- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when it next expects to meet European Commission officials to discuss the single farm payment penalty system.
Answer
No meetings are scheduled at present as the new commission has yet to be agreed and finalised by the European Parliament.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with European Commission officials regarding the single farm payment penalty system since May 2007.
Answer
Officials from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland met with Commission officials in February 2009 to discuss proposals to revise the Cross Compliance payment reduction systems as a result of the 2008 audits in England and Wales.
The Commission made it clear at this meeting that they expected the majority of Cross Compliance breaches to result in a 3% payment reduction otherwise significant disallowance (EC fines) would apply. This approach was further confirmed and clarified in the Commission audit letters to Wales and later to Northern Ireland following their audit in spring 2009.
At our request the UK raised the issue of Cross Compliance penalties at the Council of Ministers on 16 December 2009 and we will press for meetings to be held with the new Commission to keep our concerns on the agenda.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what types of benefits will be included in a definition of equivalent environmental benefit as referred to in section 72(4)(b) of the Marine (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30265 on 15 January 2010. 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/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how existing leasing arrangements for renewables installations will be taken into account by the designation process for marine protected areas under the Marine (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
There will usually be an opportunity in the new MPA process for other government departments, key stakeholders and other interested parties, to feed into the MPA development process before sites are taken to the stage of full public consultation.
Any existing lease holders will have the opportunity to raise any concerns, and these concerns can form part of the consideration under sections 59(5) and 61(3)(b) of the Bill for the site proposal.
It is Scottish ministers'' policy that there will be a presumption of use within the new MPAs, unless there is a good case for doing otherwise.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how frequently it expects the exception under section 85(1)(b) of the Marine (Scotland) Bill to be disapplied by marine conservation orders in order to restrict the generation of renewable electricity in marine protected areas.
Answer
It is not possible to predict how frequently the exception in section 85(1)(b) of the Scottish Marine Bill will be disapplied as part of the marine conservation order process. Scottish Ministers do not intend to disapply section 85(1)(b) as a matter of course and would require a good case for such action. Such disapplication would require the consent of Parliament.
The generation of marine renewable energy is a priority for the Scottish Government, as is the conservation of marine biodiversity and cultural heritage. The Scottish Marine Bill provides for a planning regime that takes all these priorities into account. I believe it is right that the Scottish Government and Parliament should have this power to protect important marine features, even if the power is very rarely exercised.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 21 December 2009
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to produce guidance on the meaning of equivalent environmental benefit as referred to in section 72(4)(b) of the Marine (Scotland) Bill.
Answer
Marine Scotland will issue general guidance on how equivalent environmental benefit could be interpreted, and key environmental and industry stakeholders will be consulted on this guidance.
It is not be possible to specify in guidance each and every possibility which may arise and equivalent environmental benefit will in practice need be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what research it is undertaking to examine the fairness and proportionality of fines imposed under the Single Farm Payment Scheme.
Answer
We are looking at the detailed results of European Commission audits across the rest of Europe and speaking to other member states who have been audited to confirm the position in their countries.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to farmers who believe that they may have been disproportionately penalised under the Single Farm Payment Scheme.
Answer
Land managers who are penalised under cross-compliance can submit an appeal under the new EU Rural Payments Appeal Procedure which was launched on the 20 November 2009.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that penalties imposed under the Single Farm Payment Scheme are fair and proportionate.
Answer
All cross-compliance inspections are carried out according to clearly laid down procedures across Scotland and the results and any penalties that are applied are monitored on a national basis.
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 January 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive when it next expects to meet stakeholders to discuss the single farm payment penalty system.
Answer
We have regular meetings with stakeholders and these matters will be discussed if appropriate. Although no meetings are scheduled at present to discuss this specific topic, we expect this to be raised at forthcoming meetings.
