Chamber and committees

The Executive currently has no such requests under consideration. We will of course give careful consideration to any future proposals put to us by NHS Grampian for capital funding for facilities in the Banff area.

The Scottish Executive Health Department is in regular and frequent contact with NHS Grampian through correspondence and meetings. These contacts cover a wide range of subjects affecting health care services throughout the area.

I replied to the member on 15 January.

I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-21659.

There are two types of crop inspection carried out by officials from the Environment and Rural Affairs Department.Although not obliged to do so, it is usual practice for inspectors to advise growers before inspecting seed potato, cereal and horticultural crops under Plant Health and Seeds Certification Schemes.EU Regulations also require department officials to inspect 5% of arable and forage crops on which assistance has been claimed as part of an IACS Area Aid application. The IACS Regulation requires inspections to be carried out as on-the-spot checks, which should be unannounced. However, advance notice not exceeding 48 hours can be given provided this does not jeopardise the purpose of the inspection.

Invoices are required to fulfil the inspection requirements that the department is obliged, by EC Regulation, to undertake. Sheep Annual Premium is paid to producers who maintain the claimed number of eligible animals throughout a 100-day retention period. It is not feasible to undertake all inspections prior to payment so that officials need to take account of any changes in the flock (due to purchases, sales, deaths, etc) between the date of claim and date of inspection. The inspection seeks a reconciliation between the number of animals counted and the number claimed and in order to have confidence in the result, the inspectors need to examine the original documents. This is similar to say an accountant who needs to see original sale or purchase invoices as part of an audit.Regarding the second part of the question, farmers are obliged to co-operate with inspections and confirm that they will do so by signing the declaration at the time of claim submission. Again, under EC Regulation, the department is obliged to refuse payment or seek recovery of subsidy paid, if any action by a producer prevents the inspection from being undertaken. However, I hope such actions could be avoided and I would encourage producers with particular concerns to contact their local area offices.In conclusion, I must add that officials see a wide-range of information in the course of their normal work that could be considered commercially sensitive. The department's published service standards, however, require them to treat such information in confidence and prohibit them from divulging details to third parties.

Veterinary Officers from Animal Health Offices in Scotland have informed local vets about the recent case of Post-weaning Multi-systemic Wasting Syndrome in the North East of Scotland. In addition, professional staff from the State Veterinary Service (SVS) in Scotland have attended a training course on the diseases and their symptoms. This information has been cascaded to other Scottish SVS staff. Thus the awareness of the disease has been increased within the profession.

The vast majority of aggregate required for the Holyrood Project has already been supplied. The Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has confirmed that the effect of the tax on the remainder is likely to be minimal, and will not require additional funding.

The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with HM Treasury on a wide range of issues, including the aggregates tax.

There has been on-going dialogue between the members of State Veterinary Service (SVS) based in the Animal Health offices in Scotland with local pig breeders. No formal discussions have been held with representatives of the pig industry but nearly all pig farmers are aware of the disease and its symptoms.