Mike Rumbles

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00390 by Fergus Ewing on 15 June 2016, what the basis was for the cabinet secretary's assertion that the "IT functionality for the recording of entitlement transfers will be available in the autumn".

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The following response provided to S5W-00390 in June 2016 - the IT functionality for the recording of entitlement transfers will be available in the autumn. There is, however, no reason for farmers and crofters to delay informing the entitlement transfer unit…

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it has put in place for farm businesses that miss the application deadline for the common agricultural policy (CAP) payment loan scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The deadline for farmers and crofters to opt into the 2016 National Basic Payment Support Scheme was extended to 14 December 2016 to ensure every eligible business has the opportunity to consider this option and respond.

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when applications will close for the common agricultural policy (CAP) payment loan scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Applications for the 2016 National Basic Payment Support Scheme will remain open until 14 December 2016.

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it plans to centralise control of all roads from local authorities to Transport Scotland and, if so, (a) what measures it will introduce to ensure that distinct local and regional public transport priorities are met and (b) how it will to ensure that the public will continue to …

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are currently no plans to centralise control of all roads from local authorities to Transport Scotland. The Scottish Government is fully supportive of current local authority efforts to form regional partnerships to explore how their resources can be …

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will ask the UK Government to extend the fuel derogation scheme to other rural communities in Scotland if the UK is no longer subject to EU competition law.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of our rural communities and the implications Brexit will have on them. Our priority is to protect all of Scotland’s interests and we are considering all possible steps to ensure Scotland’s continuing relatio…

17 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it has put in place for farm businesses that find themselves in financial difficulties after the application deadline passes for the common agricultural policy (CAP) payment loan scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The 2016 National Basic Payment Loan Scheme was designed to provide certainty for farmers and crofters over winter 2016 and seek to inject up to £300 million into the rural economy. Farmers and crofters have been able to apply for a loan of 80% of their CAP B…

15 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the A90 Laurencekirk grade separated junction upgrade will be completed.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01462 on 11 August 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness…

15 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to commemorate the opening of the Forth Replacement Crossing; when the commemorations will take place and how much they will cost.

Answer · Keith Brown: We are currently considering the full range of options available to commemorate the opening of the Queensferry Crossing. Further information will become available from early 2017, as plans are finalised, ahead of the Queensferry Crossing opening in May 2017.

15 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the IT system for common agricultural policy (CAP) payments will be fully operational.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Rural Payments & Services system is delivered in phases. The next major phase is early in the new year for enabling the processing of applications for the 2016 scheme year payments. As with any large IT system, there will always be further development an…

15 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provisions it has in place to manage traffic should the opening of the Forth Replacement Crossing be delayed.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Forth Road Bridge will be open for traffic until the Queensferry Crossing opens, while existing traffic arrangements will remain in place until the new Crossing is open to traffic.

15 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date (a) payments and (b) reimbursements under the 2017 Basic Payment Scheme are expected to start, and when all eligible farmers will receive their final payment.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government plans to make the vast majority of payments under the 2017 Basic Payment Scheme within the regulatory window which is from 1 December 2017 – 30 June 2018.

2 Nov 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the comment "All I have to do is look at my Twitter feed to see that people are complaining largely about capacity issues during peak hours" by the Minister for Transport for the Islands at the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee on 26 October 2016 (Official Report, c.16)…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In line with changing media consumption habits, and our ambitions for more open and accessible government, Scottish Ministers place increasing value on the importance of communicating and engaging with the public via social media, as well as continuing to eng…

31 Oct 2016 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister, further to ScotRail being fined £483,000 for failing to meet performance standards, when services will improve.

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-03324 by Fergus Ewing on 27 October 2016, whether it would implement the policies outlined in paragraphs three and four if agricultural subsidy rules were its responsibility.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has been calling for full engagement with the UK Government on the EU exit negotiations and process. Agriculture is fully devolved and we must retain our powers to manage it appropriately and set future policy. How we organise agricult…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £45 million allocated to the Beef Efficiency Scheme will be paid to farm businesses.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Farm Businesses that have joined the Beef Efficiency Scheme will benefit from the overall BES budget of £45 Million, in a number of ways, including direct payments, free advisory services, including one to one's, and the genotyping tests.

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage uptake of the Beef Efficiency Scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The application window for the Scheme was open between April and June of this year. We carried out a number of activities to publicise the scheme opening to applicants, this included an external press announcement, a short promotional video on YouTube and a m…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on removing the fixed reference year requirement for applications to the Beef Efficiency Scheme to open it up for expanding and new herds.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The intention of the Beef Efficiency Scheme (BES) is to help the beef sector during a period of challenging transition to lower levels of support in the new CAP, and, crucially, to reduce carbon emissions from the sector. As a decoupled scheme, the European C…

27 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on paying Beef Efficiency Scheme participants over the whole five-year period of the scheme, and whether this will encourage uptake of the scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The scheme rules on payment rates and on the payment schedule have been agreed with the European Commission and the scheme has been advertised to potential applicants as such. Currently we do not plan to change the payment rate or to extend payments to years …

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what roadworks, maintenance, repairs and improvements have been carried out on the A90 and A96 since the beginning of 2015; whether the works caused traffic delays, and, if so, how long the delays lasted.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Roadworks are a necessary part of maintaining and operating a safe trunk road network. From January 2015 to October 2016 there were 1,681 sets of roadworks on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Perth, also 852 on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness. This incl…

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what traffic delays due to roadworks, maintenance, repairs and improvements there are on the A90 and A96, and how long the delays are expected to last.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: In October 2016, there were 65 sets of roadworks on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Perth, also 17 on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness. This includes roadworks associated with major projects, planned and emergency road maintenance, private developments …

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what roadworks, maintenance, repairs and improvements are planned for the A90 and A96 up to the end of 2017; whether these works are expected to cause traffic delays, and, if so, how long the delays are expected to last.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Work to complete the Aberdeen Bypass will continue until winter 2017. Due to the extensive, and on occasion complex temporary traffic management, delays will be inevitable but Transport Scotland is working closely with Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL), the proje…

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 20 October 2016, Minister welcomes ScotRail Improvement Plan, whether any actions or initiatives in the draft plan were changed following representations by the Minister for Transport and the Islands.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Performance Improvement Plan provided by ScotRail represents their response to the moving annual average Public Performance Measure (PPM) falling below the levels required of the Franchise Agreement. The Minister for Transport & Islands visited ScotRail a…

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 20 October 2016, Minister welcomes ScotRail Improvement Plan, whether it will list each of the actions and initiatives that will be monitored by Transport Scotland in relation to the plan.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are 11 key areas contained within the overall ScotRail Improvement Plan covering train fleet, infrastructure, and operations, each of which specify the key measures to be undertaken by ScotRail. As the publically available Performance Improvement Plan p…

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 20 October 2016, Minister welcomes ScotRail Improvement Plan, for what reason it has not published the full improvement plan.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There are issues of commercial confidentiality. I have asked officials to consider what further details in support of the information already issued might be provided, having regard to commercial confidentiality.

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 20 October 2016, Minister welcomes ScotRail Improvement Plan, whether the Minister for Transport and the Islands has seen the full plan.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have been presented with the details of the plan and spoke to lead officials at ScotRail who lead on each of the key focus themes of Infrastructure, Train Fleet, and Operations. Discussions are ongoing with ScotRail around what further details can be made p…

25 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Transport and the Islands in the Sunday Herald on 16 October 2016 that he had said to ScotRail that “the wifi, the sockets, the nice seats, are all good. But what we need to do is get back to capacity issues, reliability, not skipping stops”, o…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I meet regularly with senior officials from the ScotRail Alliance and have emphasised the need for the Train Operator to improve performance, most recently on 1 November 2016. At my request, ScotRail have developed a Performance Improvement Plan which sets ou…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote community-led schemes that aim to prevent harm to vulnerable people during Halloween, Bonfire Night and as the evenings become darker.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is working with local partners to highlight the dangers of fireworks and bonfires. Th…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking (a) in conjunction with and (b) separate from the work of Police Scotland to limit anti-social behaviour, theft, misuse of fireworks and unwelcome visitors at the homes of vulnerable and older people during Halloween, Bonfire Night and as the evenings become dark…

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety. The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a wide range of measures for dealing with anti-social behaviours, incl…

24 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to raise awareness of the risks to vulnerable people when the clocks change to GMT and the evenings become darker.

Answer · Annabelle Ewing: The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety. This includes advice from Transport Scotland on driving in the dark and taking account the vulnerability of pedestrians – in parti…

18 Oct 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, whether it considers the comments by the Minister for Transport and Islands in the Sunday Herald on 16 October 2016 that “what I’ve been saying to [ScotRail] is...the wifi, the sockets, the nice seats, are all good. But what we need to do is get back to capacity issues, reliability, not…

Answer · Humza Yousaf: ScotRail recently published a Performance Improvement Plan [PIP] which outlines its commitment to increase reliability of fleets, infrastructure and operations to get back to the levels which I expect the franchisee to deliver every day. As part of its obli…