Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S3W-28868

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive on what date bee inspectors last made an inspection and how many inspections have taken place in each of the last three years.

The latest bee inspection by Scottish Government Bee Inspectors was made during week commencing 2 October 2009.

Inspections are completed only when a beekeeper has notified the relevant authority of their suspicion of a notifiable disease.

The following inspections have taken place in each of the last three years:

Year 2009: 2,844 hives from 294 apiaries have been inspected (following the recent notifiable disease outbreak),

Year 2008: none,

Year 2007: two.

Question reference: S3W-28869

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for its bee health strategy.

Question reference: S3W-28867

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how the services provided by the specialist bee adviser at the Scottish Agricultural College are advertised and to whom.

Question reference: S3W-28871

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment last met representatives of the Scottish Beekeepers Association and the Bee Farmers’ Association; what the outcome was, and whether the minutes are available to MSPs.

Question reference: S3W-28870

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met bee health stakeholders; what the outcome was, and whether the minutes are available to MSPs.

Scottish Government officials last met with stakeholders/commercial beekeepers on 11 September 2009. These beekeepers were trained in the safe use and administration of the antibiotic Oxytetracycline for the treatment of European Foul Brood only. Following successful completion of the training course attendees were given temporary authorised person status (until 30 November 2009) which has enabled them to administer the treatment of antibiotic to hives in their ownership.

As this was primarily a training course, minutes of this meeting were not taken.

Question reference: S3W-28866

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the specialist bee adviser at the Scottish Agricultural College has provided training to beekeepers.

During this financial year the apiculture specialist at the Scottish Agricultural College has delivered 20 formal training courses to date with a further six planned. Evening lectures and workshops to beekeeping associations throughout Scotland are also provided, 11 to date with a further five planned in this financial year.

Training, education and advice has also been given to commercial beekeepers on site visits during the recent notifiable disease outbreaks.

Question reference: S3W-28865

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the diagnostic service provided by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture has been used to confirm the presence of varroa in beehives.

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) provide a free diagnostic service to beekeepers to identify and confirm the presence of varroa and notifiable bee pests and diseases.

Recently, testing has primarily been to confirm the presence of the notifiable diseases European Foulbood (EFB) and American Foulbrood (AFB) however the figures for varroa are as follows:

Year 2007 - 193 positive hives tested from 332 samples received,

Year 2008 - 143 positive hives tested from 273 samples received,

Year 2009 - 68 positive hives tested from 181 samples received (January to October only).

Question reference: S3W-28434

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it takes to protect honey bees; what recent assessment it has made of the level of threat to their health, and whether it will make a statement on this matter.

The Scottish Government provides a range of activities and services to beekeepers free of charge, including training and education, a diagnostic service and disease inspection.

We maintain our awareness of emerging threats by gathering intelligence and information from the range of activities that we support including the diagnostic service at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, the Scottish Government Bee officers, the Apiculture specialist at the Scottish Agricultural College, and through our links with the National Bee Unit in York. Information from these and other sources are discussed at regular meetings with Bee Health stakeholders including the Scottish Beekeepers Association and the Bee Farmers Association.

The Scottish Government plan to publish a bee health strategy which will provide an overarching structure for the above activities and set the direction for bee health in Scotland. However, it would be premature to make a statement before we have considered lessons learned from the current outbreak of bee diseases in Scotland.

Question reference: S3W-28433

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive how many farm inspections were conducted by each inspection body in each of the last five years.

The total number of inspections conducted during the period 2005-09 respectively is 13,523, 11,489, 12,741, 13,423 and 11,151. The detail of calculating this data is enclosed in table 1.

Table 1 (Financial Year)

Organisation	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Animal Health	6,369	5,415	6,941	6,742	5,996
Forestry Commission Scotland	467	358	415	379	157
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)	305	220	224	169	95

Calendar Year

Organisation	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Deer Commission for Scotland	60*	60*	52	56	71
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)	1,890	704	632	1,305	494
Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SG RPID)	4,432	4,732	4,477	4,772	4,338*

Notes:

1. *Estimated.

2. All figures are for service-generated visits and inspections, i.e. excluding visits which have been requested by the client.

3. Animal Health figures include tuberculosis testing carried out by Animal Health staff and Official Veterinarians. 2009 data covers the period to 30 September.

4. Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) figures cover grant payment inspections carried out on farms by FCS woodland officers.

5. Scottish Natural Heritage figures cover compliance checks carried out by SNH or contractors working on their behalf on management agreements and on any grants made to rural land managers.

6. Scottish Environment Protection Agency figures increased in 2008 as a consequence of one-off verification inspections required owing to the coming into force of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations. They exclude inspections to farms for exemptions registered under Waste Management Licensing Regulations as SEPA data does not differentiate where these inspections relate to farm premises.

7. SG RPID figures cover livestock, land-based and Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) inspections.

Question reference: S3W-28435

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 10 November 2009

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the spread of varroa mite in bees and what action it is taking in response to any such assessment.

The varroa mite is considered endemic in Scotland and is neither a notifiable nor reportable disease. In light of this the Scottish Government does not have a current detailed assessment of spread of varroa.

The Scottish Government retains an interest in varroa and the impact it has on honey bees if not managed properly. To assist and educate beekeepers in the recognition of varroa and in management methods the Scottish Government funds a full time specialist bee adviser at the Scottish Agricultural College to provide free advice and training for beekeepers.

In addition the Scottish Government Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture, part of the Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate, provides a free diagnostic service to beekeepers to confirm the presence of varroa in hives.