 The next item of business is portfolio question on the rural economy. I'll try and get all questions and supplementaries into how people are succinct. First is Willie Rennie. Oedden I—to ask the Scottish Government what discussions it's had with the fishing industry regarding compensation arrangements in relation to the impact of offshore windfarm developments? Fergus Ewing. The Scottish Government has been working closely with the fishermen and stakeholder o daoddiad Personal frofod? Mae'n gweithio gan gweithio iddo aww addysbrush o'iIfard blaenau fyrmaiddio i gyda infrastructure datblyg lleidwadol yn CM tofu. Mae r working partnerships appear yn ddiwed Dancing thosedod yng nghymru wedi bod yn clarity mewn defnythg accommodate Alun Arnau yn gwneud y byddiig iaailr rainbow rymell gydaredd rogfa wedi mwyfyrnau ei ddafnog iawn. Taeth dwy rymell gyda symud cyfrochu ar ôl oedd yn merddwyr oedd, dros andygol, yn teimlo maesio. Mae cofiosio iddyn nhw. Ar ddechrau'r ffaithol gofyn, mae ffaithwyr yn bwysig. Roeddwch chi'n mwyfyrnau ei ddafnogi a dw i ffaithwyrnau rogfa wedi mwyfyrnau. Cali dddid o erbyn ei ddyn nhw, yn mynd i iechidio'r ffaithwyr yn gweld g Goldfinch. I have met with some of the fishmen, some of them in Pittenweem, on the 15th of April. I listened carefully to their concerns about lack of engagement in relation to cable burial and route and timescale of works. My behest officials had a follow-up meeting with them on the 30th of April. I understand that a further meeting is taking place with Marine Scotland officials, developers and fishmen in Pittenweem tomorrow. I am determined that we find a solution that allows both renewables and the fishing sector to thrive and flourish. That means very careful consideration of the cable issue in particular. I undertake to Mr Rennie and to Mr Gethyn, as the MP has raised the matter with me, that I will consider those matters very carefully, working with my colleague Paul Wheelhouse, for safety grounds and for avoiding damage to fishing gear. It is extremely important that the burial of cable takes place wherever possible and practical. The direct route of that is something that I would expect to be considered extremely carefully indeed. After all, the fishermen were there first. Given that the fishermen have in-depth knowledge of where the best fishing grounds are, would it not be more effective just not to cite new developments where those grounds have been identified in the next rounds of offshore wind? I certainly agree that it is sensible that those involved in both sectors should communicate closely with each other. After all, as Maureen Wattwell knows, the fishermen have extensive and detailed knowledge of the seabed in their areas. That is knowledge that if there is proper collaboration between them and the renewable sector, it could be put to good use. Scottish ministers use a process of sector marine planning to identify future areas for commercial-scale offshore wind developments. That is considered, a wide range of data and illustrates where fishing takes place as part of an overall analysis of opportunities and constraints. Therefore, I believe that those matters are required and are in fact the subject of proper and appropriate consideration during the development process. To ask the Scottish Government what its plans are for farm safety week 2019. The Scottish Government works closely with partners such as the health and safety executive to provide support and guidance to farmers, to their employees and families to help to make farms safer environments to work and live on. We are also involved in the Scottish Farm Safety Partnership, which is committed to reducing farm work place fatal accidents by 50 per cent by 2023. The farm safety week to which the member eludes will seek to highlight the importance of the issue, and we are considering the role that the Scottish Government might play this year. The NFUS has already issued a call for examples from farmers of how it has made safety improvements on farm and, more importantly, the inspiration behind those changes in behaviour. Alison Harris I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer. Only a month ago, two people were killed as a result of a tragic accident on a farm in my constituency of Central Scotland. In light of the fact that it is child safety week this week, could I ask the cabinet secretary if the Scottish Government had made provision for children's safety on our farms? Fergus Ewing I am aware of the incident to which Alison Harris eludes that this was a tragic accident where two men died after a well-collapsed farm, and our thoughts go out to the families involved. It illustrates that fatalities and serious injuries in farms are very serious matters. Of course, as the member appreciates, the prime responsibility for safety lies with employers, to properly look after ourselves and those for whom we are responsible. It needs to be said that that principle is never going to change. The health and safety executive is a reserved body, but we work closely with it. We fund or part fund organisations such as Lantra, which provided training courses in the central belt this year in Dumfries, in respect of areas such as falls from heights and falling objects, cattle, vehicles and machinery. However, I am pleased to have the opportunity to answer Alison Harris, because this is probably the area of life in Scotland where there is still a far too high level of injuries. Of course, any death is one too many. Emma Harper There are around 1,000 injuries in two deaths each year as a result of a quadbike accident in Scotland. The cabinet secretary might be aware of my on-going campaign to encourage quadbike wearin, which is called the quadbike helmet wearin. I therefore ask the cabinet secretary if he will join me in encouraging farmers and agricultural workers to wear helmets both on and off the road. Would he be open to meeting with me to discuss potential action that the Scottish Government can take to further this aim? Liam Vercushwing Yes, I am aware of the risk of those who drive on quadbikes without wearing helmets. It is not Maco, it is stupid. I commend Emma Harper for her campaign on this, and I would be very happy to meet her and discuss what, if anything, further we can do. Willie Coffey To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update in progress being made on payments to farmers. Fergus Ewing We have made 17,749 basic payment scheme loan offers worth over £343.6 million in the autumn last year, earlier than in previous years, which