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: S5W-12075

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 November 2017

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

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 suggest a continuation of the slow disease expansion and low infection levels seen outwith the Management Zone since 2014.

Our extensive aerial and ground-based surveillance programme has ensured early detection and swift subsequent action via statutory measures. Furthermore, our system for managing disease outbreaks, including the implementation of statutory measures, is well embedded and understood by the forestry sector. Through the collective efforts of the forestry sector it remains the case that Ramorum has, to-date, been detected in only 1% of the 59,000 hectares of larch outwith the Management Zone.

Question reference: S5O-01416

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to tackle reported falling farm incomes and rising farm debt.

Question reference: S5W-12114

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 November 2017

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

Question reference: S5W-12048

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 November 2017

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.

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 November 2017. I made this decision because I was aware that the poor weather conditions have hampered farmers’ ability to gather flocks off the hills and draw their future breeding stock.

Farmers have until 30 November to submit their claim, by which time they must have tagged their animals, with the retention period for the scheme remaining unchanged at 17 October 2017- 31 March 2018. Farmers and crofters who intend to submit a SUSSS claim, should ensure that all claimed animals are tagged in accordance with the eligibility conditions, prior to the submission of their claim.

Question reference: S5W-12056

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2017

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

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 applications on a continuous basis and a total of 133 applications have been approved to date in 2017.

However, both start-up schemes are competitive and subject to application windows. The 2017 application window opened on 1 April and closed on 30 September. A total of 187 applications have been submitted and assessment and scoring of these is underway with the expectation that this will be complete by the end of 2017.

Question reference: S5W-12115

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 October 2017

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

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 Antimicrobial Strategy 2014-18, produced in collaboration with Public and Animal Health Authorities across the UK, and combining actions in the human and animal health sectors.

An objective of this Strategy is to work with the veterinary profession and the livestock industry to reduce the use of antimicrobials in food producing animals, therefore reducing the quantity of antibiotics in the environment.

Question reference: S5O-01338

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2017

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

Question reference: S5W-11121

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 September 2017

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.

Question reference: S5W-11122

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 September 2017

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.

Question reference: S5W-11153

Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 September 2017
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 September 2017

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

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 establish a framework for the management of, and revenue from, Crown Estate assets in Scotland to ensure that local communities are able to benefit from the coastal resources of the estate. We are considering how best to distribute net revenue from Crown Estate marine assets out to 12 nautical miles on an annual basis.

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

Year	Applications	Approved	Awaiting Decision
2015	917	583	0
2016	1,259	996	0
2017	1,017	-	968

Year	How many rejected applications asked for a review	Number where the original reject decision was upheld	How many are awaiting a decision
2015	67	53	0
2016	94	75	0
2017	6	3	2