Chamber and committees

ScotRail has paid a total of £832,271 in compensation to passengers since April 2015 (full details shown in the following table). The Scottish Government does not hold information about how much would have been paid if every passenger who was eligible for compensation had applied.

Discussions to increase overall cycle capacity from 10 are nearing conclusion. This represents an increase of 500% more bookable space between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Inverness. We will continue to work closely with ScotRail, and cycling organisations to explore opportunities to increase cycle provision on HST’s while considering the needs of other passengers.

Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with Abellio ScotRail to discuss progress on all rolling stock commitments contained within the Franchise Agreement.

The programme of overhaul and refurbishment for the Abellio ScotRail high speed trains (HST) will commence later this year.

Although responsibility for the delivery of telecommunications networks is currently a reserved matter, the Scottish Government has taken steps to assist with rollout of broadband during housing construction.

From 1 January 2017, amendments to the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 set a standard for in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks. This enables easier installation of fibre at any time (on or after completion) and applies to new homes and other buildings.

We have also discussed this issue with BT Openreach, whom, we understand, now offer to provide fibre to the premises (FTTP) connectivity to developments of 30 properties or more, and have a tariff proposal for smaller housing developments.

For homes delivered under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme the Scottish Government issued guidance to local authorities and registered social landlords advising that wherever possible homes should include ducting to help future-proof access to internet and broadband services.

In new build developments where there is commercial demand for superfast broadband, we would expect that this would be delivered commercially without the need for public funding.

Any premise – residential or business premises alike – that will not have superfast broadband delivered commercially will be in the intervention area for our Reaching 100% programme.

Business births, deaths and survival rates - based on VAT/PAYE registrations and de-registrations - are produced by the Office for National Statistics within their Business Demography publications. Data are not published for parliamentary regions, however data are available by local authority area. Both Tables 2.1(a) and (b) at the link below provide the business deaths by local authority areas, in Scotland, for 2010 to 2015.https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable

Data on the stock of VAT/PAYE registered businesses is available from the Inter-Departmental Business Register - data for the North East Scotland parliamentary region is provided in the following table.

Number of VAT/PAYE registered enterprises, North East parliamentary region, 2012 to 2016

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)

Note:

1. These figures exclude enterprises classified as both central or local government.

2. Figures are as at March each year.

3. The IDBR is maintained by the Office for National Statistics and is a database of all registered enterprises operating in the UK i.e. enterprises that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE.

(i) Agricultural land

The Scottish Government continues to promote and improve the sustainability of agricultural land through the provision of Direct Payments and the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Since 2015, farmers in receipt of CAP direct payments have been required to carry out relevant Greening measures on their land. Introduced by the European Commission to make the direct payments system more environmentally friendly, the Scottish Government has taken an ambitious approach to delivering environmental outcomes through Greening, in order to address a range of environmental challenges, particularly in relation to climate change and biodiversity. The SRDP supports farming and crofting, including on remote and fragile land, agri-environment actions on agricultural land and a Farm Advisory Service which includes advice for farmers on resource efficiency and environmental and climate change actions.

(ii) Wild lands

Scotland’s scenery and landscapes remain the key motivation for visiting Scotland and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with our public and private sector partners to promote our wild lands in order to drive inclusive growth in our visitor economy and to deliver a high-quality, sustainable visitor experience. In 2014 the Scottish Government adopted National Planning Framework 3 and a revised Scottish Planning Policy. They identified areas of wild land, as shown on the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) 2014 Map, as a nationally important asset that requires significant protection from inappropriate development. This policy commitment is underpinned by a broader recognition, as clearly stated in National Planning Framework 3, that our world-class environment is an integral part of our culture, heritage and identity that we will respect and enhance.

SEPA undertook a National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) in 2011 and the resulting Flood Risk Management Strategies were published in December 2015. This gave us for the first time a national picture of the causes and consequences of flooding across Scotland. This is a major step forward in our understanding of flood risk, and will make sure that Scotland is as prepared as we can be, to deal with any future events which may become more frequent with the onset of climate change. Across the Strategies, there are 42 formal Flood Protection Schemes or engineering works proposed for 2016-21

SEPA is now reviewing the NFRA as part of the next cycle of flood risk management planning and will be considering new evidence and information on climate scenarios that have emerged since the last cycle of planning was completed.

In 2007, information on all the existing flood defences in Scotland was compiled as part of the establishment of the Scottish Government’s Flood Defence Asset Database.

The Scottish Government has given a commitment to complete the dualling of the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen by 2030.

At this early stage of development it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the cost of the dualling programme. The current estimated cost for the A96 Dualling Inverness to Aberdeen programme is expected to be similar to that of the A9 Dualling Programme and be in the region of £3 billion.

Design and preparation work on the A96 Dualling is well underway with estimated design and preparation spend in 2017-18 of £16.35m. This includes detailed ground investigation work on the A96 Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) section which is currently on-going and route options assessment work on the western section of the A96 between Hardmuir and Fochabers. We have also this month awarded a further design contract, worth up to £50 million, to carry out route options assessment and detailed design work on the eastern section of the A96 between east of Huntly and Aberdeen.

Allocation of funding in future years will be the subject of future spending reviews.

The Scottish Government has listened carefully to businesses in the North East and targeted additional non-domestic rates relief where it was most needed. On top of our business rates package announced at the Draft Budget, which delivered an overall tax cut of £155 million this year, we listened to businesses and implemented further targeted support where it is most needed worth around £40 million for particular sectors and specifically for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

Over 70% of Scottish properties are paying the same or less in 2017-18 than they did last year, the Scottish Government having cut the poundage by 3.7%, extended the Small Business Bonus Scheme which has saved businesses around £1.3 billion cumulatively since 2008, and focused the Large Business Supplement only on the very biggest businesses, reducing those liable by 8,000. More than half of rateable properties in Scotland are paying no rates this year due to the Small Business Bonus and other reliefs.

The total rates relief package is now worth around £660 million, and councils can apply further reductions to address any local issues, with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils having indicated they will use this power. Local authorities also have a separate power to apply relief in cases where hardship would otherwise occur.

The Government continues to engage business in this respect, and will respond swiftly to the external review of non-domestic rates which is expected to conclude shortly.