Seòmar agus comataidhean

Agricultural Transformation now reflects the roll-out of the National Test Programme which will be worth £51m over the next three years; significantly increasing the expenditure on ‘low carbon’ activities. Work on the Programme is being driven by the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB) which was established in August 2021 as part of the 100 Days’ commitment. The Programme will have a twin-track approach; Track 1 will be open to all to provide farmers with the tools to start or continue baselining the environmental impact on their land; and Track 2 will develop Conditionality Tests working with a cross section of around 1500 farmers and crofters to learn from them how it can work effectively and appropriately. As part of the overall Agricultural Transformation budget for 2022-2023, £5 million has been allocated to the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) 2022 which will be will be focussed on the provision of support for low emission slurry spreading equipment and slurry store covers that are proven to reduce harmful ammonia emissions and reduce adverse impacts on water quality resulting from the storage and spreading of livestock slurry and digestate.

The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) supports the protection of soils, including peat and carbon rich soils, which have a critical role to play in helping the country reach its net zero target by sequestering and storing carbon. In relation to commercial peat extraction, the draft NPF4 sets out that development proposals for new commercial peat extraction, including extensions to existing sites, should not be supported unless the extracted peat is supporting an industry of national importance to Scotland.

We have also pledged to ban the sale of peat related gardening products as a part of our wider effort to phase out the use of peat in horticulture and will launch a consultation on this matter in due course.

The Scottish Government will publish its vision shortly.

The vision outlines our aim to transform how we support farming and food production in Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

The Scottish Government is required by statute to publish progress on our proposals for rural support no later than 31 December 2024 and we will do so well ahead of that deadline.

The draft of the next Climate Change Plan will set out how we will continue to reduce emissions from agriculture and include policies and proposals to ensure the agriculture sector plays its part in meeting our ambitious net zero national target.

This government has also committed to maintaining basic payments at their current level for the lifetime of this Parliament, to provide farmers and crofters with financial stability and certainty.

Scottish Government have increased the annual native woodland creation target from a minimum of 3000 to at least 4000 hectares and have committed to setting evidence-based targets for both native woodlands and natural regeneration as part of the 2022 Biodiversity Strategy.

Scottish Government have committed to a Natural Environment Bill aiming to introduce it in year three of this parliamentary session, which will follow on from the new biodiversity strategy. This will put in place key legislative changes to restore and protect nature, including an effective, statutory, target-setting monitoring, enforcing and reporting framework.

The Nature Restoration Fund, established this year following an agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party, will be expanded over the duration of this parliamentary session and encompass multi-year funding. It will make an important contribution to meeting our targets and restoring Scotland’s terrestrial and marine environments through, for example, restoring and expanding our Atlantic rainforests, and the establishment of nature networks across Scotland.

All woodland management will continue to be underpinned by the internationally recognised principles of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), as defined in The UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) the technical standard for sustainable forest management in the UK. The Scottish Government supports tree planting and woodland management through the Forestry Grant Scheme. This support is only provided where UKFS requirements are met, and where we are confident this helps to ensure our natural environment is both protected and enhanced.

The First Minister has met Councillor Susan Aitken on the following occasions:

29th July 2021 (Meeting with Pladis Global)

12th October 2021 (Launch of the Barclays site in Glasgow)

19th October 2021 (COP26 Ministerial Roundtable)

31st October 2021 (Industrial Action in Glasgow – phone call)

The North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF) launched in August 2021. Projects will continue to September 2022 and following this, we will provide a report on the full period.

The first interim performance reporting from the delivery partnership was received in December 2021. These reports covered progress from 7th October to 30th November, when delivery remained in early stages. In that initial two month period 490 individuals and over 40 businesses were supported.

We are committed to significantly increasing annual rates of peatland restoration in Scotland. We have committed £250 million for peatland restoration over the period 2020 to 2030 and this sends a clear signal of the Government’s intent to restore peatlands to help address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Peatland Action, a Scottish Government-funded programme delivered by NatureScot and other delivery partners, provides technical and logistical support to land owners and land managers to support their scale-up and delivery of peatland restoration. We are developing further support to drive this new industry in rural areas and engage with crofting communities; we are also gathering evidence on how to target restoration activity to ensure maximum value for money, emission reduction savings and a just transition.

The Scottish Government does not recommend a GP-patient ratio. It is for Health Boards and GP practices to determine appropriate staffing levels.

There are more GPs per 100,000 population in Scotland than the rest of the UK, with 95 for every 100,000 people (Sep-21), compared with 78 in England (Sep-21), 76 in Wales (Sep-21) and 74 in Northern Ireland (Mar-21).

It is for Health Boards and GP practices to determine appropriate staffing levels in line with local population needs. GP - patient ratios will vary across practices depending on geography, population density and staff availability.

Patient and GP population data can be accessed via

General Practice | GP Workforce & Practice populations | Health Topics | ISD Scotland .

We fully recognise the importance the Farm Advisory Service (FAS) provides for farmers, land managers and crofters to help them ensure their businesses are ready to meet the challenges of the future. That is why we are currently in the process of finalising a new FAS contract effective from April 2022 that will provide continuity of the service that will connect the sector to expert consultants with the goal of keeping the industry up to date with current issues with nearly all the available support and advice entirely free to the consumer.  

And we will be working with the relevant industry and organisations as we look to develop future agriculture policy to help shape the future longer term evolution of the service to ensure it keeps pace with key challenges to support farmers, land managers and crofters to deliver high quality food production, climate mitigation and adaptation, and nature restoration.