Rachael Hamilton

28 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been undertaken regarding (a) apprenticeship and (b) graduate workforce planning for the (i) tourism and (ii) agriculture sector.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: (i) Regarding Tourism sector assessment, Skills Development Scotland has produced the Tourism Skills Investment Plan which outlined the key skills priorities for the sector (pre-COVID-19). Skills Development Scotland also produces an annual Tourism Skills Ass…

28 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of current milk prices, and whether it will adjust relevant funding to respond to the needs of the industry.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government, along with all other administrations, have been independently and collectively monitoring and assessing both the current milk prices and markets both before and during the Covid 19 outbreak to determine appropriate support for the sec…

28 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) foundation, (b) modern and (c) graduate apprenticeships are administered by Skills Development Scotland through (i) contracted learning providers and (ii) direct employer contracts in (A) tourism and (B) agriculture.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland contracts Modern Apprenticeships through occupational grouping rather than apprenticeship framework. The following table provides the breakdown for contracted learning providers and direct employer contracts in the Food and Drink o…

28 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support is provided to Skills Development Scotland for (a) foundation, (b) modern and (c) graduate apprenticeships in (i) tourism and (ii) agriculture.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Skills Development Scotland administer Apprenticeships on behalf of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Government provides support and direction to Skills Development Scotland through the Annual Letter of Guidance. In 2019-20 Skills Development Scotland…

28 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the decision to temporarily relax UK competition law to support the dairy industry during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has been in regular contact with UK Government and has both promoted and supported the relaxation of UK competition law. It is imperative that all UK administrations work collectively together to help the industry minimise the disrupti…

16 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been issued by local authorities to care homes and nursing homes on the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Protection Scotland, jointly with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health Wales, Public Health Agency Northern Ireland, Public Health England and NHS England published updated personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance for all health …

16 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took to ensure that care homes and nursing homes were provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: In both the private and public sectors the supply of PPE is primarily the responsibility of social care providers themselves, including care homes. However, when these private supply chains failed we set up from the 19th of March provision to make PPE supplie…

16 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what correspondence the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport has had with the relevant representatives of care homes and nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is in regular written and phone contact with Scottish Care, who are the representative body of most care home providers in Scotland, on a range of matters relating to Covid-19 and I regularly speak to their CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill. Ma…

16 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many personal protective equipment (PPE) kits were ordered specifically for use in care homes and nursing homes in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28451 on 25 June 2020. 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/2…

16 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it issued to local authorities on limiting the transmission of COVID-19 in care homes and nursing homes at the start of the pandemic.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) publishes infection control guidance for all care homes including those run by Local Authorities which is updated regularly. It was most recently updated on 20 May. The HPS guidance is based on the National Infection Preventio…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review its decision to re-introduce sporting rates, in light of it not granting COVID-19 business support to shooting-related businesses.

Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28278 on 29 April 2020. 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/…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what COVID-19 business support will be made available to those carrying out wildlife management to meet its deer population targets.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Scottish Forestry are keeping the impact on deer management targets of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance under regular review. Where these targets form part of contractual leases, Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRD…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) when it will implement and (b) how much funding it is allocating to each of the policies in its Agricultural Transformation Programme, and when it expects each policy goal to be achieved.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Options for the Agricultural Transformation Programme are continuing to be worked through and may need to respond to the evolving impacts of Covid-19. On-going work includes the feasibility of uptake, value for money and effective delivery to meet the desired…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of many sporting clients coming to Scotland for leisure purposes, which contributes to other retail and hospitality businesses, for what reason sporting businesses are ineligible to apply for the support grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses to mitigate the impac…

Answer · Kate Forbes: We are determined to help keep companies in business and we are delivering a package of support measures worth £2.3 billion to limit the impact of COVID-19 on the business community. Local Authorities are responsible for the administration of the small busin…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason businesses associated with shootings, deer forests, fishing huts and game larders are ineligible to apply for the small business support grant to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Answer · Kate Forbes: We are determined to help keep companies in business and our financial support now exceeds the £2.3 billion passed on from the UK Government and actively works to fill the gaps in the UK scheme. In designing the relief and grant system we had to balance helpi…

8 Apr 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the widespread cancellation of sporting bookings due to COVID-19, for what reason sporting rates have not been afforded 100% relief.

Answer · Kate Forbes: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28278 on 29 April 2020. 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/…

18 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to implement the childcare recommendations in its paper, Women in Farming and the Agriculture Sector.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government and local authorities are fully focused on our national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a vital role for the childcare sector in that response. We are working to ensure that key workers who have no option but to access chi…

17 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the decision by the EU to ban the sale or distribution of the fungicide, chlorothalonil.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government is aware of the significant impact non-renewal of chlorothalonil will have in the farming sector, however this must be balanced against the ability for growers to use products safely without endangering themselves or consumers. The re…

17 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of glyphosate in agriculture, and what plans it has to limit its use.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government promotes the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which aims to help land managers in all sectors, including agriculture, reduce their reliance on the use of pesticides, including those containing glyphosate. IPM is a site specific…

16 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to outline the spending priorities of the Agricultural Transformation Fund.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Priorities for the Agricultural Transformation Programme funding were announced in the Programme for Government 2019-20 and are detailed on page 57. It will include, for example, developing pilot schemes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and…

16 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what resources it has committed to support research and development in relation to climate change and agriculture.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Rural Environmental Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) is investing around £47 million this financial year and next in Strategic Research Programmes, providing advice and research services on climate change, water, plant health and animal disease outbrea…

16 Mar 2020 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the curriculum for excellence to include the study of agriculture.

Answer · John Swinney: Curriculum for Excellence empowers individual settings and practitioners to make the decisions needed to provide a coherent, flexible and enriched curriculum that is responsive to the diverse needs of individual learners and which reflects the uniqueness of t…

10 Mar 2020 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the agricultural industry with the transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

10 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its future environment initiatives will include plans to protect bees and other pollinators.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government published the Pollinator Strategy for Scotland in 2017. Implementation of the strategy is led by SNH who work in partnership with others to encourage and support a range of initiatives to help all pollinating insects. These range from …

9 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have attained SCQF Level (a) 2, (b) 3, (c) 4 and (d) 5 in each year since 2007 while serving a prison sentence.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: SPS does not hold the information in the format requested for the period 2007-08 to 2013. We do however hold data from 2013 on…

9 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it provides to the Scottish Prison Service to implement educational programmes, and how this funding has been allocated in each year since 2007.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: The SPS resource budget envelope, provided by the Scottish Government, includes funding for educational programmes. Prior to …

9 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what opportunities there are for volunteers to assist in the rehabilitation of prisoners through educational programmes.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: SPS does not use the services of volunteers to deliver educational programme in Scotland's public sector prisons. Annual Lear…

9 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in which prison locations prisoners are offered educational rehabilitation courses, also broken down by course type.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: A wide range of educational programmes are available in all Scotland’s prisons to help rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them…

9 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to rehabilitate prisoners through educational programmes.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows: A wide range of educational programmes are available in Scotland’s prisons to help rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them for…

4 Mar 2020 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing the nine beef and sheep farms in Scotland that have been designated as GrassCheckGB pilot farms, which have been established to improve grassland productivity and pasture utilisation and help with meeting climate change targets.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government welcomes the Grassland Improvement Programme that has been set up across the UK by the three levy bodies, Quality Meat Scotland(QMS) Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) along with a numbe…