Chamber and committees

As set out in my response to question S5W-10128 on 4 August 2017, the Scottish Government has committed to undertaking and publishing a range of impact assessments of Air Departure Tax (ADT).

The Government has already commissioned an independent economic impact assessment of the overall 50% ADT reduction plan. This includes considering the best way to design a robust monitoring and evaluation framework so that this can be put in place for assessing the economic, environmental and social impacts of ADT in the future. The economic assessment will be published in the autumn, no later than when the Government sets out its secondary legislation plans for ADT tax bands and tax rate amounts.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government has committed to undertaking and publishing a range of impact assessments of Air Departure Tax (ADT). These will be published in the autumn, no later than when the Government sets out its secondary legislation plans for ADT tax bands and tax rate amounts.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment is already underway. The Government launched a public consultation on 26 June on the overall 50% ADT reduction plan and the Environmental Report, which outlines the findings of the assessment of the plan against a wide range of environmental topics such as climatic factors, air quality, material assets and biodiversity. Alongside this the Government published an updated greenhouse gas emissions impact assessment of our overall 50% ADT reduction plan. A link to the consultation and assessment is provided below:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/06/6503

https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/estimate-of-the-impact-on-emissions-of-a-reduction-in-air-departure-tax-in-scotland/estimate-of-the-impact-on-emissions-of-a-reduction-in-air-departure-tax-in-scotland/

The final Climate Change Plan will accommodate any projected changes in aviation emissions, as part of a balanced approach to meeting Scotland’s climate targets by driving down overall emissions.

As set out in my response to question S5W-10128 on 4 August 2017, the Scottish Government has committed to publishing a range of impact assessments of Air Departure Tax (ADT).

The Government has already commissioned an independent economic impact assessment of the overall 50% ADT reduction plan. This will include an assessment of the likely impact on passenger demand from a reduction in ADT. The economic assessment will be published in the autumn, no later than when the Government sets out its secondary legislation plans for ADT tax bands and tax rate amounts. In addition to this, the greenhouse gas emissions impact assessment, published by the Scottish Government in 26th June 2017, estimates the potential increase in emissions from increased passenger demand.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As set out in my response to question S5W-10128 on 4 August 2017, the Scottish Government has committed to publishing a range of impact assessments of Air Departure Tax (ADT).

The Government has already commissioned an independent economic assessment of the overall 50% ADT reduction plan. This will include an assessment of the potential supply side responses from the aviation industry to a reduction in ADT. The economic assessment will be published in the autumn, no later than when the Government sets out its secondary legislation plans for ADT tax bands and tax rate amounts.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The number of farm businesses still waiting to receive 2016-2017 CAP basic payments are:

a) Shetland = 82

b) Orkney = 27

c) Highlands = 906

d) Aberdeenshire = 194

 To put this in context:

e) each parliamentary region:

The average available staffed beds in NHS Grampian in each of the past five financial years, is available from the ISD Scotland website. The link to this data is as follows:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Hospital-Care/Publications/2016-10-04/Annual-Trends-in-Available-Beds-by-Health-Board-of-Treatment-and-Hospital-Oct16.xlsx

The Scottish Government’s aim is to deliver improved timescales for 2017 CAP payments. As I have already indicated publicly, the option of a loan scheme for the 2017 Basic Payment scheme forms part of our considerations to achieve this.

We continue to actively promote organic production in Scotland through organic farming conversion and maintenance payments under Scotland’s Rural Development Programme. We are also working closely with key stakeholders to promote and deliver Scotland’s organic action plan: ‘Organic Ambitions’ (2016-2020). Further work is underway to drive demand for organics using public procurement and we continue to support the Scottish Soil Association's Food for Life Programme which aims to increase the amount of organic food and drink in different place settings. In order to address the issue of organic land-loss, we are working with stakeholders to identify barriers to new organic farmers and potential gaps in organic skills provision with a view to offering further support.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the speeds being delivered by commercial suppliers. As such the Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the average speed of broadband in homes in Aberdeenshire.

As commercial delivery of broadband infrastructure does not utilise public funding, the Scottish Government, or any Government body, cannot require broadband suppliers to share information on what has been delivered commercially. If commercial suppliers were required to make such information public this would necessitate a change in legislation. Telecoms legislation is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

Only Ofcom, as UK Telecoms regulator, can require providers to supply information on what has been delivered commercially. Having collated information from suppliers, Ofcom produces the Connected Nations Report which provides information regarding broadband speeds across the country. Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2016 indicated that speeds of 30 Mbps or above were available to 83% of premises in Scotland, with 68% of premises in Aberdeenshire capable of accessing superfast broadband. We continue to engage with Ofcom to better understand their approach to verifying and testing broadband speed information across Scotland.

The Scottish Government does however hold detailed information on the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, into which Scottish Government, alongside our partners, has invested over £400 million. The programme has helped connect 70,724 premises in Aberdeenshire, 58,956 of which are capable of accessing superfast speeds.

With reference to PQs S5W-10143 and S5W-10144 (answered on 27 July 2017), as Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) is a national programme which is being managed through two regional contracts – one covering the Highlands & Islands region, the other covering the rest of Scotland, it is not possible to provide delivery costs at a Parliamentary constituency level.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx