Chamber and committees

The responsibility for the planning and the delivery of Kintore railway station rests with third party promoters and funders, which includes Aberdeenshire Council and the North East Regional Transport Partnership (Nestrans). The expected completion date is March 2019.

Transport Scotland is currently procuring a design consultant to take forward the next phases of design for the Laurencekirk junction upgrade including route option assessment and the development of preferred junction option, leading to the preparation of draft road Orders. It is expected that the design consultant will be appointed later this summer and work will immediately commence on the next phase of design.

Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence when the scheme is approved under the statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for construction can be determined.

The following table shows how much money has been raised through business rates within the Aberdeen City Council area for each of the previous 5 years. Information is not held at a city centre level.

Note. The figures for 2011-15 represent final audited figures; 2015-16 and 2016-17 are provisional figures.

The following table shows all properties liable for business rates within Aberdeen City Council area for the current year and for each of the previous five years. Information is not held at a city centre level.

Mobile investment to date in Aberdeenshire, and indeed throughout Scotland, has largely been made by commercial suppliers. However the Home Office-led Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme is expected to extend the availability of mobile services in Aberdeenshire. As this is a national programme, it is not possible to break down investment levels on a regional basis. During the course of this parliamentary session we will invest in mobile and broadband services. We have recently agreed an action plan with the operators. Although reserved to Westminster, we are doing everything we can, with the powers and funding available to us, to improve mobile coverage across Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01476 on 1 August 2016. 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 and our partners are delivering a number of national broadband projects that will benefit rural and remote areas.

The £410m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme will extend fibre broadband access to at least 95% of premises in Scotland by the end of 2017. In parallel, Community Broadband Scotland is a £16.5m initiative supporting community-led broadband projects across rural Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to building on the success of these programmes and achieving 100% superfast broadband coverage by 2021.

The importance of digital infrastructure to regional economies is recognised in city deals. Digital infrastructure projects form part of the Aberdeen and the Inverness City Region Deals which were agreed between the Scottish Government, UK Government and regional partners earlier this year. Digital infrastructure investment also forms part of the additional £254 million investment, over and above the City Deal, committed by the Scottish Government to help deliver a more significant step change to the economy of Aberdeen and the north east.

The upgrades to be delivered by the Digital Scotland Superfast Programme will extend access to fibre broadband as widely as possible across Aberdeenshire. The majority of areas within Aberdeenshire will see improved access as a result of our investment.

The Scottish Government is currently working with BT to finalise the coverage footprint to be delivered by the DSSB programme. This will be confirmed later this year, once residual funds within the contract are modelled. At that point, we will confirm which premises are not included in DSSB rollout. These premises will form the basis of our intervention area for new procurement activity aimed at delivering our commitment to extend superfast broadband access to 100% of premises across Scotland by the end of 2021.

Although reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government is committed to doing everything we can, with the powers and funding available to us, to improve mobile coverage for rural and remote areas across Scotland. We recently agreed an action plan with mobile operators, which sets out a range of actions aimed at extending coverage. We are also working with UK Government to maximise the impact of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme, which will deliver a number of new mobile masts across Scotland in the coming years, including in Aberdeenshire.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering 100% superfast broadband access by 2021.

As a first step, we are investing over £410 million alongside our partners in the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme, which will extend access to fibre broadband to at least 95% of premises in Scotland by the end of 2017. At present, 78% of premises in Aberdeenshire are connected to fibre broadband. By the end of 2017 at least 89% of premises in Aberdeenshire will have fibre access, of which 69% will have access to superfast speeds (24Mbps or above). This figure assumes that commercial rollout is completed on time and in line with plans submitted to the Scottish Government. It also assumes that superfast speeds will be delivered to all premises connected commercially.

Community Broadband Scotland is also supporting the development of a number of community-led projects in Aberdeenshire. In total, these projects could deliver a broadband solution to over 2,000 premises.