Written Answers
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Wednesday 4 March 2015 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Communities Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) its agencies and (b) public sector organisations that make savings on fuel costs because of the falling oil price will be able to retain the money saved at the end of (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16. (S4W-24573) John Swinney: The impact of any savings emerging from reduced fuel costs will be considered in the same way as any other savings and pressures that emerge across the public finances as part of our annual budget process and as part of individual public bodies and services’ own management of their budgets. Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to carrying out a privacy impact assessment on plans for the extension of access to the NHS Central Register. (S4W-24598) John Swinney: The NHS Central Register (NHSCR) is a register managed by National Records of Scotland and was created in the early 1950s. There is no Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for the NHSCR as a whole since it pre-dates this requirement. The Scottish Government and delivery partners have two published PIAs for the policy and operational system relating to myaccount. Organisations using myaccount are also expected to undertake a PIA prior to implementing it. Consultation is an important part of the PIA process and the Scottish Government’s public consultation on the use of the NHSCR will inform the development of PIAs for each of the other proposals that we set out in the consultation that closed on 25 February 2015. PIAs will accompany the final proposals. Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to extending the public consultation on plans for the extension of access to the NHS Central Register until a privacy impact assessment is completed. (S4W-24599) John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24598 on 4 March 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it carried out with external stakeholders regarding plans for the extension of access to the NHS Central Register ahead of the launch of the public consultation on the issue. (S4W-24600) John Swinney: Discussions were had with key stakeholders from across the Scottish public sector and HMRC as the proposals were being developed. These discussions helped to inform the final proposals set out in the public consultation. Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what work it is conducting to support schools and teachers in identifying and reporting cases of students at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). (S4W-24625) Alex Neil: Scottish Ministers wrote to all headteachers in February 2014 to alert them that female genital mutilation is illegal in the UK, is considered child abuse and should be dealt with as a child protection concern, with links to the National Guidance for Child Protection and a number of other resources. Education Scotland subsequently prepared material for all schools to use to update staff at the start of the 2014-15 school term. Education Scotland is currently in the process of gathering resources that can be used in the classroom in an age appropriate manner. Enterprise and Environment Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-23806 by Richard Lochhead on 9 January 2015, whether it will provide an update on its assessment of how the ban on tail-docking has impacted on working dogs, and whether it has come to a decision regarding formally consulting on a potential exemption for working dogs. Holding answer issued: 3 March 2015 (S4W-24471) Richard Lochhead: As noted in response to the question S4W-23806, the latest Scottish Government funded research investigating how the tail docking ban has impacted on working dogs was published in two peer reviewed papers in the Veterinary Record on 4 April 2014. That answer also noted that subsequent discussions were held with stakeholders regarding the impact of the results of the research on their views on the tail docking of working dogs, and that the Chief Veterinary Officer for Scotland had further investigated how exemptions allowing tail docking of working dogs have worked in practice in other parts of the UK and how any potential exemption might be genuinely restricted to working dogs in Scotland. These views and findings are being thoroughly considered before coming to a decision on what further action to take and on whether we will formally consult on a potential exemption for working dogs. John Lamont (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting jobs in the fishing industry in Berwickshire. (S4W-24533) Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government places a high importance on the fishing industry and the benefits it brings to local communities such as those in Berwickshire and has been working with other government agencies to provide assistance to help maintain and indeed create new jobs locally in both the onshore and offshore sectors. The Scottish Government fought hard and proactively in the annual EU fisheries negotiations to secure the best deal for Scotland’s fishermen in 2015 – of course respecting science and sustainability issues – and thinking ahead to creating the best starting point for negotiating quota for 2016 under the first year of the demersal landing obligation. Helpfully, to fishermen on the east coast, an increase in the Scottish share of the North Sea quota for Nephrops was secured. We are also taking steps to empower local communities. The east coast Inshore Fisheries Group (IFG) includes the Berwickshire area. IFGs are non-statutory bodies that aim to improve the management of Scotland’s inshore fisheries (out to six nautical miles) and to give commercial inshore fishermen a strong voice in wider marine management developments. Our national inshore fisheries programme is actively supporting these ambitions, from testing new technologies to researching new approaches to managing the interactions between mobile and static fishing vessels in the inshore environment. The government has utilised the European Fisheries Fund to make 12 awards to a range of fisheries related businesses in Berwickshire since 2008 amounting to £588,000 which has enabled investment of £1.5 million and a target of 49 jobs. Examples include five fishing vessel modernisation grants totalling £27,000 which have enabled investment of £104,000, three fishing port facilities projects at Eyemouth Harbour attracting grants of £142,000 enabling investment of £188,000 and creating 11 jobs, and four processing and marketing grants totalling £419,000 which enabled investment of £1.23 million in facilities and plant and which aim to create 38 jobs. The government will also work to maximise the benefit to fishing communities, such as those in Berwickshire, of the successor European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which will provide a widened package of support for marine actions. We plan to launch the new scheme later this year. The Scottish allocation of the EMFF is over 107 euros and will be co-financed with domestic funds. A Scottish Creel Support Fund was launched in February 2014 to support this sector which suffered due to the exceptional weather during the winter of 2012-13. The government made available over £400,000 to assist the sector in two ways, £300,000 direct funding of which £40,000 was awarded to 20 fishermen in the south east of Scotland. Additionally funding totalling £100,000 was provided to assist with developing new and existing markets for creel caught produce. The UK-wide Coastal Communities Fund (CCF), administered by the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland, has awarded over £190,000 to two fisheries projects in the last three years; the Firth of Forth Lobster Hatchery received funds to develop a lobster hatchery based at North Berwick Harbour, and Seton Care received funds to deliver training programmes to those in the fisheries, offshore and processing sectors around the coast from the Forth to East Berwickshire. Whilst there are no further rounds of CCF funding expected, the Smith Commission recommendations will enable us to make sure that island and coastal local authorities receive 100% of net revenues generated from the existing functions of the Crown Estate in Scottish waters out to 12 nautical miles so that coastal and island communities can benefit in future from the assets currently administered by the Crown Estate. John Lamont (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs have been connected to the fishing industry in Berwickshire in each year since 1999. (S4W-24534) Richard Lochhead: The number of fishermen employed in Berwickshire fishing creeks is given in the following table: Total number of fishermen employed in Berwickshire 1999 to 2013 Burnmouth Cove Eyemouth St Abbs Total 1999 16 3 98 28 145 2000 17 2 149 16 184 2001 12 3 136 11 162 2002 7 1 100 10 118 2003 8 2 99 10 119 2004 8 2 97 9 116 2005 8 2 99 7 116 2006 8 2 104 5 119 2007 10 2 89 5 106 2008 7 2 65 5 79 2009 9 2 62 6 79 2010 21 6 74 - 101 2011 17 4 64 14 99 2012 19 4 59 14 96 2013 22 5 73 15 115 Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the £13,938.1 million turnover in the food and drink sector identified in its growth sector statistics is attributable to the seafood and aquaculture industries when all income from fish processing is included.