put cash into the rural economy ahead of any other part of the UK. Basic payments for 2018 started on 19 March, with more than £14,300 payments worth £289.8 million made to date. I am pleased to say that we are on track to deliver both pillar 1 and pillar 2 payments in line with the schedule that was published in December last year, and we are also on track to meet our regulatory target of making 95 per cent of pillar 1 payments by the end of this month. Willie Coffey For that answer, he will be aware of the uncertainty that is being caused by Brexit to sheep farmers, including those in my constituency. What is he doing to ensure that they have the financial support that they need in these uncertain times? Fergus Ewing I am acutely aware of the uncertainty that is caused by Brexit and the worries that are faced by our sheep farmers and our hill farmers in general. That is a very serious issue indeed, and I am pleased that Mr Coffey has raised it. Willie Coffey We announced the LFASS loan scheme in March, giving eligible farmers and crofters access to 90 per cent of their LFASS payment. That has been appreciated as a practical measure. In addition to that, I have repeatedly pressed the UK Government, along with my Welsh and Northern Irish colleagues at the meetings that I attended with Ms Gougeon and the UK ministers, including Ms Gougeon, that there should be a properly-funded, treasury-funded compensation scheme in the event of a no-deal. However, a no-deal would be utterly catastrophic for our hill farmers and sheep farmers in particular, and therefore I very much hope that it will be averted. Rhoda Grant Because of the climate crisis, farmers and crofters need to know what assistance is going to be available to them to reach net zero. Will the cabinet secretary, as a matter of urgency, bring forward a new scheme that helps them to achieve that goal? Rhoda Grant We set out our plans in our document stability and simplicity. Those plans provide something that, with respect, is not provided to the counterparts elsewhere in the UK, namely the relative confidence that the existing support that is enjoyed by Scottish farmers and hill farmers in particular will continue. I think that that is the most important thing. We also, in the second part of the five-year period of stability and simplicity, have set out in that document stability and simplicity our plans that we will pilot ways in which to promote even more sustainable farming. However, I am convinced, as I discussed with Martin Kennedy, whom I met last week at a hill farm in Aberfeldy, that the work that farmers do shows that they are part of the solution, not part of the problem, and that mixed livestock production, sustaining as it does ruminants on our hill sites, sequester carbon in permanent grassland. If it was not for that activity, as many members in the chamber know better than I, there would be devastatingly bad consequences through the loss of that carbon sequestration. It is our duty to get positive messages about farming's existing contribution to the climate that is better understood and acknowledged. Donald Cameron I refer to farming and crofting in my register of interest. Does the cabinet secretary who mentioned ELFAS in one of his answers acknowledge the comments from the NFUS less favoured area committee chair, Robert MacDonald, who said that a bigger funding issue for our hill farming and crofting sectors is potential cuts to ELFAS in 2019 and 2020? Can the cabinet secretary give us an update, and especially reassure those worried farmers and crofters on this particular matter? Fergus Ewing Yes, I know Robert MacDonald well and have met him and his colleagues. He chairs the ELFAS committee of the NFUS on several occasions. In fact, I met the NFUS just yesterday again and discussed this. I am very pleased that this year we maintained ELFAS at 100 per cent, even though our ability to do so only became evident at the relatively late period in the financial year. We were able to maintain that. This year, I believe that it is the case that I think that 56 per cent of ELFAS recipients have received more than they received before slightly. Mr Cameron asked about the next two years. The EU rules provide that the payments must be reduced over the next two years. I have indicated that we wish to do everything that we can to find a workaround to prevent that from happening. It is a very technical and complex area, not made any simpler, I have to say, or easier by the fact that we do not actually know whether we are going to be in or out of Europe and therefore we do not know which rules will apply. However, be all that as it may, I will do my very best to ensure that our whole farmers receive the support that my goodness me, they earn. Questions and particularly answers, Cabinet Secretary, are getting a bit lengthy if we are to get through this. Question 4, Margaret Mitchell. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Scottish partnership against rural crime. The Scottish partnership against rural crime continues to play a valuable role in bringing together key partners from across the rural and justice sectors to tackle all forms of criminality in our rural communities. The partnership recently produced its rural crime strategy 2019-2022, highlighting its focus on tackling serious and organised crime as it affects rural communities. Work is also under way to strengthen local approaches to tackling rural crime across Scotland. Earlier this year, the cabinet secretary participated in the launch of the new East Lothian partnership against rural crime, led by East Lothian council, and a similar initiative is just about to begin in Tayside. That will bring together local authorities, police and other partners to strengthen the local approach to rural crime. In April, my ministerial colleague, the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs, participated in the launch of a new Scottish heritage crime group that is formed under the auspices of spark to tackle crime against our historic and cultural sites. Margaret Mitchell. I thank the minister for that comprehensive answer. Should we be aware that the rural economy is negatively impacted by rural crimes such as livestock worrying and theft, but also by flytaping, which has a hugely detrimental impact on the farmers, landowners and local authorities that have to bear the cost of cleaning up those sites? In order to address those worrying and escalating problems, will the minister support my campaign, which includes giving local authorities, agencies, occupiers or owners of land the same powers as their counterparts in England and Wales, to make compensation orders to recover the costs and cards for clearing those sites? I am glad that Margaret Mitchell raised the serious issue, because flytaping is a serious issue in rural areas and it seriously blights our countryside as well. My ministerial colleague is the cabinet secretary for the environment, climate change and land reform, who has portfolio responsibility for the issue. I know that the cabinet secretary would be happy to consider the proposals that are being suggested by Margaret Mitchell, because I think that this is a very serious issue that we need to take a look at. If there are other powers that we can look at that would help to tackle this, that is what we need to consider. 5. Keith Brown To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the progress being made with the review of intra-UK allocation of domestic farm funding that is being led by Lord Bewe. The review panel has been taking evidence, including from me, and I understand that it is close to making its final recommendations. Progress is, however, being hampered by the UK Government, as Michael Gove has confirmed in writing that he is not prepared to release to the review panel previous advice to ministers. That is disappointing, as he promised this information not only to me but to Scottish stakeholders in a public debate that I had with him. I raised this when I met the panel on 15 May and made clear that in any future funding arrangements, whether in the UK or the EU, it would be totally unacceptable if Scotland continues to receive payment at the lowest rates per hectare of any country in Europe. It is a quite outrageous situation. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response, and I ask whether that means that there have been no assurances from the UK Government that the £160 million that is denied to farmers in Scotland, including those in my constituency, will be returned to Scotland, that a future funding formula will be fair to Scotland's interests, and that the full value of current direct farm support will be provided by the UK Government to the Scottish Government after 2022 once its guarantee runs out. Well, Mr Brown is absolutely right to raise this. This is money that was intended by the EU for Scottish farmers and to which only Scottish health farmers were entitled, and the UK Government diverted this money away from them to a tune of £14,000 for every farmer and crofter in Scotland. That is quite a scandalous act by the UK Government, and Mr Gove promised that the review that was first indicated by Owen Paterson in 2013 would be implemented. He was overruled by the Treasury, who overruled him and said that he could not do that. The review is now only looking at two years and not at what happened and to explain why that happened and why our farmers were deprived of that money. The fact that the UK Government is concealing the evidence about the advice given to them on the basis of which they took the decision to divert that money away from Scottish health farmers and crofters is one of the most disgraceful acts in Government that I have come across in my 20 years as an MSP. To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the work of the Orkney-native wildlife project and what it is doing to support the project's objectives. The Orkney-native wildlife project is being led by Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, and it has been in discussion with local representatives of the National Farmer's Union of Scotland about establishing a land access protocol governing the setting of traps for stotes on agricultural land. Jamie Halcro Johnston I thank the minister for that, and I would like to draw the chamber to my register of interest. The project's work to control stotes is currently at a standstill, with many local farmers still refusing access to the land because the anger of their concerns over geese numbers are not being properly addressed. Farmers are looking for a clear indication that the Scottish Government understands the problem, that they appreciate the damage that the geese are doing, and that they will act on geese numbers. Deputy Presiding Officer, failure to get stote traps in place in the next few months could lead to an explosion in numbers. So can the minister outline what actions she can take and what resource she can allocate to support efforts to control the geese population in Orkney, and in order to break the impasse before the summer, which she considers incentivising farmers to provide access with a bounty on stotes trapped on their land? Mairi Gougeon That is an issue that I would be happy to discuss further with the member if he would like to have a meeting with me to discuss that. I know that Scottish Natural Heritage has convened an Orkney goose management group to investigate how future adaptive management of grey lag geese can be supported, so that is being looked at. As a partnership, the group will look to develop, agree and implement additional measures to reduce the impact of the resident geese population. If the member would like a meeting, I would be more than happy for that to take place. Liam McArthur Short supplementary would be appreciated, please. Liam McArthur Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome that commitment to a meeting from the minister, as Jamie Halcro Johnston has indicated. There is anger at the contrast between the funding for the stoke programme and the withdrawal of funding for the goose management programme, so I think that it would be helpful if the minister were able to discuss with us how the work of that goose management group can now be supported, including funding being made available. Mairi Gougeon Again, I would extend that same offer to Liam McArthur as well to see how we can move this forward. Mairi Gougeon Thank you very much. There are two members who I have not been able to call—Rona Mackay and Tom Mason—and I apologise for that. Can I say to all members that I do not want to be cutting people off in their prime, either when they are asking questions or when they are answering, but what we had there were quite a few speeches rather than questions. Can I ask that perhaps people discuss us within their groups with a view to making sure that everyone gets an equal opportunity to take part in these questions and answer sessions? That concludes portfolio questions. We will move on to the next item of business. If everyone would like to shift their seats accordingly.