Chamber and committees

More than £400 million has been invested in the DSSB programme, which has provided access to fibre broadband to over 940,000 premises to date - over 100,000 more premises than originally estimated - with over 90% of those premises capable of accessing download speeds of at least 24 Megabits per second (Mbps).

Higher than anticipated take-up of services has resulted in funding being returned to the DSSB contracts across Scotland - including the recently announced £3 million for the Highlands & Islands contract - extending coverage even further.

As this is a national programme, it is not possible to provide a geographic breakdown of funding. However, to date, 9,983 premises on the Orkney Islands have been supported, and areas such as Holm and Tankerness will benefit from this additional investment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26135 on 13 November 2019. 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 .

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

There have been no transfers made directly from prisons in Scotland to Rampton Hospital in each of the last 10 years.

However in the last 10 years SPS has worked in partnership with NHS and HMPPS to manage the transfer of two women in our care to a high secure hospital in England; one in 2011 and one in 2014.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS does not record the number of hours that people in our care spend in their cells.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26135 on 13 November 2019. 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 deployment of Scottish police officers to other UK police forces, on Mutual Aid, is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. The police force requesting Mutual Aid pays the supplying force on a cost recovery basis and Police Scotland utilise the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) "Guidelines on Charging for Police Services: Mutual Aid Cost Recovery" (link below) when working with other forces to agree funding for Mutual Aid deployments.

https://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/PoliceCertificates/NPCC%20Guidelines%20on%20Charging%20for%20PS_MA%20April_2019.pdf .

The first meeting of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Islands Forum is scheduled for 15 November 2019; the group will meet monthly thereafter.

The purpose of the forum is to ensure that key considerations for islands and rural communities are integrated into plans for DRS during the pre-laying period and the implementation planning process, including supporting preparation of an Islands Impact Assessment.

Membership is by invitation, with invitations currently being issued. The forum will include representatives of the islands producer, retailer, and hospitality sectors, a local authority, the Scottish Islands Federation, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

More than £400 million has been invested in the DSSB programme, which has provided access to fibre broadband to over 940,000 premises to date - over 100,000 more premises than originally estimated - with over 90% of those premises capable of accessing download speeds of at least 24 Megabits per second (Mbps).

Higher than anticipated take-up of services has resulted in funding being returned to the DSSB contracts across Scotland. 30,000 premises across Scotland have already benefitted from this.

Independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband, states that 65.2% of premises in the Orkney Islands local authority area are now able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps and above. This is an increase from just 11.1% in 2014, when DSSB deployment began, reflecting the underlying failure of the UK-wide market to deliver for Scotland’s islands communities.

Whilst 9,983 premises on the Orkney Islands have already been supported with investment through Scotland’s DSSB programme, the recently announced £3 million for the Highlands & Islands contract will extend coverage even further, with areas such as Holm and Tankerness set to benefit from full fibre connections.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS has currently implemented 5 separate phases of our population management plan. This allows SPS to safely manage a maximum of 8492 people in our prison estate.

Phase 1 was initiated during November 2018 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1400 (additional 413 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Glenochil - extending the operating capacity to 694 (additional 26 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Dumfries - extending the operating capacity to 195 (additional 19 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Inverness - extending the operating capacity to 120 (additional 27 spaces above design capacity); and
• HMP Perth - extending the operating capacity to 700 (additional 69 spaces above design capacity).

Phase 2 was initiated during December 2018 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1450 (additional 50 spaces);
• HMP Edinburgh - extending the operating capacity to 917 (additional 50 spaces);
• HMP Glenochil - extending their operating capacity to 750 (additional 56 spaces);

Phase 3 was initiated during February 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Kilmarnock - extending the operating capacity to 596 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places.

Phase 4 was initiated during April 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Addiewell – extending the operating capacity to 796 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places

Phase 5 was initiated during May 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1500 (additional 50 spaces); and
• HMP Low Moss extending the operating capacity to 884 (additional 100 spaces).

The Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct, Mobile Employee Agreement and guidance on the use of Social Media Tools are made available to employees and users of the Scottish Government computer services via our corporate web-site, Saltire. There is no issue with extending these guidelines to the Scottish Government's external website ( https://www.gov.scot ) and steps will be taken to ensure these are published as soon as possible.