Peter Chapman

20 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the number of unmetabolised livestock antibiotics entering water courses.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The regulation of veterinary medicines, including antibiotics, is a reserved matter. The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the Competent Authority in the UK. Nevertheless, the Scottish has signed up to the UK 5 Year Antimicrob…

20 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the derogation for the extension of spreading of slurry allows increased kilos to be spread per hectare.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: If circumstances on a particular farm do mean that the annual field limit is likely to be breached on any fields, then farmers should contact their RPID area office. RPID will continue to look sympathetically at any cases where a breach of the regulations has…

17 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the containment of larch disease.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: To date, the 2017 surveillance and monitoring programme in Scotland has resulted in 47 new Statutory Plant Health Notices (SPHN’s) for Ramorum on larch outside the south-west Scotland Management Zone, where SPHN’s are no longer served. Overall the findings su…

17 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many new entrants were accepted to the New Entrant SRDP Scheme in 2017.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Three separate support schemes for new entrants are available under the SRDP 2014-20: Young Farmers Start-up Grant Scheme; New Entrants Start-up Grant Scheme and the New Entrants Capital Grant Scheme. The New Entrants Capital Grant Scheme is open to applicat…

17 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) gamekeeper and (b) forestry apprenticeships there have been in each of the last 10 years.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Please see the total number of Modern Apprenticeships in gamekeeping in each of the last 10 years in the following table: Gamekeeper - Modern Apprenticeships Frameworks Year Game and Wildlife Management Starts 2008-09 0 2009-10 0 2010-11 N/A 2011-12…

16 Oct 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not extend the tagging deadline for the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme when it extended the application deadline.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: 30 November to submit their claim, by which time they must have tagged their animals. Having listened to farmers’ concerns, I announced on 27 September my decision to extend the timetable for applying to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme until 30 Nov…

27 Sep 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the fish processing industry.

13 Sep 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what policies it is implementing to support the development and progression of the farming industry.

7 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on allocating money raised from the devolved Crown Estate to the Coastal Communities Fund.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Ministers are committed to delivering the funding for the current Round 4 of the Coastal Communities Fund in 2017-18. Following this, the future role of the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland will be determined. The Crown Estate Bill will establis…

6 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many rejected applications to the (a) Less Favoured Area Support Scheme and (b) Agri-Environment Climate Scheme in each year since 2015 have been appealed, and how many (i) have been upheld and (ii) are awaiting a decision.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) No LFASS claims have yet been rejected, or reviews requested since 2015 Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) Year How many rejected applications asked for a review Number where the original reject decision was …

6 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications to the (a) Less Favoured Area Support Scheme and (b) Agri-Environment Climate Scheme there have been in each year since 2015, and how many (i) were approved and (ii) are awaiting a decision.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) Scheme Year Applications Submitted Approved Awaiting Decision 2015 12,402 11,064 1338 2016 12,172 10,330 1,842 2017 11,946 0 11,946 Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) Year Applications Approved…

16 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what rate of growth there has been in the (a) biorefining and (b) remanufacturing sector in the last three years, and which outputs are being monitored to measure growth success.

Answer · Keith Brown: This information is not held as these sectors are not defined with the UK Standard Industrial Classification 2007, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

12 Jun 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the Audit Scotland update on the CAP Futures programme.

31 May 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the increase in reported sexual offences in 2016-17.

29 May 2017 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government is doing to provide support for people with dementia.

