EIR/202600513818 Review of 202600513816 · FOI/EIR · already published
Statistics and laws governing the welfare of farmed animals in Scotland: EIR Review
Information requested
Original request 202600513816
Farming Statistics for Scotland
1. We understand that you are responsible for the conduct of the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture in Scotland, and publish data on the results of this survey including farmed animal populations across Scotland as a whole. Can you please provide the following:
a. Your latest data on farmed animal population in Scotland broken down by subregion? Please provide when the data was gathered.
b. Number of farm holdings in Scotland as of June 2025 which are of a type which may keep farmed animals.
2. Please could you also provide the current registered Country Parish Holdings in Scotland, registered with the following:
a. Less than 50 animals; and
b. Over 50 animals.
3. What is the total number of live farmed animal markets and collection centres in Scotland.
Enforcement of the Laws Governing the Welfare of Farmed Animals in Scotland (Questions 4-16) -
In relation to farmed animal species only during the period 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025, for a number of premises types -
Do you enforce farmed animal welfare legislation?
If the answer is no, please explain why e.g. a different public authority does etc. If a different public authority enforces this legislation in your area, please inform us which one?
What was your body’s budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement? How many people do you employ to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections as part of their duties? If possible, please provide the response in FTE (Full time equivalent). How many of each of the following premises in your jurisdiction were inspected for welfare purposes one or more times?
Response
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
We apologise for failing to reply to your original request (202600513816). This was due to the email being blocked by our IT system’s security filter, meaning that it was never originally registered.
Your request
Farming Statistics for Scotland
1. We understand that you are responsible for the conduct of the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture in Scotland, and publish data on the results of this survey including farmed animal populations across Scotland as a whole. Can you please provide the following:
a. Your latest data on farmed animal population in Scotland broken down by subregion? Please provide when the data was gathered.
b. Number of farm holdings in Scotland as of June 2025 which are of a type which may keep farmed animals.
2. Please could you also provide the current registered Country Parish Holdings in Scotland, registered with the following:
a. Less than 50 animals; and
b. Over 50 animals.
3. What is the total number of live farmed animal markets and collection centres in Scotland.
Some of the information relevant to question is already published on the Scottish Government website. You can access it here:
Part 1a: June Agricultural Census 2025 data tables – Table 18 – Number of livestock by region and sub-region Part 1b: June Agricultural Census 2025 data tables – Table 17 – Number of holdings with livestock by region and subregion
Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
The remaining data for this part of your request can be found in Annex A attached with this email.
‘Collection centres’ are not currently recognised in Scotland, therefore we are unable to provide a number for that part of your question, however, 24 live markets are listed by ScotEID.
Enforcement of the Laws Governing the Welfare of Farmed Animals in Scotland (Questions 4-16) -
In relation to farmed animal species only during the period 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025, for a number of premises types -
Do you enforce farmed animal welfare legislation?
If the answer is no, please explain why e.g. a different public authority does etc. If a different public authority enforces this legislation in your area, please inform us which one?
What was your body’s budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement? How many people do you employ to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections as part of their duties? If possible, please provide the response in FTE (Full time equivalent). How many of each of the following premises in your jurisdiction were inspected for welfare purposes one or more times?
You have previously requested this information for 2024 and it was explained in our reply that we do not hold that information. The full reply can be found at the following link: Enforcement of farmed animal welfare legislation: EIR release - gov.scot
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in your other questions. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.
Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested because, as noted in our previous response, the Scottish Government is not responsible for enforcement of farmed animal welfare legislation.
This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about enforcement of farmed animal welfare legislation, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs.