Questions and answers

Question reference: S5O-03853

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding levels of puppy trafficking through the port of Cairnryan and how much revenue has been recovered by HMRC from this.

Question reference: S5O-03834

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the impact will be on Dumfries and Galloway Council of the delay to the Scottish Budget because of the General Election.

Question reference: S5O-03774

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether an independent Scotland could allow people whose immigration status is being challenged through a tribunal or court to continue to work, study or volunteer.

Question reference: S5W-25896

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2019
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 11 November 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of properties in each local authority have had access to broadband in each year since 2014.

Due to the commercial nature of much of this information, the Scottish Government does not hold data on broadband coverage percentages. However, independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband.com, provides breakdowns of coverage percentages at Local Authority level. The following tables show coverage percentages from January 2014, when DSSB deployment began, to October 2019.

	Superfast coverage (30Mbps and above)
Local Authority	Jan-14	Dec-14	Dec-15	Dec-16	Dec-17	Dec-18	Oct-19
Aberdeen City	71.6%	83.2%	90.0%	93.4%	95.7%	96.5%	96.6%
Aberdeenshire	16.6%	44.3%	65.5%	73.0%	79.3%	81.1%	82.5%
Angus	58.8%	66.0%	71.5%	79.9%	84.2%	87.5%	88.0%
Argyll & Bute	0.9%	7.6%	41.9%	60.4%	78.1%	81.8%	83.0%
City of Edinburgh	90.5%	92.8%	93.4%	96.2%	98.3%	98.4%	98.5%
Clackmannanshire	54.2%	69.9%	77.8%	95.3%	98.0%	98.3%	98.1%
Dumfries & Galloway	17.0%	51.8%	65.7%	73.4%	81.0%	83.1%	84.7%
Dundee City	95.2%	97.2%	97.6%	98.3%	98.9%	98.9%	98.9%
East Ayrshire	48.5%	68.5%	78.5%	84.9%	92.6%	93.5%	93.9%
East Dunbartonshire	77.6%	80.0%	89.0%	92.0%	96.8%	97.7%	97.9%
East Lothian	31.9%	53.6%	71.2%	81.8%	88.3%	91.3%	91.6%
East Renfrewshire	84.6%	85.5%	89.1%	93.5%	95.9%	97.7%	97.7%
Falkirk	85.2%	87.2%	88.6%	92.4%	96.5%	96.6%	97.2%
Fife	52.9%	74.9%	83.2%	91.8%	95.3%	96.1%	96.3%
Glasgow City	75.2%	82.3%	91.2%	94.8%	98.1%	98.5%	98.7%
Highland	20.3%	39.1%	59.2%	68.3%	76.9%	78.6%	80.1%
Inverclyde	72.0%	79.9%	88.1%	92.0%	96.8%	97.4%	97.4%
Midlothian	44.0%	65.9%	70.3%	87.8%	94.0%	93.5%	93.5%
Moray	6.9%	52.8%	71.8%	76.9%	84.9%	86.3%	87.5%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1.3%	1.3%	25.4%	41.3%	64.5%	71.7%	77.3%
North Ayrshire	40.9%	61.3%	75.7%	89.0%	96.0%	96.3%	96.3%
North Lanarkshire	77.3%	82.9%	91.2%	94.9%	97.5%	97.9%	98.4%
Orkney Islands	11.1%	11.1%	35.9%	48.9%	64.4%	64.7%	65.2%
Perth & Kinross	39.3%	52.9%	61.0%	76.0%	82.8%	84.9%	85.8%
Renfrewshire	76.7%	80.8%	90.7%	93.6%	96.4%	97.6%	97.8%
Scottish Borders	20.8%	47.3%	59.6%	71.6%	80.1%	83.8%	86.0%
Shetland Islands	28.9%	28.9%	37.4%	60.0%	72.1%	73.7%	73.9%
South Ayrshire	44.9%	72.7%	80.0%	86.6%	92.8%	94.3%	94.8%
South Lanarkshire	70.2%	79.5%	86.4%	90.9%	94.7%	95.7%	95.9%
Stirling	56.5%	67.4%	73.6%	80.8%	88.3%	89.3%	90.9%
West Dunbartonshire	88.7%	91.9%	95.5%	96.7%	98.6%	98.9%	99.2%
West Lothian	63.0%	67.6%	81.5%	88.9%	96.2%	97.0%	97.2%

	Fibre coverage
Local Authority	Jan-14	2015	2016	2017	2018	Oct-19
Aberdeen City	72.7%	93.2%	95.5%	97.1%	97.5%	97.7%
Aberdeenshire	17.6%	78.2%	85.4%	90.8%	93.1%	94.4%
Angus	62.6%	78.3%	88.1%	91.6%	94.7%	95.7%
Argyll & Bute	0.9%	49.5%	71.6%	88.1%	91.1%	92.2%
City of Edinburgh	90.7%	93.7%	96.4%	98.6%	98.6%	98.7%
Clackmannanshire	55.9%	80.6%	97.5%	99.6%	99.8%	100%
Dumfries & Galloway	18.9%	79.9%	87.6%	92.6%	94.8%	96.1%
Dundee City	95.3%	98.0%	98.7%	99.4%	99.3%	99.4%
East Ayrshire	51.7%	86.5%	92.2%	96.5%	97.0%	97.4%
East Dunbartonshire	77.9%	91.5%	94.7%	98.6%	99.4%	99.5%
East Lothian	33.2%	76.7%	88.0%	93.8%	96.7%	96.9%
East Renfrewshire	85.7%	90.7%	95.1%	97.3%	99.0%	99.4%
Falkirk	85.6%	89.9%	93.8%	98.0%	97.9%	98.6%
Fife	53.4%	86.5%	95.2%	98.1%	98.8%	99%
Glasgow City	75.9%	92.7%	95.4%	98.3%	98.7%	98.8%
Highland	21.8%	73.0%	84.3%	91.4%	92.2%	93.6%
Inverclyde	72.0%	90.8%	93.3%	98.3%	98.9%	98.9%
Midlothian	49.0%	76.5%	91.2%	97.3%	97.2%	97.2%
Moray	7.1%	82.4%	89.3%	93.9%	95.5%	96.8%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar	1.6%	39.7%	59.4%	81.0%	85.9%	90.8%
North Ayrshire	43.3%	80.5%	92.3%	98.8%	99.2%	99.3%
North Lanarkshire	78.3%	93.8%	96.2%	98.6%	98.9%	99.3%
Orkney Islands	12.0%	44.0%	69.0%	81.9%	81.5%	82.6%
Perth & Kinross	40.0%	69.1%	85.1%	91.4%	93.4%	94.9%
Renfrewshire	77.0%	92.3%	94.8%	97.6%	98.6%	98.8%
Scottish Borders	23.1%	72.8%	84.1%	90.6%	94.0%	95.8%
Shetland Islands	35.1%	48.4%	78.0%	83.8%	85.2%	86.3%
South Ayrshire	46.4%	84.9%	90.8%	96.3%	97.6%	98.5%
South Lanarkshire	72.0%	91.5%	94.8%	97.8%	98.6%	98.8%
Stirling	58.6%	80.3%	87.8%	94.7%	95.4%	96.7%
West Dunbartonshire	88.8%	96.3%	97.2%	99.0%	99.3%	99.6%
West Lothian	64.4%	84.5%	90.6%	98.1%	98.6%	98.9%

Question reference: S5W-25939

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 24 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out its intentions for future allocation of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-20.

The Scottish Government remains determined to take a strategic approach to maintaining the SRDP 2014-2020 budget, ensuring that we maximise the EU funds, while continuing support for key government priorities. The success of the programme means that we expect to fully consume the financial envelope during 2021. Spending for some projects and schemes has occurred later in the programme than initially anticipated leading to payments that will fall beyond this programme. The total legacy funding arising from projects and investments under this SRDP is forecast to run until 2029 and amount to £150 million.

Following careful consideration we are currently engaged in seeking approval from the European Commission for amendments to the 2014-2020 programme. The amendments are in response to demand for certain schemes and reflects what can be delivered under this financial envelope. They also take into account the lack of clarity over our immediate future, in terms of not yet knowing when and/or if we will be leaving the EU. If Scotland does have to leave the EU, we want to be able to optimise our ability to put into effect Scottish Government proposals to provide stability and simplification between 2021 and 2024 and to commence piloting new approaches to providing rural support.

In order to allow consumption of the EU funds faster we will amend the co-financing rate to 52% EU and 48% national. This also helps to mitigate against the risk of funds not being replaced by the UK Government beyond this programme.

The revised indicative budget removes underspend for schemes such as Beef Efficiency Scheme and Environmental Co-operation Action Fund (which did not in fact commence due to technical design challenges), while also increasing funding to government priority areas including the Forestry Grant Scheme to achieve key targets.

These budgets are:

Less Favoured Area Support Scheme - £403 million

Agri-Environment Climate - £289 million

Forestry Grant Scheme - £277 million

Beef Efficiency Scheme - £20 million

New Entrants - £23.8 million

Crofters Agricultural Grant Scheme - £12 million

Small Farmers Grant Scheme - £0.4 million

Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation Grant Scheme - £66 million

Environmental Co-operation Action Fund - £0 million

Advisory Services - £17 million

Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund - £6 million

LEADER - £82 million

Broadband - £0.04 million

It is important to note that these are indicative budgets, and we will continue to monitor scheme performance and demand, along with the impact of future Spending Reviews, to ensure that the SRDP continues to deliver towards our commitment to build growth all across rural Scotland.

Also included in this amendment is my decision to extend current contracts for beneficiaries that were successful in the 2015 AECS application round for a further year. These contracts were due to expire on the 31 December 2020 and will be initially extended until 31 December 2021, ensuring that this scheme continues to protect and enhance our natural capital. To conduct a further round of AECS would mean opening for applications early in 2020 but not being in a position to award any new contracts until 2021 and there being potential to create further legacy funding commitments until 2025-26.

To date, we have had no clarity nor certainty from the UK Government over the future funding envelope to replace SRDP beyond 2020. This Government is already committed through the Programme for Government to develop a new agricultural transformation programme which will encompass the now statutory commitments on whole farm emissions accounting and an agricultural modernisation fund.

Accordingly, there will not be a further round of AECS but the extension of the current contracts is likely to ensure a further £6 million is invested, adding to the £177.7 million already committed through the agri-environment schemes to support farmers, crofters and land managers to protect and enhance Scotland’s natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Question reference: S5O-03696

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the implications would be for Scotland of a border being established in the Irish Sea.

Question reference: S5W-25826

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2019
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made on making 2018 Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 CAP payments this year.

The Scottish Government previously announced that it had met the EU deadline of making 95.24% of Pillar 1 payments by 30 June 2019. The EU also requires 98% of all Pillar 1 schemes by 15 October each year. I can advise that this target was met in August and that by 30 September, £449 million in 2018 Pillar 1 payments had been made to farmers, crofters and land managers.

In December 2018, the Scottish Government also published a payment strategy for all CAP schemes. The payment targets for all 2018 Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 payments have been met – this is the earliest point in the annual calendar that this has been achieved under this SRDP.

This includes £62 million through the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme.

For all other Pillar 2 schemes, another £34 million has been paid into the rural economy.

The Scottish Government has now supported the rural economy by paying over £545 million to Scottish farmers for all 2018 schemes providing much needed security at a time of political uncertainty. This represents 99.44% of the total claimed and demonstrates that the CAP payment system is now substantially fixed.

Question reference: S5O-03651

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 October 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 October 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting learners who have dyslexia.

Question reference: S5W-25325

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 September 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 25 September 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much businesses have saved in total from business rates relief since 2007, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows how much non-domestic rates relief has saved businesses cumulatively from 2009-10 until 2017-18, based on local authority income returns. Local authority breakdowns are not currently available for earlier years.

Local authority	Rates relief (£m)
Aberdeen	281
Aberdeenshire	191
Angus	96
Argyll & Bute	101
Clackmannanshire	34
Dumfries & Galloway	121
Dundee City	211
East Ayrshire	90
East Dunbartonshire	72
East Lothian	88
East Renfrewshire	48
Edinburgh, City of	841
Eilean Siar	33
Falkirk	120
Fife	346
Glasgow City	1,050
Highland	303
Inverclyde	69
Midlothian	79
Moray	68
North Ayrshire	123
North Lanarkshire	277
Orkney Islands	31
Perth & Kinross	172
Renfrewshire	194
Scottish Borders	118
Shetland Islands	43
South Ayrshire	110
South Lanarkshire	264
Stirling	116
West Dunbartonshire	66
West Lothian	169

Source: Local Authority Income Returns. Years 2009-10 to 2017-18 are based on the final Audited returns, figures for 2018-19 are based on the Notified returns. Total figures may therefore change once Scottish Government receives the 2018-19 Audited returns in autumn 2019.

Note: Reliefs estimates include both the mandatory (i.e. eligible properties are entitled to claiming this) and discretionary (i.e. councils may choose to give it) elements of relief where applicable, but exclude backdated payments of relief, as well as councils' own contributions to reliefs. The Scottish Government funds 100% of mandatory relief and 75% or more of discretionary relief, while councils fund up to 25% of discretionary relief.

Question reference: S5F-03587

Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 September 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 September 2019

To ask the First Minister, in light of recent deaths and respiratory illness attributed to vaping that has been reported in the US by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, what the Scottish Government's position is on the sale and use of vaping products.

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