Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will liaise with all parties with an interest to ensure that the Regulations to be brought forward provide the best possible support for victims recovered in Scotland. However, consideration of immigration status will remain the responsibility of the UK Government.

Section 9 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 obliges the Scottish Government to ensure support is provided to victims of human trafficking for a minimum specified period, or until there is a conclusive grounds decision, whichever comes first. Section 9 of the Act – which was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament – also permits discretionary support to be provided outwith those parameters, including in cases where a conclusive grounds decision takes place before the specified period ends. The Scottish Government already liaises with service providers to ensure that victims are given the support they need for as long as necessary, including beyond the relevant period should that be necessary, and will continue to do so taking particular account of the needs of individual victims.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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: