Parliamentary questions
Tavish Scott
2,683 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
9 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when confirmation of entitlements under the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme will be given to farmers and crofters.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Entitlements are not a feature of the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme. Applicants receive payments based on the number of eligible animal for which they have submitted a claim. For payment details, please refer to the answer supplied to parliamentary que…
9 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to make payments under the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00660 on 22 June 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/…
9 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason payments under the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme have been delayed.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Rural Payments and Inspections Division is working to validate the 1,400 applications received for around 118,000 animals claimed. As part of European Commission regulations, animals must be validated against the electronic records held by SCOT-EID (the a…
8 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to local authorities to address adult illiteracy.
Answer · John Swinney: Each local authority is responsible for what it spends on adult learning including adult literacy, based on its evaluation of local needs. The Scottish Government funds local authorities through the block grant. Under the Concordat, the Scottish Government es…
8 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many adults are unable to read and write.
Answer · John Swinney: The last ‘Scottish Survey of Adult Literacies’ was conducted in 2009. It can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/07/22091814/0. However, other available evidence suggests that progress in tackling adult basic skills levels is being made. The la…
8 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what effect the reported reduction in college places has had on the rate of adult illiteracy.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has delivered on our commitment to maintain 116,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) places - colleges exceeded it in 2014-15, delivering 119,078 funded FTEs. Additionally, the number of full-time students over 25 at colleges has increased b…
8 Jun 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met representatives of the fishing industry to discuss the discard ban.
6 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date the outstanding payment reviews under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme will be concluded, broken down by Rural Payments and Inspections Division area office.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: All region review requests received under Basic Payment Scheme 2015 will be completed by Friday 24 June 2016.
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will develop a fair and transparent funding formula for schools to receive money from the Scottish Attainment Fund.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answers to question S5W-00410 answered on 10 June 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.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the pledge in the 2016 SNP manifesto to increase investment in the Scottish Attainment Fund by £750 million over the course of the current parliamentary session, whether it will establish a minimum additional funding level per pupil eligible for additional support and, if so,…
Answer · John Swinney: We will allocate £750 million over this parliamentary session to expand the Attainment Scotland Fund to close the gap in educational attainment. As well as investing £50 million each year in our established area-based approach to raising attainment, we will a…
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the pledge in the 2016 SNP manifesto to increase investment in the Scottish Attainment Fund by £750 million over the course of the current parliamentary session, how many local authorities will receive money under the expanded fund and on what date it will be expanded.
Answer · John Swinney: All local authorities will be supported by the £750 million investment during this parliamentary session. The Attainment Scotland Fund already provides support to 21 local authorities who receive funding either as a challenge authority or have schools in the …
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the budget for each college has been in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 2011-12.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Funding Council. I have asked the Chief Executive to respond.
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of hours that (a) teachers and (b) pupils will spend (i) working to prepare for and (ii) undertaking new standardised national assessments.
Answer · John Swinney: These assessments will replace the standardised assessments already used in schools across Scotland. Assessment is part of everyday learning and teaching – teachers use it to assess children and young people’s progress and to put in place support where it is …
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost of introducing new standardised national assessments in schools.
Answer · John Swinney: We published information on possible costs of the new standardised assessment in the supplementary Financial Memorandum to the Education (Scotland) Act 2016. http://www.parliament.scot/S4_Bills/Education%20(Scotland)%20Bill/SPBill64AFMS042016.pdf As the memo…
1 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy pretests involve; whether there will be a numeracy pretest in 2016, and what the reason is for its position on this matter.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) pretesting is an important quality assurance mechanism in the development of new assessment tasks. It is one of a number of procedures employed to validate assessment tasks and to check the quality of indivi…
31 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many new entrants to the Basic Payment Scheme in 2016 are still awaiting a final instalment or any payment, broken down by Rural Payments and Inspections Division area office.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: No final basic payment has been yet been made, however we are working very hard to meet the regulatory deadline. Some new entrants shown in the following table have received a loan and have now received their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) instalment payment, th…
31 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a discrepancy in the definitions of Basic Payment Scheme region 1 and region 2 on the Rural Payments and Inspections Division website compared with the interpretation by officials assessing parcels of land and, if so, for what reason.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: There is no discrepancy in the definitions of Basic Payment Scheme regions 1 and 2 between what is on the website and what is being used by officials who have or are carrying out an assessment of a land parcel.
