Responding to the announcement that 11 sites in Scotland have now been confirmed with Ash Dieback and that the Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse will be convening a summit of key stakeholders this Tuesday, Claire Baker MSP said:

“The disease was first believed to be in Scotland in July yet there was no information from the Scottish Government until last week. Considering the ease with which the disease can spread and the fact the disease was confirmed months before in England, the Scottish Government are closing the stable door after the horse has bolted and failed to be proactive in containing the disease.

“The Scottish Government must answer questions on when they first became aware of the threat of ash dieback and what if any precautionary action did they take.

“The First Minister admitted today that Ash Dieback is seasonal so one must ask why the Scottish Government did not take any action during the height of the season once they became aware the disease had spread to Scotland. The Government may be convening summits and attending COBRA meetings in winter whilst the disease has less chance of spreading but is it a case of too little too late?”

In response to a question Claire asked last week, the Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse admitted that the Scottish Government were aware of the disease in the summer, however Parliament was only informed at the end of October.

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): The minister will be aware of newspaper reports that the Forestry Commission was aware of the threat of ash dieback as far back as 2009. When exactly did the Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission Scotland first become aware of the threat of ash dieback and what action was taken then to stop the disease spreading?

Paul Wheelhouse: The member is correct in her assessment that Scotland has been aware of the disease. Work is on-going to identify exactly how it is being transmitted to the UK and within the UK. As I said in response to John Scott, the disease was first identified in Scotland in July and was confirmed in August. Until that point, there was no evidence of its presence in Scotland. We are now undertaking extensive survey work to identify the extent of its presence in Scotland. I assure the member that we will do everything that we can to move forward, to manage the disease effectively and to try to eradicate it in the best way possible