OV19(S): Scale of fees for services rendered in Scotland by Official Veterinarians
Updated 19 August 2024
Applies to Scotland
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In operation by agreement between the Scottish Government and the British Veterinary Association, and carried out under the Terms of Business in force at the time.
Effective from 1 August 2024.
1. Call out fees
A single call out (visit) fee is payable for each visit to a holding. Work conducted over several parts of a holding (e.g. different locations) or at different ScotMoves holdings will be considered a single visit. All types of visit attract the same call out fee (the visit to read a tuberculin test is a separate visit to the call out to initiate the test).
TB tests involving 150 or fewer animals are expected to be completed within a single pair of visits. However, we understand that this is not always possible for a number of logistical reasons. When it is not possible to do these tests in a single visit please contact your local APHA office to discuss this. A note will be made on the record of the farm and when your invoice is sent in it is possible for us to check on the record whether this has been discussed and agreed or not.
1.1 Call out fee
For each visit to a holding, there is a call out fee of £77.94.
1.2 Exceptional mileage rates
Where the total mileage for the visit exceeds 55 miles round trip, there is an exceptional mileage rate of £0.45 per additional mile travelled.
2. Fees for undertaking tasks, paid on a headage basis
Fees are payable in line with the following scale for the following types of work. The fees include the cost of all consumables, packaging and postage (where applicable), with the exception of Tuberculin for official tests which will be supplied by APHA free of charge:
| Work Area | Fee per animal tested |
|---|---|
| Tuberculin testing (the fee is for 2 visits and includes the clinical inspection of animals tested) | £3.38 |
| Brucellosis blood sampling | £2.60 |
| Brucellosis full abortion investigation | £25.98 |
| Anthrax investigation | £19.49 |
| Enzootic bovine leukosis testing | £3.90 |
3. Fees for undertaking tasks, paid on an hourly basis
Fees are payable in line with the following rates for the following types of work. The work must be undertaken in accordance with instructions issued by Veterinary Lead, APHA, and the time taken for each job must be accepted by them as reasonable.
Travelling time must be excluded. Where no other types of work are undertaken the visit fee is considered to include the first 20 minutes of work. After the first 20 minutes of work, then time should be charged by the minute for each minute of work after that (pro-rata calculated from the hourly fee).
There is an hourly fee of £103.63 for the following work areas or tasks instructed by APHA:
- bluetongue, foot and mouth disease, glanders, parasitic mange, rabies, sheep scab, swine fever, tuberculosis (other than tuberculin testing), swine vesicular disease, equine infectious anaemia, equine viral arteritis, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie, and National Scrapie Plans
- quarantine examinations
- inspection of animals and poultry in markets
- importation or exportation of animals, including horses
- welfare visits or reports
- court attendance
- movement of animals
- Remote Islands eligible downtime
4. Wasted visits
Wasted visit means a visit where the Veterinary Lead is satisfied that, through no fault of the OV practice, no work could be carried out. A visit fee (and mileage over 55 miles) may be charged in the normal way but no other fee is payable.
5. Meetings
Mileage at £0.45p per mile may be payable for attendance at official OV meetings in Scotland. No call-out or task fees may be charged for attending such sessions or meetings.
6. Additional travel costs
Where additional travel expenses such as ferry costs, air fares, tolls or, exceptionally, overnight accommodation costs are necessarily incurred in the performance of Official Veterinarian tasks these may be reclaimed at cost. Copies of receipts must be provided.
7. VAT
Note all fees are exclusive of VAT, which should be added to invoices at the appropriate rate.