31 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when any outstanding payment reviews will be concluded under the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme, broken down by Rural Payments and Inspections Division area office.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Applications for the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme can be submitted up till 15 June 2016. No 2016 Basic Payment Scheme applications have yet been processed and no payments under that scheme have yet been made.
31 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Rural Payments and Inspections Division will provide a written definition for region 1 and region 2 under the Basic Payment Scheme regulations.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Information was issued to farmers and crofters providing details of the Basic Payment Scheme guidance which detailed under the new common agricultural policy that all farming land in Scotland has been categorised into three regions, this information is also p…
31 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the originally estimated 2016 Basic Payment Scheme spend had been paid as at 31 May 2016, broken down by Rural Payments and Inspections Division area office.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The estimated 2015 expenditure for Basic Payment Scheme (including Greening measures) is approximately £334.5 million. To date, Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) has issued instalment payments of £216 million or around 65% of the planned expend…
10 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of first instalment common agricultural policy settlement payments will be made by the end of March 2016, and on what date the balance of payments will be made.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has made Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) first instalments to almost 62 per cent of farmers and crofters as at 19 March 2016, and will make as many further payments by the end of March 2016 as possible. We aim to complete all payments withi…
10 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how applications for single application forms will be made by the deadline of 15 May 2016 if a crofter or farmer has still to receive a decision letter on their field parcels and eligibility for payment regions under the Basic Payment Scheme by that date.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In the circumstance where a farmer of crofter has not received an illustration of entitlement letter, they should not delay in submitting a 2016 single application form. Rural payments and inspections division officials will take the entitlement allocated in …
10 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what EU Structural and Challenge Fund funding has been spent in each of the last five years in Shetland.
Answer · Keith Brown: EU Structural and Challenge Fund funding spent in each of the last five years in Shetland is: Shetland Islands (£) 2011 1,464,495.84 2012 1,257,212.23 2013 2,396,296.36 2014 2,014,228.28 2015 415,829.44 Grand total 7,548,062.15
10 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the common agricultural policy allocation has been spent in Shetland in each of the last five years.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: To give a full answer to the question i.e. to provide information spanning five years, broken down as requested has necessitated further bespoke interrogation of the IT system and will take some time to complete. The requested information will be made availab…
10 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans it has in the event of crofters and farmers not receiving their eligibility letter for common agricultural policy payments by the deadline for single application form submissions on 15 May 2016.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In the circumstance where a farmer of crofter has not received an illustration of entitlement letter, they should not delay in submitting a 2016 single application form. Rural payments and inspections division officials will take the entitlement allocated in …
9 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government from which budget any potential fine from the EU, as a result of delays to common agricultural policy payments, will be paid.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Any disallowances, determined by the European Commission, against Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 EU grants administered by Rural Payments and Inspections Division, the paying agency, of the Scottish Government are scored against the Rural Affairs, Food and the Environ…
9 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been paid to Spectromax Solutions for staff to manage the delays to common agricultural policy payments.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government's contract for the new rural payments and services IT system is with CGI. Spectromax, along with other agencies, is a supplier to CGI and the Scottish Government has not made any direct payments to Spectromax.
9 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason payments on agricultural sheds have been delayed and when such payments are expected to be made.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: There have not been any general delays to payments for agricultural sheds under the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme. While it is possible that individual cases may have taken longer to process than others, without the specific details of the case or cases …
9 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will use the old or new IT system to make beef and ewe hogg payments under the common agricultural policy.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new rural payments and services computer system is being used to process the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme and the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme.
9 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has identified flaws with any other IT systems for common agricultural policy payments.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In Scotland, the common agricultural policy (CAP) comprises around 20 different schemes across Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 of the CAP. Some of these schemes are administered collectively on a single IT system while others have their own stand alone systems. The Sco…