Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is working with the fishing industry to implement the landing obligation in the most flexible way and has always said it will work with other EU member states to resolve the difficult issues which we understand fishermen alone cannot fix.

Our Scottish Discards Steering Group, which includes representatives from the fishing industry, non-governmental organisations and active fishermen, meets on 17 March 2016 and will discuss a number of matters, including the proposed extension of the landing obligation in 2017 plus the aims of the international choke species workshop to be held in Edinburgh on 14-15 April 2016 where we hope there will be clarity on what the real biological choke issues are and what the options are for addressing them. Member states and advisory council representatives have been invited to attend and contribute to the choke species workshop.

Our programme of inspections is designed to help safeguard the environment, the public, crop health, animal welfare and meet our obligations for using European Commission money. Scottish Government officials are responsible for inspecting businesses or private property where certain types of animals are kept, both for commercial reasons or as pets. This category of inspection will take place regardless of whether funding has been applied for or not. Further information regarding inspections can be found on line at https://www.ruralpayments.org/publicsite/futures/topics/inspections/

Scottish Government officials record meetings in line with civil service custom and practice, and to comply with the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

ScotRail are obliged under the terms of the franchise agreement to utilise rolling stock to meet passenger demand. Passenger counts on every service are carried out twice annually, usually in advance of timetable changes.

ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with advice regarding the available versus utilised capacity on all Edinburgh to Glasgow services.

Some instances of overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route have been recorded during peak times compared to a similar period in 2014-15. These can largely be attributed to significant disruptive events, notably the closure of Winchburgh tunnel and the closure of the Forth Road Bridge in December 2015.

The majority of Edinburgh to Glasgow trains calling at Croy, Falkirk High, Polmont and Linlithgow will be served by six coaches. All services between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Airdrie and Bathgate will be served by six coaches. ScotRail will, when possible, ensure that the Stirling, Dunblane and Alloa service has the maximum amount of rolling stock allocated.

The ScotRail Alliance has developed a fully coordinated timetable which makes best use of all available rolling stock during the tunnel closure to provide as much additional capacity as possible.

During the tunnel closure the ScotRail Alliance will be using a queuing system at Queen Street station to ensure trains departing from the low level are not full enabling customers at intermediate stations to board.

ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with advice on a four weekly basis on the extent of any under-provision of capacity on Edinburgh to Glasgow services.

Some instances of overcrowding on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route were recorded during the 2014-15 period. These can largely be attributed to significant events such as the closure of Winchburgh tunnel, the Ryder Cup, the Commonwealth Games and the recent closure of the Forth Road Bridge.

Currently the annual-average for the extent of overall under-provision is 1% meaning that 99% of planned seats were actually available. We have no specific concerns that capacity performance will deteriorate further, and will continue to work with ScotRail to further improve performance.

A procurement strategy for phase 2 has not yet been finalised. It is, therefore, too early to determine whether the procurement process will be structured in a way that will allow community broadband groups to tender for projects specific to their area.

Community-led broadband projects will have a role to play in delivering 100% broadband coverage across Scotland. The Scottish Government has committed £16.5 million to Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), which is providing tailored support and funding to communities to enable them to develop sustainable projects. In a number of cases, this has involved the formation of community companies to deliver broadband services. We would encourage any community broadband group interested in this delivery route to make contact with CBS in the first instance.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has the departmental lead within the UK Government for digital connectivity, and the Scottish Government is engaged with DCMS on a number of relevant issues, including mobile coverage. Commercial rollout and existing UK Government policy and regulation is expected to deliver indoor 4G coverage to 95% of premises in Scotland by the end 2017.

To address the coverage gaps that will remain, the Scottish Government is engaging with all UK mobile operators. Also, as confirmed in the answer to question S4W-27311 on 17 September 2015, the Scottish Government is in discussion with the Home Office about the role of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). ESMCP’s core aim is to deliver an appropriate communications network to support the vital work of the emergency services when their existing airwave provision comes to an end. However, without prejudice to that core aim and within the limits of state aid and procurement law, on-going discussions seek to enable the programme to capitalise on opportunities for its new 4G emergency services network to contribute collateral benefit in terms of enhanced coverage more generally.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government is supporting the UK Government’s efforts to secure a new UK-wide state aid scheme for broadband investment. The UK Government published a market engagement document in January 2016 that outlines the approach that has been discussed with the European Commission. This will form the basis of the UK’s notification document. A decision is expected in the coming months.