Chamber and committees

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-00712

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the University of Dundee making staff reductions and cancelling degree level courses in history for 2016-17, what impact it considers its education policy has had on higher education in the north east and what steps it will take to ensure that budget reductions will not impact on student attainment and experience and that universities can attract and retain academics.

These are particularly challenging times for the north east and we will continue to invest heavily in further and higher education in the region.

In 2016-17, the Scottish Government will again invest more than £1 billion in our higher education sector – the fifth year in succession where investment has exceeded that figure. Specifically, universities in the north east of Scotland will benefit from more than £180 million of direct investment in 2016-17.

Levels of investment like these provide a stable base which enables our universities to attract a range of additional funding.

As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for their own finances and decisions on workforce planning. However, I would expect all universities to consult on these matters with staff and unions, with the aim of ensuring no disruption to students.

Question reference: S5W-00397

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comment in the Press and Journal on 22 April 2016 by Stewart MacLean of the A82 Partnership that the A82 between Onich and Fort William “needs realigning and widening as there are a high number of accidents on this stretch”, what plans it has to invest in upgrading the A82 at this stretch of road.

The Scottish Government remains committed to upgrading the A82 between Glasgow and Fort William and has already invested over £5 million on the Crianlarich Bypass and £9.2 million on the Pulpit Rock Improvements. Design work is also underway on upgrading the section of the A82 between Tarbet and Inverarnan. Over the past three years, approximately £154,000 has been spent on safety schemes between Onich and Fort William. As part of our on-going commitment to road safety, the Scottish Government will continue to consider ways to improve the safety of this route.

Question reference: S5W-00396

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comment in the Press and Journal on 22 April 2016 by Stewart MacLean of the A82 Partnership that “planning for the upgrade for Tarbet to Inverarnan is at an advanced stage and we had anticipated that funding would be provided for these works", what plans it has to invest in upgrading the A82 at this stretch of road.

Question reference: S5W-00097

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 13 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many hours in overtime staff in Rural Payments and Inspections Division area offices (a) have worked since 31 January 2016 and (b) are anticipated to work, and at what cost.

Question reference: S5W-00098

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it expects to complete the distribution of common agricultural policy payments and whether this will be before the payment window closes.

Question reference: S5W-00094

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how much money has been paid to farmers and crofters and (b) what the average payment has been under the emergency National Basic Payment Support Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-00093

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 1 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers and crofters have (a) applied for and (b) received support under the emergency National Basic Payment Support Scheme.

Question reference: S5W-00096

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many farmers' and crofters' common agricultural policy Basic Payment Scheme allocation exceeded the amount that they received under the National Basic Payment Support Scheme; what the (a) average and (b) largest difference was, and what percentage failed to repay the difference within seven days.

Question reference: S5W-00095

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many and what percentage of farmers and crofters eligible for assistance under the emergency National Basic Payment Support Scheme have not received any money from the scheme.

As of 20 May 2016, 5,210 businesses have been made payments under the scheme, including all cases where the eligibility of the claimant has been confirmed. The only cases remaining unpaid are a very small number where there is doubt over the eligibility of the potential recipient or the amount of the claim. These cases are being investigated individually and it is not possible to know in advance of such investigations how many of these claims will turn out to be eligible.

Question reference: S5W-00092

Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 May 2016

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is charging interest on the difference if a claimant’s common agricultural policy Basic Payment Scheme payment is less than the sum received under the emergency National Basic Payment Support Scheme; what the rate of interest is, and for what reason it considers this amount appropriate.

The National Basic Payment Support Scheme (NBPSS) has been designed so that a farmer or crofter’s Basic Payment 2015 total should be more than the sum paid by NBPSS. This lets the Scottish Government deduct the NBPSS payment from their Basic Payment 2015 total and pay the remainder into their bank account.

Under EU state aid rules the Scottish Government is required to calculate a notional amount of interest, equivalent to the cost of borrowing at approximately market rates, which constitutes a ‘de minimis’ state aid to the recipient. No recipient will actually pay any interest provided they adhere to the terms and conditions to which they agreed when accepting the offer of a NBPSS payment.

Under those terms and conditions, in the unlikely event that a claimant’s Basic Payment 2015 total is less than the NBPSS they have been paid then they will have to repay the difference between the two amounts. Provided they do so within seven days, no interest will be charged, but the terms and conditions stated that if any balance were to be still outstanding after seven days then interest would be charged on it at 4.24 per cent. This is in line with standard Scottish Government procedure for money owed.

However, it is expected that very few if any farmers and crofters will find themselves in this position, because the NBPSS payments were set with a safety margin of 20 per cent so as to ensure that they can be covered by the basic payment once that has been finalised.