- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it will provide to farmers and landowners to access maps until the new land-parcel identification system becomes fully operational and accessible.
Answer
Map information currently being maintained in the new LPIS is already being loaded into the existing on-line mapping ‘viewer’ in Rural Payments and Services (RPS).
These map details will also be available in the on-line SAF application 2019.
This is a system farmer and crofters will be familiar with as it has been utilised for the last 3 years to aid completion of SAF forms.
As in any year producers submitting a SAF should ensure they review their map information and this should be done by using the on-line ‘viewer’ in RPS, a hard copy map is available on request via e-mail using [email protected] or requesting assistance from A.O. staff.
When reviewing map information should a producer identify any change (field boundaries, ineligible areas), they should submit an Land Maintenance Form (LMF) to their local Area Office.
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 12 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many farm businesses in (a) the Highlands, (b) Aberdeenshire and (c) each parliamentary region are waiting to receive 2016-17 CAP basic payments.
Answer
Nationally, for 2016 we have paid 99.65% of BPS payments and for 2017 99.28%
A) 0 payments due in the Highlands for the 2016 scheme year.
8 are due a payment for the 2017 scheme year and a further 6 farm businesses are currently under assessment for 2017 and could become eligible for a payment in future.
B) 1 payment due in Aberdeenshire for the 2016 scheme year.
2 are due a payment for the 2017 scheme year and a further 3 farm businesses are currently under eligibility assessment for 2017
C) 1 Basic payment due for the 2016 scheme year in the North East Scotland Region
19 businesses are due a Basic payment for the 2017 scheme year
| Parliamentary Region | Number of Farm Businesses
due 2017 BPS |
| Highland and Islands | 10 |
| South Scotland | 5 |
| Mid Scotland and Fife | 1 |
| North East Scotland | 3 |
16 businesses are under assessment for the 2017 scheme year
Parliamentary Region | Number of Farm
Businesses due 2017 BPS |
Highland and Islands | 6 |
South Scotland | 5 |
Mid Scotland and Fife | 1 |
North East Scotland | 4 |
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 21 February 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many penalties the Health and Safety Executive has issued to farm businesses in each Scottish parliamentary region in each year since 2016; for what reasons these penalties were imposed, and what the average penalty was.
Answer
The regulation of occupational health and safety is reserved to the UK Government. The regulatory body is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Regulatory activities are undertaken by the HSE and by local authority Environmental Health Officers working to HSE directions and may result in the issuing of improvement or enforcement notices. The Scottish Government does not collect data on these notices.
Prosecutions for breaches of health and safety legislation in Scotland are led by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).
The information requested is not held centrally but is published on the HSE website under Statistics - Index of data tables - Enforcement – Prosecutions (this is an interactive table). http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/index.htm#enforcement .
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 31 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many remaining eligible claims there are for 2015 Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) payments, and by what date these will be paid.
Answer
There are 81 remaining 2015 LFASS unprocessed claims out of an eligible population of 11,381 eligible claims. This equates to 0.71% of the eligible population.
We are aiming to process the vast majority of these remaining claims by 1 April 2019 .
We check each claim carefully, providing every opportunity for customers to confirm they have met scheme rules and are eligible for a payment.
Not all these remaining claims will necessarily prove to be eligible for a payment. There can be a wide range of issues preventing claims reaching a point where they can be paid or where it can be confirmed no payment is due.
In any year the last few claims are always the most complex, and take longer to resolve, but we will conclude the processing of these few remaining claims as quickly as possible.
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of how the ban by China on importing plastics for recycling could impact on the policy of banning the burning of plastic on farms.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to fully enforcing the ban on the burning of farm plastics and ensuring farmers have appropriate access to recycling services. Scottish Government and SEPA officials will continue to work with Defra and other UK administrations to monitor the impact of any changes in global recycling markets.
Scottish Government and SEPA have commissioned Gather Scotland to produce a report on the challenges facing the plastic waste recycling market, including an analysis of the effect of the Chinese recyclate import restrictions.
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the ban on burning of plastic farms, what it is doing to ensure that the waste will be uplifted from farms and that this does not end up in landfill.
Answer
The relevant amendment to the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011 was made in 2013 and has been fully enforced since 1 January 2019.
A working group was established in 2016 to plan the transition towards a position where the ban could be enforced. The group had representatives from the National Farmers Union Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Government and the waste plastics collectors/processors sector. The transition to full enforcement has therefore been carefully considered.
In most areas of the country there are recycling collection services available, and the network has expanded since the ban was announced.
SEPA has provided clear guidance to farmers to help them decide how best to dispose of their plastic waste (see https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/agricultural-waste/burning-on-farm-waste/ ) and there are also local SEPA offices that can provide more direct assistance.
Advice and a list of plastic waste service providers is also available on the Zero Waste Scotland website. (see https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resource-management/farm-plastic-recycling).
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 30 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the ban on burning plastic on farms, what support is being given to recycling companies to process waste items.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20988 on 30 January 2019.
Plastic recycling and reprocessing companies were involved in the working group established to plan the transition towards a position where the ban would be enforced and to ensure there is sufficient service capacity available.
