National Good Food Nation Plan
Section 1: Requirement to produce plan
4.Section 1 imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to publish and lay before the Scottish Parliament a national good food nation plan.
5.Subsections (3), (4) and (5) set out what the plan must and may contain. Subsection (6) requires the Scottish Ministers, in determining the content of the plan, to have regard to the scope for food-related issues to affect outcomes in relation to a number of important matters.
Section 2: Preparation of plan: principles
6.Section 2 provides that when preparing the national good food nation plan, the Scottish Ministers must have regard to certain principles.
7.The principle in paragraph (d) refers to the concept of “the food business sector”. This is defined in section 25 of the Act. It means persons carrying out businesses involving any stage of the production, processing or distribution of food or the preparation or service of food for consumers. This is therefore a wide definition including everyone from farmers to café owners.
Section 3: Requirement to lay proposed plan before the Parliament
8.Section 3 imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to lay the proposed national good food nation plan before the Scottish Parliament within 12 months of this section coming into force. The Scottish Parliament is to have a period of 60 days (of which no fewer than 30 days must be days when the Parliament is not dissolved or in recess) to consider the proposed plan.
9.Before finalising the national good food nation plan, the Scottish Ministers are required to have regard to (a) any representations about the proposed plan that are made to them, (b) any resolution passed by the Parliament relating to the proposed plan, and (c) any report published by any committee of the Parliament relating to the proposed plan before the expiry of the 28 day consideration period.
10.When laying the finalised national good food nation plan before the Scottish Parliament under section 1(1), the Scottish Minister must also lay a statement setting out details of any representations, resolutions or reports of the kind mentioned in paragraph 9 above and the changes, if any, which they have made to the plan in response to those representations, resolutions or reports together with the reasons for those changes.
Section 4: Preparation of plan: consultation
11.Section 4 imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to consult those who the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate on a draft of the national good food nation plan and to have regard to any consultation responses.
12.Subsections (3) and (4) require the Scottish Ministers, when carrying out that consultation, to have regard to the importance of communicating in an inclusive way and to the importance of communicating in a way that is effective in engaging children and young people.
13.Subsection (5) requires the Scottish Ministers to lay a statement before the Scottish Parliament, at the same time as they lay the proposed national good food nation plan by virtue of section 3(1)(a), summarising the consultation process undertaken, any responses received and how the Scottish Ministers had regard to the importance of communicating in an inclusive way when carrying out the consultation.
Section 5: Preparation of plan: consideration of international instruments
14.Section 5 imposes a duty on the Scottish Ministers to have regard, to the extent specified, to certain international instruments in preparing the national good food nation plan:
Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides that a right to an adequate standard of living includes, among other things, adequate food;
Article 24(2)(c) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the “UNCRC”) sets out the right of a child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health which requires those bound by the UNCRC to combat disease and malnutrition, including through the provision of adequate nutritious foods;
Articles 27(1) and (3) of the UNCRC require those bound by the UNCRC to recognise the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development and to take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and, in case of need, provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to, for example, nutrition;
Article 12(2) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women requires those bound by the Convention to ensure women are provided with, among other things, adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
15.For further reference, the full titles of those instruments are set out in section 25.
16.The Scottish Ministers may by regulations modify the list of international instruments so as to add, remove or vary a reference to an international instrument. Provisions which may be made by such regulations include provisions to limit the extent of an international instrument (similar to the way in which, for example, the instrument referred to in subsection (2)(a) is limited to the extent that it concerns adequate food) and to make clear the version of the international instrument referred to (if, for example, an earlier version of an international instrument did not cover the food-related issue in the terms intended to be had regard to in preparing the national good food nation plan, the version intended to be referred to, which was in operation at a specific date, could be specified in regulations).
17.A definition of “international instrument” is contained in section 25 and includes any treaty, convention, international legislative instrument or guidance issued by an organisation governed by international law. It includes any provision of such an instrument, so for example it would be possible to specify one article of an international treaty to which the Scottish Ministers must have regard.
Section 6: Effect of plan
18.The Scottish Ministers must have regard to the national good food nation plan when exercising certain functions. Those functions, or the description within which they fall, will be specified in regulations. For example, a description might be the “provision of food in schools” or “all functions of the Scottish Ministers relevant to the provision of food in schools in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980”. This would mean that when exercising any function in relation to the provision of food in schools, or any function of the Scottish Ministers relevant to the provision of food in schools in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the Scottish Ministers would have to have regard to the national good food nation plan.
Section 7: Reporting
19.The Scottish Ministers must publish a report on progress against the indicators set out in the national good food nation plan as soon as practicable after each period of 2 years, beginning on the date the first plan is published and laid before the Scottish Parliament. The timing of the reporting requirement runs independently from the timing of the requirement to review and revise the plan provided for in section 8.
20.Where a report states that any outcome in the plan is not being achieved, subsection (2) requires the report to set out the view of the Scottish Ministers as to whether the policies set out in relation to that outcome remain sufficient, and if so, their reasons for determining that they remain sufficient, or, in the instance where they conclude that they are no longer sufficient, what action the Scottish Ministers intend to take to address this.
Section 8: Review and revision of plan
21.The Scottish Ministers must review the national good food nation plan every 5 years, beginning on the date the first plan is published and laid before the Scottish Parliament.
22.Subsection (2) requires the Scottish Ministers, in reviewing the plan, to have regard to any recommendation made by the Scottish Food Commission (established by section 19 of the Act) by virtue of section 20(3)(a) of the Act.
23.The plan may be revised following a review (but does not have to be).
24.The provisions of section 1 on the content of the plan, section 2 on the principles to which regard must be had in the preparation of the plan, section 4 on consultation and section 5 on the regard to be given to international instruments when preparing the plans apply to the revision of the plan in the same way as they do to preparation of the initial plan.
25.The timing of the review requirement runs independently from the timing of the requirement to report on progress provided for in section 7.
26.For example, the Scottish Ministers must review the plan before the end of year 5. The Scottish Ministers will have to report on progress against the indicators set out in the plan (as revised following that review) as soon as practicable after the end of year 6, and again as soon as practicable after the end of year 8. A further review of the plan must be undertaken before the end of year 10 with the report on progress on that plan (as revised) due as soon as practicable after the end of year 10.
27.Subsection (6) provides that in preparing a revised national good food nation plan, the requirements in section 3(1) and (3) to (5) to lay (a) the proposed plan before the Parliament for a consideration period of 60 days and (b) a statement setting out details of any representations, resolutions or reports of the kind mentioned in paragraph 9 above and the changes, if any, which they have made to the plan in response to those representations, resolutions or reports together with the reasons for those changes apply in the same way as they do to preparation of the initial plan.
Section 9: Publication of documents: inclusive communication
28.Section 9 requires the Scottish Ministers to have regard to the importance of communicating in an inclusive way when publishing a document under any of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 of the Act.
