- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the review of the EU agricultural subsidies appeals procedure.
Answer
The review panel has met with representatives of the agricultural industry in Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as well as a number of representatives from European farming unions. It also held discussions with Scottish Government officials and their counterparts in other UK administrations and Ireland.
In addition it undertook a survey of individual farmers in Scotland who had used the appeals process to help it identify areas of concern and where improvements might be made.
The panel is currently finalising its report and I expect to receive its findings within the next two to three weeks.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the Land Managers Options mechanism have been received and how many have been (a) approved and (b) rejected, broken down by (i) option and (ii) size of allowance allocated, also showing percentages.
Answer
Three-thousand, nine hundred and seventy applications to the Land Managers Options (LMOs) mechanism have been received. The breakdown by number and value and percentage of total by option is as follows. (Please note that the total by option exceeds the total number of applications because each application may cover several options).
| Option | Number of Applications | Value | % of Total Value of All Options |
| Biodiversity cropping in-bye | 10 | £1,900 | 0.04% |
| Business Audit | 112 | £16,000 | 0.33% |
| Conservation headlands | 9 | £2,300 | 0.05% |
| Linear feature Dykes | 137 | £37,000 | 0.77% |
| Linear features Hedges | 39 | £3,900 | 0.08% |
| Modernisation through electronic data management- forestry | 11 | £9,600 | 0.20% |
| Modernisation through electronic data management- agriculture | 891 | £788,000 | 16.41% |
| Grass margins and Beetlebanks | 39 | £27,500 | 0.57% |
| Improving Access | 105 | £247,000 | 5.14% |
| Improving rush pasture | 404 | £333,000 | 6.93% |
| Management of archaeological or historic sites | 28 | £25,000 | 0.52% |
| Management of moorland | 25 | £34,000 | 0.71% |
| Nutrient management | 69 | £15,000 | 0.31% |
| Membership of quality assurance scheme | 528 | £51,000 | 1.06% |
| Retention of winter stubbles | 121 | £121,000 | 2.51% |
| Summer cattle grazing | 88 | £37,000 | 0.76% |
| Small woodland creation | 157 | £251,000 | 5.22% |
| Access creation for forest management | 38 | £102,000 | 2.12% |
| Management of tree stocks for seed production | 1 | £2,000 | 0.04% |
| Management of small woodland | 56 | £21,000 | 0.44% |
| Training | 1,062 | £464,000 | 9.66% |
| Management of rural vernacular buildings | 1,155 | £2,098,000 | 43.67% |
| Wild bird seed /unharvested crops | 189 | £118,000 | 2.46% |
| | | £4,803,000 | |
LMOs is a non-discretionary scheme and there is thus no approval process. Land managers apply and are paid provided they comply with the LMO rules. Eleven applications were rejected (0.28%) mainly because they were not submitted by the deadline. An applicant''s maximum allowance is calculated according to the amount of land they have. The total available maximum allowances for LMOs (after deducting the amount used for existing LMCMS commitments) for those individuals who applied was around £7,600,000. The total applied for was £4,803,000, which is 63.27% of the total they could have chosen to apply for.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 26 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the total funds held under the Land Managers Options mechanism has been allocated.
Answer
Funds are not allocated specifically to Land Managers Options (LMOs) and spend will be dependent on uptake. Land Managers Options is one of a number of delivery mechanisms in the Scotland Rural Development Programme and is non-competitive. However, spending across the other delivery mechanisms could influence spending under LMOs.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to be able to make a decision in relation to the proposed wind farm development at Merranblo, Stromness, Orkney.
Answer
It is anticipated, at this stage, that the report will be submitted by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) in the first week in October.
Scottish Planning Policy 1: The planning system seeks to ensure that 80% of all applications called-in for determination by Scottish ministers are determined within two months of receipt of the report from the DPEA and 100% of cases within three months.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 24 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received a report from the inquiry reporter following the public local inquiry into the proposed wind farm development at Merranblo, Stromness, Orkney.
Answer
It is anticipated, at this stage, that the report will be submitted by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals in the first week in October.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 23 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that farm inspection officials adopt a light touch approach in respect of cross-compliance measures where recent bad weather conditions have impacted on landscape management.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have to alter current policy, in light of the recent bad weather conditions because the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) measures for Scotland were drawn up to reflect Scottish conditions and the country''s wide variability of soils, habitats and farming systems.
The Scottish Cross Compliance regulations make provision for the effects of adverse weather conditions such as are being experienced this year.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive when farmers can expect to receive guidance on the new nitrate vulnerable zone regulations before they come into force in January 2009.
Answer
In the first half of December. NFU Scotland and the Scottish Agricultural College have agreed to conduct test runs with selected farmers before the revised guidance is published. It is planned that the guidance will be put on the Scottish Government website in early November and that copies of the guidance will be sent to all farmers in the nitrate vulnerable zones in early December. In addition, the Scottish Agricultural College will conduct a number of workshops to explain the new rules and procedures.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to minimise any cost and inconvenience to farmers affected by the new nitrate vulnerable zone regulations.
Answer
Several actions are being taken to assist farmers who may be affected by the revised Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Action Programme. In particular, they may be eligible for funding from the Scotland Rural Development Programme towards the costs of manure and slurry storage. We will be issuing guidance on the new requirements, and the Scottish Agricultural College is preparing a series of workshops. We have established the Nitrates Directive Stakeholder Group to identify ways in which farmers can most effectively make the transition from the current to the new action programme requirements. This will reduce the risk of fertiliser pollution in Scotland, and help farmers get more value from both organic and inorganic fertilisers.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Russell on 19 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on woodland creation in each of the last five years and how much is planned to be spent in each of the next five years.
Answer
Details of expenditure on woodland creation in the past five years and planned expenditure in the next five years are listed in the following tables.
Details of Expenditure: Past Five Years
| Woodland Creation |
| | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Private Sector | £10,300,000 | £8,300,000 | £8,000,000 | £11,700,000 | £8,400,000 |
| National Forest Estate | £400,000 | £430,000 | £90,000 | £75,000 | £165,000 |
Details of Planned Expenditure
| Woodland Creation |
| | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| Private Sector | £25,000,000 | £25,000,000 | £25,000,000 | £25,000,000 | £25,000,000 |
| National Forest Estate | £2,100,000 | £2,200,000 | £2,240,000 | Dependent on next Spending Review | Dependent on next Spending Review |
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 September 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 19 September 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of Scottish farms receive allowances through the Land Managers Options mechanism.
Answer
Any farmer or land manager with land in Scotland may choose to apply under Land Managers Options (LMOs) provided they also submit a single application form (SAF). Together with any existing ongoing five year commitments under land management contracts menu scheme (LMCMS), the total must not exceed a total allowance calculated in accordance with the amount of land they have. Of the 51,000 farm holdings in Scotland, around 21,000 claim CAP funds through the single application and IACS. Of those, around half choose to apply for LMCMS and LMOs. Currently, around one third of the total LMCMS and LMO applicants have applied for LMOs. This figure is likely to rise as existing five year LMCMS commitments end.