SEPA continues to monitor the situation with regard to the collection of plastic waste from farms.
Zero Waste Scotland is available to provide advice and assistance to the plastic recycling sector. It also makes available a list of plastic waste service providers on its website (see https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resource-management/farm-plastic-recycling) to raise awareness of available services.
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/28877.aspx .
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government when it will next publish the Police Strength Statistics for Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2019
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 December 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 18 December 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to questions S5W-16107 and S5W-19928 by Fergus Ewing on 1 May and 26 November 2018 respectively, what the (a) highest and (b) average fine was for people convicted under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 in each year since 2007-08, broken down by local authority area, and whether it will confirm how many people were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted under the legislation in 2017-18.
Answer
The available information is provided in the following tables.
(a) The highest fine (in GBP) issued to people convicted under the Dogs (Protection
of Livestock) Act 1953¹, by LA, 2007-08 to 2016-17.
| | 2007-
08 | 2008-
09 | 2009-
10 | 2010-
11 | 2011-
12 | 2012-
13 | 2013-
14 | 2014-
15 | 2015-
16 | 2016-
17 |
Aberdeen City | - | - | 300 | 200 | 500 | - | - | - | - | - |
Aberdeenshire | 200 | 150 | 300 | 135 | - | - | - | - | 450 | - |
Angus | - | - | - | 100 | - | - | - | 200 | - | 200 |
Argyll & Bute | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Clackmannanshire | - | - | - | - | - | 100 | 50 | - | - | - |
Dumfries & Galloway | - | - | - | 200 | 300 | - | 240 | - | 100 | 400 |
Dundee City | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | 200 | - |
East Ayrshire | 200 | - | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 200 |
East Lothian | - | - | - | - | - | - | 200 | 200 | - | - |
Edinburgh, City of | - | 300 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 50 |
Fife | 150 | - | 200 | - | - | 175 | - | - | - | - |
Highland | 400 | - | 300 | 250 | - | - | - | - | - | 300 |
Moray | - | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 225 | - |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | - | - | 80 | - | 300 | - | - | 300 | - | - |
North Ayrshire | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Orkney Islands | - | - | - | - | 240 | 400 | - | - | 500 | 200 |
Perth & Kinross | - | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | - | 300 | - |
Renfrewshire | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | - | - | - | - |
Scottish Borders | - | 200 | 400 | - | - | - | 250 | - | - | 400 |
Shetland Islands | - | - | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | 200 | - |
South Ayrshire | - | - | - | - | 60 | - | - | - | - | 500 |
South Lanarkshire | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | - |
Stirling | 130 | 300 | 200 | - | - | 500 | 40 | - | - | 200 |
West Dunbartonshire | - | 100 | - | - | 400 | - | - | 90 | - | - |
West Lothian | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 400 | - | - |
1 - where main crime
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
(b) Average fines (in GBP) issued to people convicted under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock)
Act 1953¹, by LA, 2007-08 to 2016-17.
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Aberdeen City | - | - | 300 | 200 | 375 | - | - | - | - | - |
Aberdeenshire | 200 | 150 | 300 | 135 | - | - | - | - | 450 | - |
Angus | - | - | - | 100 | - | - | - | 200 | - | 200 |
Argyll & Bute | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Clackmannanshire | - | - | - | - | - | 100 | 50 | - | - | - |
Dumfries & Galloway | - | - | - | 200 | 200 | - | 173 | - | 100 | 400 |
Dundee City | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | 200 | - |
East Ayrshire | 200 | - | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 200 |
East Lothian | - | - | - | - | - | - | 200 | 200 | - | - |
Edinburgh, City of | - | 300 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 50 |
Fife | 150 | - | 200 | - | - | 175 | - | - | - | - |
Highland | 250 | - | 300 | 200 | - | - | - | - | - | 267 |
Moray | - | 100 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 163 | - |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | - | - | 80 | - | 290 | - | - | 300 | - | 225 |
North Ayrshire | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Orkney Islands | - | - | - | - | 240 | 300 | - | - | 500 | 200 |
Perth & Kinross | - | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | - | 285 | - |
Renfrewshire | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | - | - | - | - |
Scottish Borders | - | 175 | 233 | - | - | - | 250 | - | - | 275 |
Shetland Islands | - | - | - | 200 | - | - | - | - | 200 | - |
South Ayrshire | - | - | - | - | 60 | - | - | - | - | 500 |
South Lanarkshire | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 500 | - |
Stirling | 130 | 300 | 200 | - | - | 500 | 40 | - | - | 200 |
West Dunbartonshire | - | 100 | - | - | 400 | - | - | 90 | - | - |
West Lothian | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 400 | - | - |
1 - where main crime
Source: Criminal Proceedings database
(i) (ii)
Information for 2017-18 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings
in Scotland, 2017-18 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published on 29 th January, 2019.
The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are
pre-announced, the up to date list of future publications can be found at:
https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs .
- Asked by: Peter Chapman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 November 2018
To ask the Scottish Government how many farm safety-related deaths there have been in each local authority area since 2007.
Answer
The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 60252)
