Claudia Beamish

17 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has suggested that the modified national marine plan will have no likely significant effects on the Natura 2000 network and therefore should not be subject to an appropriate assessment under the habitats regulations appraisal.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The screening undertaken as the first step of the habitats regulations appraisal of the national marine plan has shown that, on the whole, the objectives and policies of the plan are general in nature and do not direct development or use to a specific locatio…

17 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the updated environmental assessment of the modified national marine plan should be subject to a public consultation and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The sustainability appraisal of the modified national marine plan shows that the modifications would not result in significant environmental or socio-economic effects, and would not change the conclusions of the 2013 sustainability appraisal report. As the mo…

17 Dec 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether details of the environmental assessment of the modified national marine plan will be made publicly accessible and, if so, where.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: An addendum to the 2013 sustainability appraisal report has been prepared, which has assessed the potential effects of the modifications to the national marine plan. The addendum has been provided to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee…

17 Dec 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to provide an appropriate legal process for resolving domestic abuse cases in the South Scotland parliamentary region.

2 Dec 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve public transport in South Scotland.

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funds it (a) has allocated in each of that last five years and (b) will allocate in the next five years to species and habitats-focused research to inform the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and global Aichi targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Scottish Government spend on species and habitats-focused research in each of the last five years can be broken down as follows: Year Amount 2009-10 £3.0 million 2010-11 £3.0 million 2011-12 £4.0 million 2012-13 £3.8 million 2013-14 £3.7 million …

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that its research strategy delivers the information needed to help implement the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The importance of biodiversity is recognised in the Scottish Government’s current research strategy and key outputs from all the research funded are communicated to target audiences in Scotland and beyond through a knowledge exchange programme. This is co-ord…

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what scientific research on species ecology and management it is commissioning to inform delivery against the Aichi species and habitats targets.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government, as part of its rural affairs, food and environment strategic research for 2011-16, funds a wide range of scientific research on species ecology and management that will inform delivery against the Aichi targets. This is mainly being t…

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) policies and (b) plans it has to underpin delivery (i) of ecosystem service targets under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and (ii) against the Aichi species and habitats targets.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: The Scottish Government will shortly publish its route map for biodiversity. This will set out our ‘big steps for nature’. These are the priority actions which are required to address the main drivers of biodiversity loss. They will assist in meeting our obli…

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that improved ecosystem service delivery and performance against natural capital indices would, in themselves, constitute the successful conservation of biodiversity in Scotland.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: We are at the early stages in both measuring natural capital and understanding the role of biodiversity in the delivery of ecosystem services. There is a lot of evidence that supports the idea that biodiversity is critical to ecosystem resilience and hence to…

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what publications it considers constitute the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy in terms of section 2(1) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.

Answer · Aileen McLeod: Scotland's Biodiversity Strategy, Scotland's Biodiversity: It's in Your Hands, was published in 2004. The 2020 Challenge for Scotland's Biodiversity was published in June 2013. The two strategy documents together comprise the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy.

21 Nov 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the additional £10 million active travel infrastructure announced in the budget speech is included in the draft budget 2015-16.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Yes. As stated on page 124 of the Draft Budget 2015-16 we have committed an additional £10 million in 2015-16 to support the delivery of improved cycling and walking infrastructure, and to support its use and help people make smarter travel choices.

4 Nov 2014 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports Creative Scotland in supporting talent and diversity among the arts and creative industries in South Scotland.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government will provide over £48 million in core and ring-fenced funding to Creative Scotland in the 2015-16 budget for support for the arts, screen and creative industries across Scotland. Funding decisions about individual projects are a mat…

28 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth had with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment regarding the Carbon Assessment of the 2015-16 Draft Budget.

1 Oct 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports people in remote areas into further education and lifelong learning.

17 Sep 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on NHS homeopathic and complementary medicine arrangements in South Scotland.

