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: S4W-03004

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, following negotiations with the European Commission, what percentage of accuracy Scottish sheep farmers will be required to obtain with their on-farm sheep flock registers before incurring penalties.

EC Regulation 21/2004 requires farmers to maintain an up to date register which must contain certain specified information including individual details for animals born after 31 December 2009. (except where advantage has been taken of the derogation to allow sheep keepers selling animals intended for slaughter before 12 months of age to be identified with a single EID tag).

The flexibility that Scottish Government obtained from the EU Commission allows those farmers who are selling sheep through a Critical Control Point (CCP) to choose to rely on the CCP reads uploaded to the ScotEID database to provide the individual IDs required as part of their flock records. Where a 100% read rate has not been achieved the flexibility obtained will ensure that the farmer does not incur a cross compliance penalty for this particular element of the Regulation.

Farmers purchasing animals through a CCP may also choose to rely on the CCP reads uploaded to the ScotEID database, however the flexibility obtained in relation to moves onto a holding for fully identified EID sheep means that farmers are advised to monitor their read rates. Clearly the further read rates are from the average the more likely it is that a farmer may face the risk of penalties. However, if a farmer obtains read rates that are near the national average, they can take comfort that they are less likely to fall foul of the inspectors.

Where low read rates are discovered at inspection, officials will be assessing these inspections centrally before applying penalties to ensure a consistent approach which takes account of the limits of the technology.

Question reference: S4W-02967

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 October 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how many new entrants to farming there were in each of the four years preceding the introduction of the new entrants to farming scheme.

Question reference: S4W-02466

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 28 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided since 2007 for lipreading classes designed for those who require rehabilitation support.

Question reference: S4W-02387

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive how Transport Scotland ensures timeous replies to freedom of information requests.

The Scottish Government aims to respond to 100% of FOI requests within the statutory target of 20 working days.

The majority of requests received are registered on the Scottish Government’s Information Request Tracker which automatically calculates the 20 working day due date and in turn alerts the request owner and line management via email. A further email alert is issued two days before the due date. Local area arrangements are also implemented to ensure replies are issued timeously.

Question reference: S4W-02386

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of Transport Scotland taking at least 19 days from the date of receipt to respond to freedom of information enquiries regarding the Forth Replacement Crossing and, if so, what its position is on this.

Transport Scotland aims to respond to 100% of freedom of information requests within the statutory target of 20 working days as set out in the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002.

The majority of requests received are registered on the Transport Scotland Request Tracker which automatically calculates the 20 working day due date and in turn alerts the request owner and line management via email. A further alert is issued two days before the due date. Local area arrangements are also implemented to ensure replies are issued timeously.

Question reference: S4W-02388

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of freedom of information enquiries relating to the Forth Replacement Crossing have been answered by Transport Scotland within (a) 10, (b) 15 and (c) 20 days of receipt.

Question reference: S4W-02469

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish and fund a training course for lipreading tutors in order to secure a sustainable workforce for lipreading classes.

Question reference: S4W-02467

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 26 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides toward the maintenance and expansion of lipreading classes in 2011-12.

Question reference: S4W-02468

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is used by NHS staff in audiology clinics when deciding upon whether it is appropriate to refer patients to lipreading services.

Lip reading services can be part of the wider rehabilitation support for patients with hearing loss visiting NHS audiology departments. At the present time no formal referral pathway exists between the NHS and support services such as lipreading. Patients are supplied with information packs containing details of all local activities and groups which they may find beneficial and where the local audiology service is aware of lip reading classes details of these will be included in the pack. An up to date list of Scottish lip reading classes provided by Action on Hearing Loss has recently been circulated to audiology departments to assist this.

Question reference: S4W-02363

Asked by: Jim Hume, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 26 August 2011
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 September 2011

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S4W-00597 by Richard Lochhead on 17 June 2011, how much it expects to spend under the programme in 2011-12, broken down by delivery scheme.

Scheme	Forecast Expenditure 2011-12
Scottish Government
Rural Priorities	94.8
Land Managers' Options	10.8
Land Management Contract Menu Scheme (Legacy)	5.2
Skills Development	0.7
Food Processing, Marketing & Cooperation Grants Scheme	8.5
Crofting Counties Agricultural Grants Scheme	1.8
Less Favoured Area Support Scheme	65.5
Agri-Environment Legacy Schemes	4.3
Farm Woodland Legacy Schemes	3.8
LEADER	10.7
Technical Assistance	0.3
Forestry Commission Scotland
Rural Priorities	28.0
Land Managers' Options	0.3
Forestry Challenge Funds	2.0
Forestry Legacy Schemes	1.7
Total Forecast – 2011-12 Financial Year	238.4

Spend is reported in UK financial years as £ million. Please note that expenditure is demand-led and is subject to the submission of claims.

Agri-Environment Legacy Schemes includes Organic Aid Scheme, Countryside Premium Scheme, Rural Stewardship Scheme, Habitats Scheme.

Farm Woodland Legacy Schemes includes Farm Woodland Scheme, Farm Woodland Premium Scheme, Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme - Farmland Premium.

Forestry Legacy Schemes includes Woodland Grant Scheme and Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme.