Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes. We discussed this with the UK Government at the Joint Ministerial Committee on 19 September. Although the process is still to be finalised, our expectation is that the Scottish Government will be consulted prior to any decisions being made on the provision of guarantees for projects in Scotland, and that any publicly funded projects are likely to have been included within our Infrastructure Investment Plan, published last December.

The Scottish Government is already using guarantees in a range of innovative ways, such as to provide affordable homes under the mortgage indemnity scheme and the National Housing Trust initiative.

The competitive element of the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) budget is forecast to be nearly fully committed following the Rural Priorities Regional Proposal Assessment Committee (RPAC) in October 2012 and taking account of expected future project approvals, allowing applicants to complete work before the end of December 2013.

The non-competitive element of the SRDP budget is currently forecast to be fully committed following receipt of the 2013 single application forms.

We do not hold details of the total number of agricultural businesses in Scotland. However as a proxy, we have used the total number of RPID customers, (counted as Single Application Form applications), in Scotland. This amounts to 21,747 organisations in 2012.

The following table sets out the total number of organisations receiving funding under each scheme within the Scotland Rural Development Programme, as a percentage of this total number of customers. These figures are broken down by Rural Payments and Inspection Directorate area office, where we hold the data in this way.

For the following Scotland Rural Development Programme schemes the data is available only at a Scotland-wide level, as they are not directly administered by Rural Payments and Inspection Directorate area offices.

As the recipients of these schemes are outwith the RPID customer base, it is not appropriate to calculate as a percentage of total customers.

We do not disaggregate Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) spend at area office level, as each scheme is administered in its own way and not always linked directly to individual area offices. However, we can provide the following breakdown of gross expenditure by scheme from 2007-08 to 2011-12.

SRDP Gross Expenditure by Scheme

Total Expenditure 2007-08 to 2011-12

The Scottish Government has undertaken a First Stage Review, a Mid Term Evaluation, along with annual reports to assess the impact of the 2007-13 Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). The evidence from these reports, alongside the feedback we have received through our on-going engagement with stakeholders, will aid the preparation for the 2014-20 SRDP.

Once the 2007-13 SRDP has been completed, the Scottish Government will undertake an Ex Post Evaluation which will further inform how future improvements can be made to the 2014-20 programme in order to maximise its impact on the rural economy.

The average time for Rural Payments and Inspections Division (formerly Directorate) to respond to a Croft House Grant Scheme application with a decision, when all information has been received from the applicant, is seven working days.

However, the average time to respond with a decision from receipt of application is 73 working days, indicating that there is often a delay in the applicants submitting all the required information necessary to come to a decision.

The Croft House Grant Scheme (CHGS) is a Scottish Government scheme assisting crofters. The Rural Payments and Inspections Division (formerly Directorate) has, since 1 August 2011, administered this scheme on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Prior to that date, the Scottish Government staff administering this scheme were line managed by the Crofters Commission (now Crofting Commission) in Inverness.

The transfer of line management for these schemes was purely administrative, enabling the Crofting Commission to focus on its regulatory functions more effectively and the staff on Tiree, who administer the scheme, to benefit from closer line management support than could reasonably be provided from Inverness.

A range of telehealth (which incorporates telemedicine) solutions are detailed in the following table, all of which offer savings on the inconvenience of travelling and the costs associated:

Additionally, there is the “Foula Project, Non-Doctor Island – Pilot Project” to develop a new Health Suite on the Island of Foula off the west coast of the Shetland Islands. It has been agreed that Dan Medical will provide a clinical system (D-MAS) that has capabilities to do ECG/Heart Monitoring, Blood Pressure & Pulse, Spirometry (lung breathing test), Digital Imaging, Pulse Oximetry and a facility to provide Video Conferencing that could enable live consultations. The equipment would not only give the residents of the island instant assessment in their community but would also offer emergency reviews from specialist consultants or A&E in the event that they could not get off the island.

However, overall there are a significant number of both telehealth and telecare solutions available to the people of Shetland and these are too great to list here (including over 700 home link units). I understand that an awareness-raising event is being held by NHS Shetland and Shetland Islands Council on 2 and 3 October that is specifically looking at this very issue to enable professionals and locals to find out more about the services available locally. More information on this will be provided directly by my officials. There is also a national telehealthcare event being held in Edinburgh on 1 November which may be of interest to you (http://bookings.shscevents.co.uk/all/2846).

Further information on telehealth and telecare (or telehealthcare) is available online at http://www.jitscotland.org.uk/action-areas/telecare-in-scotland/ and http://knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/telehealthcare.aspx.

The Scottish Government supports proposals which seek to ensure that the Cross Compliance Regulations are proportionate and fair to all Scottish farmers and crofters.

Scottish Government has already obtained and implemented flexibilities which have ensured that in 2011 no Scottish farmer or crofter was penalised solely for not achieving a 100% read rate at a critical control point.