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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-23414

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on preserving biodiversity in farmland landscapes in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S5W-23415

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the biodiversity that is dependent on farmland landscapes.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is in the process of tendering a contract for the ‘Evaluation of the Biodiversity outcomes of the 2014-20 Scottish Rural Development Programme Agri-Environment Climate Scheme through a selection of case studies’. Scheduled to conclude by late spring 2020, the work will build on monitoring undertaken from 2013 to 2020, which included monitoring for biodiversity measures. Further details are available via the following link:

https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00492399.pdf

SNH is also developing a project to pilot an outcomes-based approach to agri-environment support in Scotland. The project will test the effectiveness of the delivery of a range of environmental outcomes related to biodiversity, climate change, soil, water and flood management.

The development of the current Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) involved a process of analysis, identification and selection of biodiversity priorities. As part of that process, an expert group was established to inform the targeting of options in consultation with a range of organisations and the public and, ultimately, AECS was scrutinised and approved by the European Commission.

Question reference: S5W-23417

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the health of the country's natural pollinators.

The Scottish Government co-funded the development of a National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme which was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2014. The project, led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), developed and tested sampling methods, survey protocols, analytical techniques and implementation options to strengthen monitoring of pollinators and pollination services. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) provided technical advice for this project, resulting in the inclusion of several Scottish monitoring sites. The project report was published in 2016 and can be accessed via the following web link:

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=19259

The Scottish Government and SNH are continuing to work in partnership with Defra on the next phase of work, which commenced this year, to strengthen existing surveillance and implement new techniques to detect changes in abundance, diversity and distribution of pollinating insects.

Through grants to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Buglife Scotland, SNH analyse recording and reporting information to assess the status of pollinators. The Pollinator Strategy Progress Report, available at the following link, details work underway to assess the role, contribution and status of our pollinators.

https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2018-11/Pollinator%20Strategy%20for%20Scotland%20-%202018%20Progress%20Report.pdf

Question reference: S5O-03370

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to provide facilities for female prisoners in the Highlands, in light of the plans for the new Inverness prison being shelved until 2023.

Question reference: S5W-23141

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the deadline for applications for single farm payments where mapping changes have recently been advised.

The closing date of 15 May has now passed and was not extended. Staff in offices across the country have provided support to producers with questions on mapping and other related issues allowing the timeous submission of some 19,500 Single Application Forms (SAFs). The numbers submitted are in line with our expectations for 2019.

Currently there are 19,561 SAFs submitted for 2019 but the application window (ends 9th June) is still open and we are still receiving applications. The total number of SAFs submitted for 2018 was 19766.

The percentage of SAFs 2018 which are submitted on-line was 88.6%, compared with 90.3% for SAFs submitted online in 2019 which is the highest percentage of on-line applications received.

Question reference: S5W-23142

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it made changes to the mapping process for single farm payments applications so close to the deadline for submitting them.

Question reference: S5W-23143

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the reasons are for the delays in it processing land inspection information from 2018.

We have been working across multiple systems to process land inspection findings. The opportunity arose to apply some land changes required to complete 2018 land inspections. The purpose of providing land inspection information is to provide additional assurance to applicants when completing their Single Application Form (SAF) 2019. Where the information was available it was provided to applicants ahead of the SAF application deadline.

Question reference: S5W-23147

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-03146 by Michael Matheson on 25 April 2019 (Official Report, c. 4), how many subsequent requests have been submitted by Loganair to depart using the special procedure to depart with fire cover only since the incident at Kirkwall Airport.

Question reference: S5O-03286

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support health services in rural areas.

The new GP contract, developed in partnership with the BMA, is helping cut doctors' workload and make general practice a more attractive career in rural and urban practices. It enhances the GP role as Expert Medical Generalists supported by multidisciplinary teams, dedicating more time to patients most in need of their skills.

In addition, we are supporting rural general practice with a comprehensive package of measures:

We have significantly enhanced recruitment incentives from the 2004 GP contract in 2018/19 by investing £400,000 in recruitment incentives for rural GP posts across Scotland, and £200,000 for relocation costs for GPs moving to rural posts.
Since 2016 we have supported the Scottish Rural Medical Collaborative to develop recruitment and sustainability measures. In 2018/19 our investment in SRMC was £200,000 and this is recurring for 2019/20.
In 2018/19 we invested £150,000 to support IT improvements to rural Health Boards.
We have invested £500,000 in 2018/19 and £300,000 in 2019/20 to support rural dispensing practices. From 2018/19 and continuing for 2019/20, we are investing over £200,000 to support GP recruitment and resilience schemes specifically serving rural areas.

Question reference: S5O-03194

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many families in the Highlands and Islands have been awarded a Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment since December 2018, and how many have had their applications rejected.

Scheme	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Rural Priorities	57.75	34.69	17.04	11.51	7.41	5.44
Agri-Environment Climate Scheme	0.00	0.00	10.60	21.23	28.78	33.14
Total	57.75	34.69	27.64	32.74	36.19	38.58