Volume 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Part 2: Scotland
8. Statutory framework and responsibilities
The Scottish Office

8.3 The Scottish Office was the collective title of a group of Departments located in Edinburgh which advised the Secretary of State on all matters affecting Scotland.

8.4 Two of these Departments were concerned with the response to BSE: ¹

1. the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland (DAFS). This took the lead on both animal health and food safety legislation; and
2. the Scottish Home and Health Department (SHHD). The Chief Medical Officer and his team provided the main link with the Department of Health in London and advised on the public health implications in Scotland.

8.5 The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department also played a minor role, giving advice to schools about dissection of bovine tissue. The structure and scope of these Departments changed during 1986-96, and these changes are described later in this chapter.

8.6 When matters affected the UK as a whole, and MAFF or DH took the lead, the Scottish Office was consulted. Where there was shared or devolved responsibility, it was also open to the Secretary of State for Scotland to initiate policy of his own accord. Dr Andrew Matheson, Assistant Secretary (Grade 5) in the Scottish Office with responsibility for meat hygiene and animal health between 1994 and 1996, said:

Had something quite distinctive and unique to Scotland occurred I think it is very, very probable that Scotland would have initiated and taken forward that policy. But that did not happen in the case of BSE. ²

8.7 Generally the Scottish Office limited itself to contributing a Scottish perspective to policy formulation, considering draft legislation, and making implementation arrangements where necessary. The primary function of officials in relation to BSE as described by Mr Ian Anderson, head of the branch dealing with meat hygiene matters between 1989 and 1996, was to:

. . . keep in touch with developments, to inform policy when possible, to ensure that due consideration was given to Scottish circumstances and to consult or inform Ministers on appropriate courses of action. ³