The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (Modification) Order 2013: guidance for local authorities and national park authorities

Part 1: Temporary Closure of Core Paths due to Notifiable Animal Disease

Guidance on amendment to section 7 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to allow the temporary exemption of access rights on core paths when access to land is prohibited or restricted because of a notifiable animal disease.

Introduction

This guidance relates to the amendment within the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (Modification) Order 2013, which allows for core paths to be temporarily exempt from access rights when public access to land is prohibited or restricted as a result of a notifiable animal disease.

Background

By law an incident or suspected incident of a notifiable animal disease must be reported to the authorities. Legislation also sets out the powers available to Ministers to eradicate notifiable animal diseases. One such power is the closure of land to avoid the spread of disease.

For example, under the terms of the Foot and Mouth Disease (Scotland) Order 2006, Ministers can, in the event of a confirmed outbreak of disease, declare a Protection Zone (PZ) that is centred on the premises where infection has been confirmed (known as the infected premises or IP) and has a minimum radius of 3 km. Access to the land in that zone can be restricted and in practice it is likely that access to all land within the PZ will be prohibited or restricted. Prior to the Modification Order, section 7(1) of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 provided that core paths within the PZ would not otherwise be affected by such prohibitions or restrictions. This meant that one of the main weapons against spread of disease, that is prohibited or restricted access to the area where the outbreak has taken place, could have been undermined and that might have made it more difficult to limit the damage caused by an outbreak.

The effect of the modification is to put beyond doubt that when access to a parcel of land is prohibited or restricted as a consequence of a notifiable animal disease, that will also apply to any core paths within that land.

One of the principal aims of the Scottish Government's response to the outbreak of animal disease is the eradication of that disease as quickly as possible to allow normal business to resume. Consequently, it is expected that any suspension of access rights will be as spatially and temporally limited as is consistent with the requirement to stop the further spread of disease .

Disease Response

In the event of an outbreak of a notifiable animal disease Scottish Ministers may declare at least two zones: a Protection Zone (PZ), which surrounds the infected premises and where the movement of susceptible animals, vehicles and animal by‑products is restricted to minimise the risk of further disease spread; and a surrounding zone, known as a Surveillance Zone (SZ) where controls are less stringent. The infected premises themselves will be put under strict statutory restrictions from the outset and access to and from those premises will be permitted only to essential visitors and vehicles and even then only if strict biosecurity measures are implemented.

For example, in the case of the notifiable animal disease foot and mouth disease (FMD), Scottish Ministers have the power to prohibit or restrict access to all land within the PZ, with the Modification Order clarifying that this includes core paths situated within the PZ as well. Such restrictions are necessary to ensure effective control of the disease given the risk of further spread of the disease if people (or their vehicles or accompanying animals) have direct or close contact with animals infected with those diseases. If Ministers do elect to close land round an IP, it will be on the basis of a veterinary risk assessment with the aim of keeping restrictions in place for as limited a time as is consistent with disease control, and restrictions will normally only remain in place until a more complete epidemiological picture of the origin of the disease and where it may have spread to can be obtained and appropriate remedial action taken. The restrictions on land closure will therefore be re-evaluated as soon as possible, perhaps as early as day eight of the outbreak.

Local Authority Responsibilities in the Protection Zone

Local authorities may have a number of enforcement duties during an outbreak, including, where appropriate, prohibiting or restricting access to the IP and, e.g. in an outbreak of FMD, (as the case may be), land within a PZ. Consequently, local authorities have a role in disease response. Although the strategic response to a disease outbreak is led by the Scottish Government, operations are managed by a Local Disease Control Centre (LDCC), which is set up by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA). Local authorities and other operational partners, such as the police, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and so on will be represented at the LDCC, which will, in turn, be in regular contact with the Scottish Government. The LDCC will have access to relevant information, such as the location of the IP and the names and address of surrounding holdings, together with detailed maps showing which holdings will be within or outwith any zones declared by Scottish Ministers. That information will be shared with local authorities and other partners as far as is permitted by data protection legislation and is necessary to control the animal disease outbreak.

If Ministers elect to close land in the PZ (and, by extension, core paths) the practicalities will be discussed within the LDCC. Although responsibility for enforcing land closure rests with the local authority, those discussions will identify particular problems as well as the information and support from other agencies that the local authority needs to implement the closure.

The LDCC will also be able to relay to the Scottish Government any difficulties that may require a more strategic response (for example, advice for recreational users of the land). It is expected that the discussions within the LDCC will lead to a plan for implementing land closures that reflects both the local and national situation.

The Scottish Government has prepared a template of a sign (see below) that can be used to mark the limit of a control zone, e.g. a FMD Protection Zone. Access Authorities have discretion to adapt the wording of the template to suit their circumstances. Access Authorities may wish to consider additional signage that will show members of the public the extent of the control zone.

Access rights outwith the Protection Zone

The Modification Order does not affect the current position, which is that Ministers cannot place restrictions on access to land within a SZ as a consequence of animal disease and there are no plans to change this.

Details of closures in the event of an outbreak

Access Authority websites will contain details of any PZ closures in their area. The Scottish Government website will include details of all PZ closures.