27 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid to farmers on Islay under (a) the single farm payment scheme, (b) the less favoured area support scheme and (c) other CAP funding streams in each of the last five years; how many recipients there were, and what the average payment was under each stream.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The information requested is provided below as follows: (a) The single farm payment scheme – see table 1. (b) The less favoured area support scheme – see table 2. (c) Other CAP funding streams – see tables 3, 4, and 5.   Table 1 - Single Farm Payment S…

20 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking (a) through the Scotland Rural Development Programme and (b) generally to reverse the reported decline of vascular plant diversity in order to protect the number of pollinators that was identified in the biodiversity strategy report for 2011-13.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: (a) Around £33 million was approved for pollinator-friendly options in the 2007-13 Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). The principal types of pollinator-friendly management that have been supported under SRDP are: Creating wildflower-rich mosaics an…

20 Aug 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it is allocating to ensure that the data sets for the indicators in its biodiversity strategy report for 2011-13 are up-to-date and relate to the period of time specified for reporting.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The 2011-13 report contains tables of biodiversity indicators that were initially developed for the 2004 Scottish biodiversity strategy. Not all of these indicators have been updated within the 2011-13 reporting period. The reasons for this vary between indic…

30 Jul 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will support the legacy of the Commonwealth Games in rural South Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to creating a lasting legacy and maximising the benefits for the whole of Scotland from hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. With the games now behind us, I remain committed to deepening and strengthening the legacy across…

7 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the decision to invest in the beef sector from Pillar 2 funds rather than in agri-environment/climate schemes will jeopardise Scotland’s chances of meeting biodiversity and climate change-related targets.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The decision taken to invest additional domestic funds in the beef sector will not have any impact on the agri-environment-climate budget. In the 2014-20 Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) we have actually increased the agri-environment-climate budge…

7 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what economic analysis was carried out to inform its decision regarding coupled support for sheep production and whether it included the potential loss of ecosystem services due to overgrazing.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The economic analysis of coupled support for sheep considered business level changes in total direct payments in 2019 compared with 2011, in sectors and in geographic regions. The analysis did not include potential loss of ecosystem services due to overgrazi…

4 Jul 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-04381 by Stewart Stevenson on 16 December 2011, (a) how many and (b) which sites of special scientific interest have been damaged in each of the last three years; what the cause of the damage was; what area was damaged; whether the damage was due to…

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: (a) Data are collated by financial year. Incidents are recorded by Scottish Natural Heritage where damage exceeds a threshold of over 0.5 hectares in area or 100m in length or 10% of the interest feature on the site. 23 incidents were recorded for 2011-12, n…

27 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allocate funds from the Scotland Rural Development Programme to help manage (a) historical and (b) archaeological sites.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Due to a very tight common agricultural programme budget settlement we are unable to allocate Scotland Rural Development Programme funds for the specific purpose of the managing of historical and archaeological sites. Instead, we are seeking to integrate the…

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the conservation of sandeels can be monitored in the absence of a specific survey.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The breeding success of some surface feeding seabirds provides a reliable proxy of sandeel abundance near colonies and these seabird species are monitored annually at colonies around Scotland. Hence it is possible to get a regular indication of sandeel abunda…

26 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what trends in sandeel abundance were observed during the sandeel survey in 2006.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: In 2006 there was a trawl survey of the Shetland coastal grounds. This was part of an annual survey that ran from 1984-2007. In 2006, the index for young of the year sandeels was below the average for the survey but above the preceding five years and in 2007 …

18 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether, following the Scottish Land Court's decision in relation to the Roxburgh Mains rent review, it plans to reconsider how tenant farmer rent rates are calculated.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to my response to question S4W-21818 on 7 July 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybus…

18 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the system of resolving rent disputes through the Scottish Land Court fit for purpose.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Despite the Rent Review Working Group’s report in 2012 concluding that no changes to the legislation were required, and the subsequent production of the industry led Practitioner’s Guide setting out best practice for rent reviews, the interim report of the Ag…

9 Jun 2014 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S4O-03287 by Richard Lochhead on 29 May 2014 (Official Report, c. 31578), what scientific advice it has received on the condition of sandeels (a) in the Northern Isles and (b) across Scotland.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: A number of scientific studies suggest sandeel abundance in both the north of Scotland and across Scotland as a whole varies considerably from year to year, mainly due to the relatively short life cycle of sandeels, and only partly as a result of human activi…

14 May 2014 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the position is of the cabinet secretary with responsibility for equalities on the implications for equalities of the findings of the Education Scotland report, Making Sense: Education for Children and Young People with Dyslexia.