Tavish Scott

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it arrived at the figure of £200 million for emergency payments to farmers and crofters affected by delays to common agricultural policy payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The £200 million figure was arrived at by taking account of the % age of funding being paid as first instalments payments and the amount already paid to farmers and crofters.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it first considered making an emergency payment to farmers and crofters affected by delays to common agricultural policy payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The first such payment announced by the Scottish Government was the Cash Flow Support Scheme for cases of severe hardship. That scheme was announced by myself on 12 February 2016 and was developed in the weeks leading up to that announcement.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether all farmers and crofters will receive their full common agricultural policy payments by 30 June 2016.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Staff are continuing to work as hard as possible to process applications as quickly as possible, and we are continuing efforts to speed up progress, such as taking on extra staff. Payments are expected to be made within the current EU regulatory window.

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered extending the 15 May 2016 deadline for single application form submissions.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Under EU rules, Scotland cannot unilaterally make the decision to extend the single application form deadline. The extension allowed in 2015 was granted by the EU Commission. The Scottish Government will keep in close contact with the EU Commission about whet…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will guarantee that the £200 million it has allocated to farmers and crofters affected by delays to common agricultural policy payments will be made before the end of April 2016.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has confirmed that its intention is that any farm or crofter who is eligible for basic payment scheme funding and who has not received an instalment by the end of March 2016 will receive a nationally funded payment from the Scottish Go…

9 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, given that NHS Shetland’s funding was £1.1 million below the NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) target between 2014-15 and 2015-16, what plans it has to provide NHS Shetland with the £600,000 required to bring it into line with the NRAC target for 2016-17.

Answer · Shona Robison: In 2016-17, NHS Shetland’s resource budget will increase by 4.5% to £42.6 million, an above inflation increase, having previously increased by 2.8% in 2015-16. NHS Shetland receives significant in-year funding over and above the baseline allocation, which wh…

8 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4O-05277 by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2016 (Official Report, c. 12), what discussions it has had with (a) Shetland Islands Council and (b) other local authorities regarding accepting refugees from Syria.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has not had discussions with Shetland Islands Council about accepting refugees from Syria. Local authorities currently liaise directly with the Home Office about acceptance of refugees. The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue wi…

8 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether and, if so, for what reason Rural Payments and Inspections Division offices are inspecting agricultural businesses that have no claim on any agricultural subsidy scheme.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Our programme of inspections is designed to help safeguard the environment, the public, crop health, animal welfare and meet our obligations for using European Commission money. Scottish Government officials are responsible for inspecting businesses or privat…

8 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether 2015 single application form (SAF) applicants will be paid less favoured area support in March 2016 if their SAF has yet to be processed.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government will provide cash support within weeks to almost 11,500 farming businesses in Scotland’s most remote and rural areas whilst basic payments are being processed.

8 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Shetland has been allocated less funding than the NHSScotland Resource Allocation Committee (NRAC) target in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

Answer · Shona Robison: NHS Shetland has received resource budget increases of 2.4% in 2014-15, 2.8% in 2015-16 and 4.5% in 2016-17. Between 2010-11 and 2013-14 NHS Shetland received significantly more than its NRAC share, and was second highest of all boards above parity in each o…

7 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the information on the Digital Scotland website regarding the upgrading of exchange areas under phase 1 of the superfast broadband programme is accurate.

Answer · John Swinney: The information used to update the Digital Scotland website is provided by BT Openreach project teams working on the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme. This information is validated centrally within Openreach before being passed to the Scottish G…

7 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £42 million budget for phase 2 of the superfast broadband programme will be allocated to the Highlands and Islands.

Answer · John Swinney: Funding allocations from the phase 2 budget have not yet been confirmed. We are working closely with key stakeholders, including Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Community Broadband Scotland and local government partners, on the development of a procurement …

7 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it is having with the Home Office to ensure that 4G mobile coverage is available in all areas of Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has the departmental lead within the UK Government for digital connectivity, and the Scottish Government is engaged with DCMS on a number of relevant issues, including mobile coverage. Commercial rollout and …

7 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether phase 2 of the superfast broadband programme will allow community broadband groups to tender for services in their area.

