Parliamentary questions
Tavish Scott
2,683 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
2 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to prevent patients contracting infections and diseases from contaminated blood during NHS treatment.
Answer · Maureen Watt: The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) takes a wide range of steps to minimise the risk of transmission of infection between donors and patients, including complex and extensive donor deferral criteria and microbiological screening for a vari…
2 Mar 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government when crofters and farmers will receive their less favoured area support scheme payments.
1 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29412 by Richard Lochhead on 1 March 2016, how many inspections have been carried out to assess which Basic Payment Scheme region a farm or croft is in, broken down by area office.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: As explained in the response to S4W-29412, farmers and crofters who thought the Scottish Government’s, rural payments and Inspections division’s assessment of the provisional payment region allocated to any of their land parcels could ask for a review to be c…
1 Mar 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29412 by Richard Lochhead on 1 March 2016, how many subsequent inspections have been carried out on farms and crofts that have appealed their initial payment region decision, broken down by area office.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Farmers and crofters who thought the Scottish Government’s, rural payments and inspections division’s assessment of the provisional payment region allocated to any of their land parcels could ask for a review to be carried out. Officials were always will to r…
29 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issues on LGBTI issues for people undertaking teacher training.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Standards for Registration, which are set by the General Teaching Council for Scotland, require teachers to commit to the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable policies and practices in relation to…
29 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities to address LGBTI-phobia in schools.
Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Government takes bullying very seriously. Bullying of any kind, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, is unacceptable and must be addressed whenever it arises. We want all children and young people to be free from discrimina…
25 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by John Swinney on 9 February 2016 (Official Report, c.100), how it will spend the £18 million generated as a result of its superfast broadband programme; what matters were discussed and what the outcome was of its most recent meeting with (a) the four mobile net…
Answer · John Swinney: The £18 million generated as a result of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme (DSSB) will be used to extend superfast broadband coverage across Scotland. I met (a) the four UK mobile network operators on 4 December 2015, to discuss collaborati…
24 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to implement the recommendations in the European Union’s strategy paper on heating and cooling of 16 February 2016, in light of the possible impacts on carbon emissions, electricity consumption and job creation.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The proposals set out in the European Commission’s Strategy on Heating and Cooling are already a strong match for the Scottish Government's own ambitions. These are contained in the Scottish Government’s Heat Policy Statement, which sets clear ambitions to de…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, asserts that England having "experienced serious problems in 2005/06" is comparable with the recent delays in Scotland.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new CAP reform policy in England in 2005 saw similar changes to those being undertaken in Scotland in 2015 Basic Payments. In 2005 England moved to payment regions with different payment rates. In England in 2005, 120,000 applications were received again…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that it has used its "own central finance system to implement a swifter payment process", whether it will provide details of how this was…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Direct payments are normally fully funded by money obtained from the European Commission (EC). This involves calculating the amounts due, placing a request for the requisite funds with the EC via the Rural Payments Agency who act as the co-ordinating body for…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that "local area office staff [are] working overtime to process applications" and "more overtime" is expected, whether it will confirm how m…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In the period 15 March 2015 to 31 January 2016 Rural Payments and Inspections Division area offices worked a total of 15,901 hours. The total cost of the extra hours worked amounts to £266,912.00. Overtime will continue to be available to staff until all 2015…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that £115 million has been spent "to date" on the Futures/IT Project, whether it will provide a breakdown of (a) this and (b) all outstan…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Futures project spend to 31 March 2016 is £131 million, of which IT spend is approximately £98,250,000 and non IT spend is £32,750,000. The outstanding spend is estimated at £46.8 million over the remaining year of the project. The total expected cost re…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many calls the Rural Payment and Services' customer helpline has received each month, and on how many occasions calls could not be answered.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Rural Payments and Inspections Division customer helpline has answered the following calls from 4 December 2015 to 11 February 2016: Month Calls Resolved December 472 437 January 1,449 1,346 February (to 11) 508 455 The customer helpline open…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what kind of training it is providing to the staff who will use the new common agricultural policy settlement processing and payments software.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Staff across Rural Payments and Inspections Division area offices have received face to face training, e-learning and desktop guidance to support the launch of the new rural payments and services system in December 2014. They have also had access to on the j…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that there could be “more potential IT issues”, whether it will provide a breakdown of what these are.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: In any new IT system there can be unforeseen IT issues which need to be fixed. Although system integration and user acceptance testing takes place before go live the nature of the CAP system is such that it is not possible to use extensive testing in a live e…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, regarding the role of area offices, on what date it expects the offices to be fully familiar with how to deal with the systems for deali…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Staff across Rural Payments and Inspections Division area offices have received face to face training, e-learning and desktop guidance to support the launch of the new rural payments and services system. They have also received on the job coaching on the syst…
10 Feb 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 earmarked up to £200 million of national funds so that any farmer or crofter who has not received an instalment by the end of March 2016 will receive a nationally funded payment from the Scottish Government by the end of April 2016…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what date the new common agricultural policy settlement payments to farmers will exceed spend on the associated Futures/IT Project.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Presently I am unable to provide this information as not all payments have been made as single applications forms are still being processed. The total payments made at 2 March 2016 is 9,755 (54%), as reported to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environm…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the new common agricultural policy settlement (a) illustration entitlement letters and (b) final notification of entitlement has been issued.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: From the submitted for Basic Payment Scheme is 19,150; with eligible claims is 18,137. The number of illustrative entitlement letters issued was 16,046 (over 88 per cent). The final notification letters will follow on, on completion of application processing.
