- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 August 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will allocate funds from the Scotland Rural Development Programme to help manage (a) historical and (b) archaeological sites.
Answer
Due to a very tight common agricultural programme budget settlement we are unable to allocate Scotland Rural Development Programme funds for the specific purpose of the managing of historical and archaeological sites.
Instead, we are seeking to integrate the management needs of some scheduled monuments into targeting and scoring mechanisms for agri-environment payments. This approach can ensure that agri-environment payments, which are directed primarily towards biodiversity, water quality and climate change priorities, can deliver improved management of targeted scheduled monuments, maximising the use of our limited budget to deliver multiple beneficial outcomes.
There may be scope for Links Between Activities Developing the Rural Economy (LEADER) to fund community initiatives which seek to make effective use of local cultural heritage where this is identified as a priority in their Local Development Strategy. LEADER funding has been used to this effect in previous programmes, delivering benefit for communities and the historic environment alike.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 August 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what economic analysis was carried out to inform its decision regarding coupled support for sheep production and whether it included the potential loss of ecosystem services due to overgrazing.
Answer
The economic analysis of coupled support for sheep considered business level changes in total direct payments in 2019 compared with 2011, in sectors and in geographic regions.
The analysis did not include potential loss of ecosystem services due to overgrazing, however coupled support is only allowed in order to maintain and not to increase the numbers of livestock. If the number of sheep in Scotland were to increase under voluntary coupled support then the scheme would need to be modified – or stopped - to reduce the incentive to increase primary production.
The design of these EU schemes is such that site-specific management of grazing pressures cannot be delivered through this coupled support option under Pillar 1 of the common agricultural policy. It is however addressed through other policy measures such as those under the Pillar 2 Scotland Rural Development Programme.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 August 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the decision to invest in the beef sector from Pillar 2 funds rather than in agri-environment/climate schemes will jeopardise Scotland’s chances of meeting biodiversity and climate change-related targets.
Answer
The decision taken to invest additional domestic funds in the beef sector will not have any impact on the agri-environment-climate budget. In the 2014-20 Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) we have actually increased the agri-environment-climate budget by £10 million per year and maintained the forestry budget.
We are also introducing a range of other improvements under the agri-environment-climate and forestry schemes including measures to ensure better targeting of support, an improved Farm Advisory Service and a new scheme to support groups of land managers to collaborate in delivering landscape scale benefits. The 2013 Scottish Budget also identified £15 million that has been included within the SRDP budget line to support peatland restoration.
These initiatives, coupled with the increased budget, mean that the new SRDP should be able to make an even greater contribution to delivering our biodiversity and climate change targets.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 1 August 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-04381 by Stewart Stevenson on 16 December 2011, (a) how many and (b) which sites of special scientific interest have been damaged in each of the last three years; what the cause of the damage was; what area was damaged; whether the damage was due to illegal activities and, if so, whether these were subject to investigation and prosecution; what restoration management has been implemented, and whether any of the damaged land was de-notified.
Answer
(a) Data are collated by financial year. Incidents are recorded by Scottish Natural Heritage where damage exceeds a threshold of over 0.5 hectares in area or 100m in length or 10% of the interest feature on the site.
23 incidents were recorded for 2011-12, nine for 2012-13 and 13 for 2013-14.
(b) The requested information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (bib. number 56130).
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether, following the Scottish Land Court's decision in relation to the Roxburgh Mains rent review, it plans to reconsider how tenant farmer rent rates are calculated.
Answer
<>I refer the member to my response to question S4W-21818 on 7 July 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the system of resolving rent disputes through the Scottish Land Court fit for purpose.
Answer
Despite the Rent Review Working Group’s report in 2012 concluding that no changes to the legislation were required, and the subsequent production of the industry led Practitioner’s Guide setting out best practice for rent reviews, the interim report of the Agricultural Holdings Legislation Review has confirmed that there are still issues with the statutory rent review process.
The fact that current legislation is not delivering for Scotland’s tenant farming sector has been thrown into sharp relief by recent reactions to the Scottish Land Court’s decision in the Roxburgh Mains rent review case. This vindicates the need for the Agricultural Holdings Legislation Review and the very thorough work we are undertaking.
Clearly we have lived with some of these issues and uncertainties for a long time and so the review group needs time to come up with the right solutions.
The review group will continue to work with STFA and other stakeholders as we develop recommendations for the tenanted sector in Scotland on a number of specific issues, including rent reviews.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government how the conservation of sandeels can be monitored in the absence of a specific survey.
Answer
The breeding success of some surface feeding seabirds provides a reliable proxy of sandeel abundance near colonies and these seabird species are monitored annually at colonies around Scotland. Hence it is possible to get a regular indication of sandeel abundance. In addition, Marine Scotland Science has undertaken an annual survey off the east coast of Scotland since 2008 in order to obtain reliable estimates of sandeel abundance in the only region which is still subject to a significant fishery.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what trends in sandeel abundance were observed during the sandeel survey in 2006.
Answer
In 2006 there was a trawl survey of the Shetland coastal grounds. This was part of an annual survey that ran from 1984-2007. In 2006, the index for young of the year sandeels was below the average for the survey but above the preceding five years and in 2007 the index was similar to this average.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 24 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary to question S4O-03287 by Richard Lochhead on 29 May 2014 (Official Report, c. 31578), what scientific advice it has received on the condition of sandeels (a) in the Northern Isles and (b) across Scotland.
Answer
A number of scientific studies suggest sandeel abundance in both the north of Scotland and across Scotland as a whole varies considerably from year to year, mainly due to the relatively short life cycle of sandeels, and only partly as a result of human activities. Fisheries measures across Scotland, including the north east UK closure and restrictions on coastal fisheries, have now minimised human impacts but populations still vary due to changes in the marine ecosystem. Some studies have suggested that climate change is a main reason for condition changes and Marine Scotland Science are investigating this.
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2014
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what the position is of the cabinet secretary with responsibility for equalities on the implications for equalities of the findings of the Education Scotland report, Making Sense: Education for Children and Young People with Dyslexia.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 21 May 2014
