Chamber and committees

To give a full answer to the question i.e. to provide information spanning five years, broken down as requested has necessitated further bespoke interrogation of the IT system and will take some time to complete. The requested information will be made available to the requestor as soon as we are able to do so.

In the circumstance where a farmer of crofter has not received an illustration of entitlement letter, they should not delay in submitting a 2016 single application form. Rural payments and inspections division officials will take the entitlement allocated in to account when assessing eligibility for 2016. This is the same approach as taken in preceding years where clarification of previous entitlement position is outstanding.

The Scottish Government is working with the fishing industry to implement the landing obligation in the most flexible way and has always said it will work with other EU member states to resolve the difficult issues which we understand fishermen alone cannot fix.

Our Scottish Discards Steering Group, which includes representatives from the fishing industry, non-governmental organisations and active fishermen, meets on 17 March 2016 and will discuss a number of matters, including the proposed extension of the landing obligation in 2017 plus the aims of the international choke species workshop to be held in Edinburgh on 14-15 April 2016 where we hope there will be clarity on what the real biological choke issues are and what the options are for addressing them. Member states and advisory council representatives have been invited to attend and contribute to the choke species workshop.

The European Union would not impose financial penalties unless CAP Pillar 1 payments are not made by 30 June 2016. CAP Pillar 2 schemes do not have fixed payment windows and therefore the concept of financial penalties in respect of Pillar 2 does not exist.

Farmers and crofters who thought the Scottish Government’s, rural payments and inspections division’s assessment of the provisional payment region allocated to any of their land parcels could ask for a review to be carried out. Officials were always will to reconsider the our decision based upon any further written evidence provided by the farmer/crofter, such as details of when grassland was improved or the type of vegetation present. The review process does not include a physical inspection of the land in question. It is a desk based exercise which takes into full account the evidence provided by the farmer/crofter.

As explained in the response to S4W-29412, farmers and crofters who thought the Scottish Government’s, rural payments and Inspections division’s assessment of the provisional payment region allocated to any of their land parcels could ask for a review to be carried out. Officials were always will to reconsider the our decision based upon any further written evidence provided by the farmer/crofter, such as details of when grassland was improved or the type of vegetation present. The review process does not include a physical inspection of the land in question. It is a desk based exercise which takes into full account the evidence provided by the farmer/crofter.

There has been no transfer of budget form the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme to any other budget.

In Scotland, the common agricultural policy (CAP) comprises around 20 different schemes across Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 of the CAP. Some of these schemes are administered collectively on a single IT system while others have their own stand alone systems. The Scottish Government has acknowledged problems with the new rural payments and services IT system which affects, in particular, payments under the basic payment and greening schemes. Other IT systems are maintained and upgraded routinely as and when issues arise.

In the circumstance where a farmer of crofter has not received an illustration of entitlement letter, they should not delay in submitting a 2016 single application form. Rural payments and inspections division officials will take the entitlement allocated in to account when assessing eligibility for 2016. This is the same approach as taken in preceding years where clarification of previous entitlement position is outstanding.

EU Structural and Challenge Fund funding spent in each of the last five years in Shetland is:

	Shetland Islands (£)
2011	1,464,495.84
2012	1,257,212.23
2013	2,396,296.36
2014	2,014,228.28
2015	415,829.44
Grand total	7,548,062.15