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average value has been of the new common agricultural policy settlement (a) illustration entitlement letters and (b) final notification of entitlement.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Application processing means that it is not possible to calculate an average entitlement value from the letters issued, however, the average first instalment made was around £10,400. The final notification of entitlement letters has not been issued and theref…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that the “old IT system was not capable of implementing new CAP", what steps it has taken to ensure that the replacement system does have…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new system has been designed flexibly to make it possible in future to accommodate policy changes.
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, prior to agreeing the new common agricultural payment (CAP) settlement, what analysis it made of whether the introduction of three CAP regions could lead to payment delays, and what discussions it has had with NFU Scotland regarding this.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new policy is highly complex with two old schemes replaced by six new schemes in Pillar One. The decision to move to three payment regions was a decision that was taken jointly with industry. Following a consultation exercise, in which Scottish Government…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that three payment regions were required, when it became aware of this; whether this was before the new IT system was commissioned, and w…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government undertook extensive consultation with stakeholders during the policy development phase of the new CAP. The decision to adopt a three region model was taken in June 2014 and answered to Parliament. The Futures Programme which includes …
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that "NFU Scotland insisted we have three payment regions", whether it considers that the union's position is the reason for delays in ma…
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new policy is highly complex with two old schemes replaced by six new schemes in Pillar One. The decision to move to three payment regions was a decision that was taken jointly with industry. Following a consultation exercise, in which Scottish Government…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, reflects its position, and whether it will place a copy of the document in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The note referred to is out of date, however I am this week providing Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE) with a detailed update on the CAP Payment Scheme and a copy of this letter will be published on the correspondence page for t…
10 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in the research note, CAP Payment Scheme, circulated to all SNP members and all parliamentary researchers on 9 February 2016, that "we said our aim was to pay a majority of farmers their first instalment by end-Jan", what analysis it carried out of the potential …
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The new policy is highly complex with two old schemes replaced by six new schemes in Pillar One and the move to three payment regions, a decision taken jointly with the industry. In addition there was limited time available between the agreement of the new CA…
3 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-29371 by Derek Mackay on 3 February 2016, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how much it has paid in settlement agreements, and how many such agreements have been reached.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Since 1 January 2007, settlement agreements with nine individuals have been reached at a total cost of £113,000.
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much VisitScotland has spent on promoting Shetland in each year since 2011.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: Whilst Shetland Islands Council ended their marketing memorandum of agreement with VisitScotland in April 2010, instead channelling their funding through the promote Scotland destination marketing organisation Promote Shetland, Shetland nevertheless continues…
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01299 by Humza Yousaf on 26 January 2016 (Official Report, c. 3), how many unaccompanied child refugees from Syria it plans to accept.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: We are awaiting the recommendations from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the next steps for this group of very vulnerable children, they have been asked to report at the end of February 2016. Scotland stands ready to welcome and provide a…
2 Feb 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4T-01299 by Humza Yousaf on 26 January 2016 (Official Report, c. 3), whether it will provide an update on what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding providing support to unaccompanied children from Syria.
Answer · Humza Yousaf: The UK Government announced on 28 January 2016 that it will offer refuge to unaccompanied children. They have commissioned the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to draft recommendations as to the criteria of vulnerability for unaccompanied…