Yesterday in the Chamber I asked a topical question on the growing horse meat scandal. This follows news that horse DNA has been found in school burgers in North Lanarkshire and frozen beef products have been withdrawn across Scotland.

It was only last week that the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs assured Parliament that “food and drink contracts are awarded in a way that balances price and quality…it is not necessarily the lowest price that wins; quality is vital in the public sector.’ However what we now know to be the case is that school contracts are awarded on a weighting of 65% price and 20% quality. That means cost is weighted three times to that of quality in the national contract.

We have also found out that under the watch of the current Scottish Government food safety tests have been cut by a third since 2008 and the Scottish Food Standards Agency has underspent their budget by 10%. With Union publishing a damning survey yesterday of Environmental Health Officers, which found that 56% have seen major cuts in their team and one member saying “we have not submitted any samples for food for ten months!” the Cabinet Secretary must answer questions on whether he has taken the necessary steps to ensure that safety can still be delivered with these reductions.

Why, when there was a substantial underspend in the Scottish FSA, were the number of inspections allowed to drop dramatically? Did the Minister not ask what the consequences to food safety would be? Producers and consumers deserve better leadership from the Scottish Government to ensure the best possible advice gets out there.

Scots, regardless of income, should be able to buy with confidence and know that when a product says it is made of beef, it actually is. For many hard working families isn’t an option for many hard-working Scottish families simply to be told to buy more expensive meat.