Public Health Bill unveiled
26 Oct 07
Bill will update law on infectious diseases and contamination
Scottish ministers today published their bill to modernise Scotland's public health legislation.
The Public Health etc (Scotland) Bill will comprehensively modernise Scotland's public health legislation which dates back to 1889, bringing it into line with many other countries and ensuring full compliance with the International Health Regulations 2005. These broaden the scope of action beyond infectious diseases to those caused by contamination (biological, chemical and radiological).
The bill will also include a statutory duty for the provision of mortuaries, and amendments to the statutory nuisance regime of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, similar to that in place in England and Wales.
Minister for Public Health Shona Robison said: "This is a major piece of legislation which will ensure that appropriate measures are in place to safeguard the public from existing and emerging threats to public health.
"The strengthening of the current legislation will ensure that Scotland has the necessary powers to protect its citizens from the global spread of disease and contamination, the consequences of which we know can be significant."
She added that the proposals had been subject to extensive consultation and had broad support from a wide range of stakeholders.
Key provisions in the bill include:
- clarifying the roles and responsibilities of Scottish ministers, health boards and local authorities for public health protection purposes;
- setting out notification arrangements for infectious diseases, organisms and health risk states;
- updating and strengthening existing powers of health boards to exclude people from school and work, where there is a risk to public health;
- introducing new powers to quarantine people in defined circumstances and where there is significant risk to public health, on order from a sheriff, while maintaining personal safeguards;
- updating existing powers to remove and detain in hospital a person suffering from a serious infectious disease or who has been contaminated, where there is a significant risk to public health, on order from a sheriff;
- updating existing powers to require a person to have the least intrusive or invasive medical examination possible to achieve the public health outcome, without consent, in defined circumstances and where there is significant risk to public health, on order from a sheriff;
- introducing a new power to require a person to be disinfected, disinfested or decontaminated, in defined circumstances and where there is significant risk to public health, on order from a sheriff;
- introducing a flexible regulation-making power to prevent, protect against and control the spread of disease and contamination which will give effect to international obligations and recommendations.
The powers of compulsion would only be exercised where the person does not accept constraints voluntarily, posing a significant risk to public health.