23 May 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to improve GP recruitment.

Answer · Shona Robison: On 10 March 2017, I announced an additional £71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping to transform the way services are delivered in the community. Improving recruitment and retention, reducing workload, developing new ways…

22 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of a petition signed by over 40 residents, whether it will provide an update on the timescale for cabinet installation in the Richmondhill area in Peterhead to provide improved broadband speeds and services.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Deployment to the Richmond Hill area of Peterhead was initially planned to take place between January and June 2016 however due to on-site legal issues deployment was delayed. These issues have now been overcome and deployment of a cabinet to this area is imm…

17 May 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the Queensferry Crossing construction team.

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the remaining common agricultural policy less favoured area support scheme payments for 2015 will be paid out in full.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government very much regret the delay in processing LFASS payments and the impact on affected businesses. We paid £54 million worth of National LFASS loans for 2015, leaving £11.5 million of the £65.5 million annual budget still to pay. Balance p…

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the common agricultural policy Futures IT Project will be operational, and how it will ensure that it will fully meet all EU requirements.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Futures IT Project delivered Rural Payments & Services (RP&S), this service has been operational since December 2014 and has been used by customers and staff to submit and process scheme applications to payment made from 2015. RP&S has been specified and …

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the 2016 basic payment scheme payments will be delivered in three stages rather than the previously announced two, and for what reason it did not announce this change.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: 2016 Basic Payments will be paid in two parts. Those farmers and crofters who applied for a National Basic Payment Loan Scheme payment, will have the loan payment deducted from the first instalment, with the balance to follow.

30 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on offering a 90% loan for common agricultural policy less favoured area support scheme payments for 2016.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: On 4 April 2017 the Scottish Government announced a new loan scheme is being established to provide support to Less Favoured Area Support Scheme 2016 applicants while payments are being processed. Letters will begin issuing to eligible farmers and crofters be…

29 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it did not notify farmers in advance of the reduction of Region 1 and Region 2 Base Payments in 2019 from €167.33/ha to €161.14/ha and €28.19/ha to €26.90/ha respectively.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: There has not been a reduction to the 2019 Flat Payment Rates for Region 1 or Region 2. The 2019 Flat Payment Rates for payment region 1 and 2 and were originally modelled to be 145/ha and 25/ha respectively. The rates were reviewed in June 2016 when a signi…

15 Mar 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the support that it offers to coastal towns and communities.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government supports the development of coastal towns and communities through a range of initiatives. Since 2012, the UK wide Coastal Communities Fund has delivered over £17 million of funding to coastal communities in Scotland. The Scottish Gove…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to open its Beef Efficiency Scheme to new applicants.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We are presently considering the options in regard to opening the scheme to new applications this year.

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers have received all of their 2016 CAP Pillar 1 payments, and how many are yet to receive their full balance.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: No businesses have received all their CAP Pillar One payments. However 8384 businesses out of 17,767 who applied and are currently assumed to be eligible have received 90% of their total Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening payment. The balance BPS / Green…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to change its Beef Efficiency Scheme, in light of NFU Scotland's suggestions for improvements.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: We have met with the NFUS on a number of occasions both before and after the scheme opened to applications. Following discussions with their Livestock Committee we made changes with regard to the timeline for weighing calves. We are in regular contact with th…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the overall budget (a) has been spent and (b) still remains for the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (i) New Capital Grant Scheme, (ii) New Entrants Start-Up Grant Scheme and (iii) Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: £6.8M has been committed to the Start-Up schemes currently leaving £1.2M from an indicative budget of £8M. The Scottish Government is determined to continue to support deserving new businesses and ensure the continuation of the start-up schemes. £4.3M has b…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) applications it has received for and (b) grants it has paid out to the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (i) New Capital Grant Scheme, (ii) New Entrants Start-Up Grant Scheme and (iii) Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Total Number of Applications Grants Received* Paid Out (i) New Capital Grant Scheme 496 65 (ii) New Entrants Start-Up Grant Scheme 69 18 (iii) Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme 458 110

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated for each of the next three years for the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (a) New Capital Grant Scheme, (b) New Entrants Start-Up Grant Scheme and (c) Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The SRDP 2014-20 assumes £20M of support for Young Farmers and New Entrants across the programme life. This includes an indicative budget for the New Entrant Capital Scheme of £12M and £8m of support for start-ups. Of the latter £2m is aimed at new entrants o…