Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) collect data on pesticide application annually from farmers’ records. This data is published in summary form for Scottish Agriculture as a whole.

In addition, farmers have to meet a range of pesticide related requirements including recording details of each individual pesticide application. Scottish Government inspectors annually check approximately 250 farmers’ individual pesticide records during routine inspections to establish whether pesticides have been applied in line with the product label.

The Scottish Government can also request sight of individual pesticide application records if there are good reasons to do so, for example, an alleged breach of conditions of pesticide application.

Third parties may request access to information on pesticide application records obtained by the Scottish Government under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations. Any request would be considered in accordance with the rules in that legislation.

The Scottish Government’s position is based on the scientific advice it receives from the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP), its own scientists in SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture), and through other sources such as the European Food Safety Authority.

This scientific advice has highlighted there are concerns and gaps in the knowledge about the effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators. It is also important to take into account the potential risks at levels of exposure to neonicotinoids which are realistically likely to occur in the field.

The ACP has been asked urgently to produce new advice taking account of the latest scientific data. As part of this process, the ACP has commissioned independent reviews of key research findings. ACP’s advice following their reviews will then inform the Scottish Government’s view on next steps, and advice for farmers.

We have commenced a significant programme of work to re-engineer the business and IT processes which underpin the delivery of rural payments and inspections and to deliver CAP Reform. This is a long term programme of IT enabled business change, which will deliver significant improvements to the services which customers receive in the coming years. As part of this, a competitive tender was issued late last year to secure an IT delivery partner. During this year and through 2014, we will be engaging directly with our customers to get their views on what can be improved and how the new systems will operate.

The announcement to start construction of the Luncarty to Birnam scheme in 2017 was made on 31 January 2012. The announcement to start construction of the Kincraig to Dalraddy scheme in 2015-16 was made on 26 June 2012.

These two schemes were therefore not affected by the additional £394 million of capital allocated in the 2012 Autumn Statement. The update on the progress of dualling works on the A9 included in the answer to question S4W-12852 was provided as additional information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12993 on 25 February 2013. BBC Scotland was provided with a copy of the document on 4 February 2013 under embargo until 5 February. The Sun was not provided with a copy of the document in advance of its publication. 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.

There were no additions to the programme pipeline. The programme pipeline updates the programme information published in December 2011 as part of Annex C of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, for example in relation to costs and timeframes.

Under European pesticide legislation, farmers are required to keep at least three years of records of the pesticides they use, which includes the name, the time and the dose of application, the area and the crop where the pesticide was used.

The Scottish Government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) collect data on pesticide use on arable crops, soft fruit crops, vegetable crops and protected edible crops biennially, and pesticide use on grassland and fodder crops once every four years.

The pesticide data collected by SASA includes the rate applied, total quantity/volume used, area treated at each application, crop treated, details of which products are applied in the same tank, and date of application. This data is collected from a sample of farmers designed to be representative of Scottish pesticide use.

We note the judgement by the Scottish Information Commissioner in connection with decision 017/2013 and consider it is consistent with our current approach in this area.

The Scottish Government, as part of its international engagement, has recently held numerous meetings and communications with government officials from other countries to discuss areas of mutual interest. These meetings and communications from both ministers and officials have been wide ranging and have taken place across the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government wrote to the Chancellor ahead of the Autumn Statement on 5 December calling on the UK Government to provide an immediate targeted boost to capital investment to protect the recovery in the short term and provide the infrastructure necessary to facilitate long term economic growth.

The Scottish Government therefore welcomed that the Chancellor finally heeded Scotland’s calls to boost capital spending, and that an additional £394 million in capital funding has been allocated over the three years, we note however that this was accompanied by reductions in our resource budget, and the capital budget is still being cut by 26 per cent in real terms over the period of the UK Spending Review.

The Scottish Government announced on 19 December 2012 that a £205 million package of construction and maintenance projects will be taken forward, allocating the additional capital consequentials for 2012-13 and 2013-14 arising from the Autumn Statement 2012. This package focused on smaller, “Shovel Ready” projects that could start work by the end of 2013-14, in order to boost jobs and economic activity. The Infrastructure Investment Plan pipeline includes larger projects, with a capital value over £20 million to be delivered over the period through to 2030. These larger projects require significant planning and preparation, and were unlikely to be able to be accelerated sufficiently to deliver by the end of 2013-14. Further information on the shovel ready projects that are being taken forward can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/12/jobs192012. A total of £21.2 million was allocated to transport projects over the period 2012-13 – 2014-15.

We also announced that we would not at this stage allocate the additional funds available for 2014-15. The Chancellor is planning a UK Spending Review in the first half of 2013, and this may impact on the overall budget available to the Scottish Government in 2014-15. We wish to reflect on the outcome of the UK Spending Review before allocating the additional capital consequentials for that year, and will make further announcements in due course.

The table below gives additional information about the progress being made with the projects specifically highlighted.