order follows on from a great deal of legislation which gives Scotland greater autonomy over renewable electricity generation, be it on shore, off shore, on the hills, under the ground and other possible variations, and in which most Members of the Committee have been involved. The Explanatory Note states that the three previous SIs in relation to the Electricity Act 1989, which amend Sections 32, 32A and 32B, have now been amended by the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006. Could not these changes have been allowed to read across into the Scottish legislation, without us having to pass a separate instrument? Better still, could not this instrument have been drafted in such a way as to do away with earlier instruments and consolidate their powers into one, thereby simplifying the legislation? Will the Minister also explain whether the second statutory instrument which is mentioned in the Explanatory Memorandum—that is, SI 2000/3252—is that which is being modified in Article 3(3) of the order and described in note (f) as SI 2000/3253?