Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government intends to bring forward regulations under Section 9(2)(b)(i) of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 in early 2018, which will give effect to the intention to extend the period of support to 90 days. These regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure.

Section 9 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act makes provision about the support and assistance to be provided to victims of trafficking. It contains no restrictions based on the nationality of the victim. Current support to victims funded by the Scottish Government is not restricted on the basis of nationality and there is no intention to change this.

The operation of the National Referral Mechanism, including the guidance for Competent Authorities and the decision making timescales for conclusive grounds determinations is a matter for the Home Office.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has a total of 1,455 vehicles in operation across Scotland. This includes 483 accident and emergency vehicles and 486 patient transport vehicles.

The Scottish Government does not hold details of how these vehicles are stationed throughout the country. However the SAS will be able to provide this information if requested.

Over the next five years the ambulance service plans to invest £77.8 million in its fleet with approximately 1000 replacement vehicles scheduled for introduction. This investment will help ensure that the Service continues to provide a high quality level of emergency care to the people of Scotland.

This Government has always prioritised tackling fuel poverty and is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland lives in a warm home that is affordable to heat.

We are delivering our commitment to make half a billion pounds available over the next 4 years and, by the end of 2021, we will have allocated over £1 billion pounds since 2009 on tackling fuel poverty and improving energy efficiency.

We will publish shortly a consultation on a new, long-term fuel poverty strategy, including a new target, which will feed into the Warm Homes Bill which we plan to introduce in Year 2 of this Parliament.

The Freight Facilities Grant scheme remains open for applications. As a state aid approved grant scheme, it is currently in the process of being re-notified to the European Commission. Any new applications will be determined following this process.

The Far North Line Review Team was established by the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity in December 2016 to consider opportunities to improve overall performance and make the most of this important asset for passengers, for sustainable freight transport, and for the communities and businesses along its length. As part of its remit, the Review Team is considering whole system rail improvements which can be considered for the rail investment strategy beyond 2019. The Scottish Government is also promoting rail freight through its rail freight strategy Delivering the Goods which looks at new and efficient ways of transporting goods in addition to building strong and lasting partnerships to grow existing and new markets.

The Scottish Government is preparing the first official statistical publication 'Estimate of Community Owned Land in Scotland, 2017'. We expect to publish these first official estimates to be published on 8 December 2017.

The Scottish Government is preparing a full statistical release which will include answers to these questions which we expect to publish on 8 December 2017. The provisional estimate for Scotland is 563,000 acres, but the data are undergoing quality assurance before the final publication will be made including local authority and Scottish Parliamentary Constituency breakdowns.

Since financial year 2013-14, Community Broadband Scotland has allocated £3,703,000 of Scottish Government funding towards payment of grants. Of that total, £3,553,946 has been issued, leaving Community Broadband Scotland with an underspend of £149,054. The breakdown per year is as follows: