MEMBERS UPDATE 10TH MAY 2024

Lindsays Employment Law Update

The following documents are now updated and loaded to the members only website.
If you require copies of the contract of employment please let me know.

• SCB – Statement of Main terms of Employment
• SCB – Trainee Contract
• Casual Worker Contract
• Employee Handbook 2024 (hard copy sent out with the newsletter)

• Adoption Policy
• Maternity Policy
• Parental Bereavement Leave Policy
• Parental Leave Policy (NB no changes were necessary)
• Paternity Policy
• Time off for antenatal appointments Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy
• Stress and Wellbeing at Work Policy (NB I have left previous margin advice notes in for user's benefit but those must be removed by the Member user when they have finished populating the Policy for their own use)
• Shared Parental Leave (Birth) policy
• Shared Parental Leave (adoption and surrogacy) policy (previously was no mention of surrogacy)
• Flexible Working Policy
• IT, Communications systems and Social Media Policy (we had a 2022 version of this on our file. I have combined your 2021 Social Media Policy and that, to produce this single policy for ease of use by Members).

If you have any questions about the documents please call Lindsays Solicitors on 0131 656 5643

Regional Meetings Bookings

The forthcoming regional meetings will have presentations from Prephouse, Scobie & Junor, Verona Uk and presentation of prizes for the Black Pudding, Beef Sausage and Home Cured Bacon Evaluation.

Please can members book places at your region as per below.
Meetings commence at 7.15pm and end at 9pm.

Monday 20th May – Carfraemill Hotel, Carfraemill, Scottish Borders
SOUTH EAST – Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders

Tuesday 21st May – Garfield House Hotel, Stepps
WEST – Argyll, Bute & Islay. Strathclyde excluding Ayshire
SOUTH WEST – Ayrshire & Arran. Dumfries & Galloway

Wednesday 22nd May – Laichmoray Hotel, Elgin
NORTH – Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highlands, Western Isles

Thursday 23rd May – McDiarmid Park, Muirton Suite, Perth
EAST – Dundee, Angus, Fife, Forth Valley, Stirling, Perth & Kinross

BSE Confirmed on a farm in Ayrshire
A confirmed case of BSE has been detected on a farm in Ayrshire. Precautionary movement restrictions have been implemented at affected premises, encompassing animals in contact with the confirmed case. Surveillance and control measures facilitated the prompt identification of the case, which did not involve the human food chain. Owners of affected animals are collaborating with authorities on subsequent actions. The Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) is actively investigating the outbreak's source. READ MORE

Abattoir Survey Results Highlight Vital Need for Supply Chain Collaboration to Overcome Challenges

The findings of the Scottish Small Producer Access to Abattoirs Report, published today, highlight the various challenges facing producers who require 'private kill' services in Scotland, and the abattoirs providing them.
The research, conducted by SAOS on behalf of the Small Producers' Pilot Fund (SPPF) Steering Group and Food from Fife, involved a survey of Scottish producers who utilise private kill services, together with interviews with representatives from Scottish abattoirs providing private kill services. Six key recommendations emerged from the outputs of the survey and consultation exercise which have the potential to address the vulnerability of private kill services across Scotland.
Around 40% of survey respondents indicated that the constricted nature of the private kill abattoir network limited what they could process, with welfare concerns due to travel times, traceability, and communication, also highlighted as issues. The survey also found that limited access to butchery services affects the ability of producers to supply added-value product into local supply chains.
Undertaking private kill is not the main focus for most of the mainland abattoir facilities and they often find it challenging to service this market. Demand, location, difficulty in employing and retaining a skilled workforce, and operating structure are also key challenges to running viable abattoirs for private kill.
SAOS's Fergus Younger, a member of the SPPF abattoir subgroup, highlighted: “Collaborative working – between producers, abattoirs, and butchery operators is vital to addressing the challenges of servicing the private kill market. Improving co-ordination in throughput could not only improve the economics of existing facilities but could offer the producer a simpler route to access abattoir services. The Small Producer Pilot Fund Steering Group is keen that assistance be focused on the areas of greatest need and improve the options for producers looking to utilise these facilities.”
Agriculture Minister, Jim Fairlie, said: “I would like to thank everyone who participated in the study. An analysis of the data is now underway which we will use to inform our future decisions.
“Small producers are a crucial lynchpin of our rural economy and it is vital that we improve their access to Scotland's wider food supply chain. This will help bolster our food security whilst improving fairness for our small rural businesses.
“This report was funded through our Small Producer Pilot Fund which has been allocated £180,000 so far this year. This is an example of our ongoing efforts to help individual small producers increase their resilience, enhance their contribution to the rural economy and become more sustainable.”
Following up on the report's findings, SAOS has been working with Mull slaughterhouse to trial whether additional private kill co-ordination support could help producers secure better access and help the abattoir operate a more efficient business. Similarly, SAOS has been working with Munro's of Dingwall to help fully understand the costs associated with servicing the private kill sector.
The full report is available at: Access to Abattoirs Report

QMS Market Update – April

Please find our latest monthly update attached and the summary of key points below.

