Avian flu outbreak leads to warning over dead birds
People have been warned to avoid touching dead birds in the wild after the discovery of a strain of “highly pathogenic” avian flu at a Scottish bird farm.
An entire flock of 14,000 mixed game birds was culled after the H5N1 strain was identified at a rearing site in Leven, Fife. Concerns were raised about a high death rate in the flock and a laboratory confirmed some had been infected by the highly dangerous virus. Restrictions have been imposed locally on poultry, eggs and manure, and bird keepers have been reminded to follow biosecurity measures. Members of the public have been asked to report sightings of any dead birds they find in the wild but not to handle the carcasses. Rural Affairs and Natural Environment
Minister Ben Macpherson said:
“I have put in place controls required under domestic and EU legislation that will help control any further spread of the disease in the surrounding area. “We ask that the public remain vigilant and report any findings of dead wild birds. People should not handle the birds.” The health risk to humans from the H5N1 virus remains very low, according to the Scottish Government. The outbreak follows one involving the H5N8 strain in a chicken flock on Orkney in December.
An international benchmark review of Scotland’s schools has been delivered to the Scottish Government, we can reveal, but ministers insist the findings cannot be made public until after the election.
A draft of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) review of the Curriculum for Excellence (CFE) was delivered to ministers last month, according to confidential documents. Ministers and civil servants will meet tomorrow to discuss the report and provide comments, according to the papers. The OECD will then deliver a complete draft report to SNP ministers on March 3, before ministers again provide comments on March 15. However, the report, which was originally due to be published this month, will not be released until June, with ministers blaming the pandemic for delays. The revelation comes as the government is accused of focusing on spin not substance after it emerged ministers had a long-awaited report into the risk of moving positive NHS patients into care homes for five days before it was published, just 15 minutes before Nicola Sturgeon was questioned about it, and three days earlier than previously suggested by authors Public Health Scotland.
The last OECD review in 2015 said a fifth of schools were rated only “satisfactory” and one in 10 was “weak or unsatisfactory”. It also found declining achievement levels in maths. The Scottish Lib Dems obtained the documents under freedom of information legislation and party leader Willie Rennie has demanded the publication of an “unedited” interim OECD report before the election. He said: “Only this SNP government could set up an independent review of Scottish education which schedules in months of ministerial editing and other jiggery pokery. It is scandalous that SNP ministers get to see the first findings from the OECD six months before anyone else. Conveniently, the rest of us only get sight of anything after the Holyrood elections. “Who knows what that will look like given these new documents show ministers will already be scribbling notes on the OECD’S first draft. “We need an unedited, OECD interim report before the election, and one that doesn’t have SNP ministers’ fingerprints all over it.” In April 2020, the Scottish Government considered allowing a debate in 2021 but this was not taken forward. Under questioning from Scottish Liberal Democrats in parliament in September 16 last year, Education Minister John Swinney said he would be “happy to discuss” with the OECD whether it could produce an interim report before the election. The documents obtained using freedom of information law reveal that Mr Swinney did not contact the OECD about this and that there had been “no direct discussions” about an interim report. Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart added: “John Swinney told me he would be happy to discuss the possibility of an interim report with the
OECD. This investigation shows that not only did he do precisely nothing, it now turns out that a six-month period of drafts going back and forth is under way. “The Scottish Government is trying to stitch this up. I will be asking colleagues on the education committee to recall John Swinney to discuss these revelations.” The Scottish Government previously decided to withdraw from two major international education comparison surveys – Trends in International Maths and Science Study (Timss) and Progress in International Ready Literacy Survey (PIRLS).
Larry Flanagan, leader of teachers’ union the EIS, said the government
could be “parking” the OECD report because it could be “politicised” in the election campaign. He said: “We would be keen to see the report published as soon as possible because, before, during or after the election, there will need to be a big discussion about rebooting education in the context of recovery from the pandemic. “The Scottish Government said the OECD has been talking to stakeholders over recent months and would hold an event in March to “share emerging messages, providing a further opportunity for key partners and practitioners in Scotland to inform the final report, which will be published in June 2021.”