Answer · John Swinney: A procurement strategy for phase 2 has not yet been finalised. It is, therefore, too early to determine whether the procurement process will be structured in a way that will allow community broadband groups to tender for projects specific to their area. Co…

7 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on achieving EU state aid approval for phase 2 of the superfast broadband programme.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is supporting the UK Government’s efforts to secure a new UK-wide state aid scheme for broadband investment. The UK Government published a market engagement document in January 2016 that outlines the approach that has been discussed wi…

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what independent body has produced a report since 2011 on the long-term sustainability of Scotland’s public finances.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is of the view that it is for elected Members of the Scottish Parliament to hold Scottish Ministers to account for their financial judgments. Audit Scotland, working on behalf of the Auditor General for Scotland, supports the role of …

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what independent body is responsible for assessing the Scottish Government's performance on the application of its fiscal rules.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is subject to budgetary rules, expenditure limits and statutory borrowing limits. There are established mechanisms in place for reporting to Parliament on performance against these rules. The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts r…

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how Rural Payments and Inspections Division area offices are made aware of any Crofting Counties Agricultural Grant Scheme applications for new agricultural sheds for 2016-17.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: All Crofting Agricultural Grant applications, regardless of the type of proposal, are made to the applicants local area office in the first instance and there is therefore no need to notify the area offices of the purpose for an application at a later stage.

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of the 2015-16 Crofting Counties Agricultural Grant Scheme budget has been transferred to other budgets as a result of any projected underspend and, if so, to which budgets.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: There has been no transfer of budget form the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme to any other budget.

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that the implementation of the 2017 discard ban to be discussed by the industry and Marine Scotland on 17 March 2016 will find solutions to the concerns over choke species.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is working with the fishing industry to implement the landing obligation in the most flexible way and has always said it will work with other EU member states to resolve the difficult issues which we understand fishermen alone cannot f…

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by Kezia Dugdale at First Minister's Questions on 3 March 2016 regarding the minuting of meetings concerning fracking between "her environment agency and the Department of Energy and Climate Change" (Official Report, c. 12), what other meetings since 2011 involvin…

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government officials record meetings in line with civil service custom and practice, and to comply with the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made provisions in its budget for penalties imposed by the European Union as a result of delays to common agricultural policy payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The European Union would not impose financial penalties unless CAP Pillar 1 payments are not made by 30 June 2016. CAP Pillar 2 schemes do not have fixed payment windows and therefore the concept of financial penalties in respect of Pillar 2 does not exist.

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission an independent inquiry into the IT systems failures with its common agricultural policy payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Throughout the programme, we have used the government gateway review process which involves independent assessment on the progress of the programme. The Scottish Government is committed to learning lessons from this IT programme however our current focus is o…

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is on schedule to make the sheep coupled payments that are due in the first week of April 2016 and, if not, what the reason is for any delay.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Payments for the sheep coupled payments are part of the direct payments regime, and as such the payment window closes on the 30 June 2016, this is a new scheme being delivered by the Scottish Government.

3 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many additional staff it has hired to process (a) basic and (b) less favoured area support scheme payments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: A total of 36 additional members of staff have been recruited to area offices to deal with payment issues. We have also recruited 35 additional professional staff members.

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an increase in overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh ScotRail route at peak travel times over the last six months.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Some instances of overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route have been recorded during peak times compared to a similar period in 2014-15. These can largely be attributed to significant disruptive events, notably the closure of Winchburgh tunnel and the c…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis has been made of the cause of any overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh ScotRail route during peak times.

Answer · Derek Mackay: ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with advice on a four weekly basis on the extent of any under-provision of capacity on Edinburgh to Glasgow services. Some instances of overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route were recorded during the 2014-15 per…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it formally measures the level of overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh ScotRail route at peak travel times.

Answer · Derek Mackay: ScotRail are obliged under the terms of the franchise agreement to utilise rolling stock to meet passenger demand. Passenger counts on every service are carried out twice annually, usually in advance of timetable changes. ScotRail provides Transport Scotla…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to mitigate any overcrowding during the planned ScotRail works affecting the Glasgow to Edinburgh route beginning in March 2016.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The majority of Edinburgh to Glasgow trains calling at Croy, Falkirk High, Polmont and Linlithgow will be served by six coaches. All services between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Airdrie and Bathgate will be served by six coaches. ScotRail will, when possible, e…

2 Mar 2016 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to people who have contracted infections and diseases as a result of receiving contaminated blood during NHS treatment.

Answer · Maureen Watt: There are currently two UK-wide payment schemes for those infected with hepatitis C by NHS blood and blood products which the Scottish Government contributes directly to – the Skipton Fund provides lump sum and annual payments on the basis of chronic infectio…