Beef

• After sliding significantly in March, prime cattle prices have edged back higher since Easter, supported by a seasonal dip in availability for slaughter in Scotland. Although prices have slipped 2% behind year-earlier levels, leads over five-year averages have held at around 20%. Cow prices showed a stronger upturn in April, softening the year-on-year declines, but have shown signs of beginning to level off again at the turn of May with seasonal slaughter likely to have passed its low.
• Increased prime cattle numbers on farm at the start of 2024 have been supporting GB slaughter, which has been up significantly year-on-year. At Scottish abattoirs, while weekly slaughter has fallen seasonally in April, throughput has pushed above year-earlier levels, in line with the increased numbers on farm in the January population data and reflecting supply chain challenges last year.
• Increased domestic production and imports at the start of 2024 appear to have supported a recovery in market supply after a tight end to 2023.
• In the short-term, a higher spring-2022 calf crop and a slight slowdown in the store cattle outflow from the highs of 2022 should be supporting prime cattle availability in Scotland. However, weekly slaughter does often dip back in April before rebounding in May and then slowing down again in the summer. Numbers could tighten relative to year-earlier levels in the autumn as the reduced 2023 spring calf crop starts dominating slaughter.
• The combination of a reduced calf crop, lower input costs and firm finished cattle prices have supported store cattle values at the start of 2024, and supply is set to remain tight throughout 2024.

Lamb

• Hogg prices have shown limited seasonal decline since Easter and Ramadan, underpinned by a sharp fall in availability. This ensured that prices were nearly 30% higher than last year and nearly 50% above the five-year average in late-April. Meanwhile, new season lambs averaged around 420p/kg lwt at Scottish marts in early May.
• Despite the smaller 2023 lamb crop across GB (-6.3% year-on-year) and reduced carryover of hoggs into 2024, auction and abattoir throughput held up surprisingly well in early 2024, and this limited the expansion of supply to meet the additional demand for Ramadan and Easter. Since the festivals, a sharp fall in auction throughput has supported prices.
• GB retail data indicates that lamb sales performance continued to look positive in in the 12 weeks to mid-April 2024. However, growth in volumes relied on discounted prices and the surge in farmgate prices has yet to pass through the supply chain. If it is to start being reflected in retail prices, it could test the sustainability of the recent strength in demand.
• Although UK imports continued to show significant year-on-year increase in February 2024, export volumes remained higher than imports, resulting in a tightening effect on domestic market supply.
• While this balance may have changed in March, with imports expected to have risen seasonally for Easter and Ramadan, supported by increased supply and highly competitive prices in Australia and New Zealand, the market readily absorbed any lift in imports without lowering domestic farmgate prices.

Pork

• After some initial signs of slight upwards seasonal pressure on market prices in March, pig prices have dipped slightly in April, against the seasonal trend; though the underlying picture is of a well-balanced market. While prices have fallen slightly further behind year-earlier levels, the margin over the five-year average remains strong at nearly 30%, reflecting the reduced level of domestic supply since the financial crisis of 2021/22.
• The financial crisis of 2021/22 continues to have a lasting effect on prime pig production with GB abattoir throughput continuing to decline on a year earlier in Q1 2024. While England's sow herd has started to edge higher again, fattening pig numbers were still down significantly on a year earlier in December 2023, suggesting that any recovery will take time.
• The recovery does look further along in Scotland, with the number of pigs leaving Scottish farms for slaughter rising 7% in the first third of 2023. However, Scotland accounts for only around 8% of the GB finishing herd, meaning this will have limited impact on the wider GB market.
• With domestic production continuing to contract at the start of 2024, the trade balance provided some offsetting support to domestic market supply. Lower production continued to suppress UK export volumes while imports showed continued though limited growth, likely reflecting the fundamentally tight supply situation in the EU.
• Rises in EU pig prices tend to flow through to higher UK import prices, suggesting that EU pork is less competitive than at the start of this year following price increase in February and March. This may limit the potential for downwards pressure on the domestic market. In China, while herd liquidation in 2023 could see the market tighten later this year, Chinese import demand has remained sluggish in 2024 so far.

Economic conditions

• Commodity prices have generally been flat at the start of 2024 with only a slight upside impact from geopolitical tensions. Nevertheless, farmers and processors are having to deal with a higher energy cost base and wages continue to rise significantly. Although feed costs are at their lowest since 2020 for the time of year as global crop supplies look stronger in 2024, a small rebound in grain prices since March is something to watch.
• Strong average earnings growth has continued to underpin increased retail sales in cash terms and, with inflation rates beginning to slow in many sectors, this could begin to support sales volumes. Spending has rebalanced towards food stores, with food prices continuing to show above average year-on-year increases.
• Increased cash spending on beef and pork from a year earlier translated across to a steady volume of sales as price rises remained significant in popular product categories like beef mince and pork chops/steaks. While lamb continued to perform strongly, this has been underpinned by discounted prices, with no sign of the surge in farmgate prices passing through the supply chain.
• Consumer confidence returned to January's two-year high in April, as nearly a year of wage growth outpacing inflation and lower energy and fuel prices supports some optimism around the outlook for personal finances.
• PMI surveys suggest that the UK economy has grown slowly at the start of 2024, driven by improved demand in the service sector while the manufacturing slowdown has eased. However, the labour market data for the December to February period did point to a significant deterioration and is something to monitor closely. While measures of employment and unemployment worsened, wage growth held firm at around the 6% mark, continuing to outpace inflation.

MEMBER SERVICES – Bruce McCall:             [email protected]                01738 637472
CRAFT SKILLS SCOTLAND – Claire Simpson:    [email protected]               01738 637785

Bruce McCall
Scottish Craft Butchers
8-10 Needless Road
Perth PH2 0JW
Tel: 01738 637472
Mobile: 01738 637472
twitter.com/scocraftbutcher
facebook.com/scottishcraftbutchers/
www.craftbutchers.co.uk