Chamber and committees

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

The contract contains a number of performance measures which capture instances of failure by the escort contractor. Due to the requirements of the contract, data is not captured which allows a specific response to both areas in question. The following tables show the data insofar as it can be gathered.

Delays to Court

The following table shows instances where a late arrival at court delayed proceedings. No data is held in relation to where any proceedings may have been cancelled.

Delays to hospital Appointments

A hospital appointment is part of the non-core service delivery and the data is for all types of non-core services. These numbers relate to non-core events which resulted in: cancellation of the event/appointment; the person not appearing or participating in the event/appointment or the event/appointment being delayed awaiting the individual’s arrival.

The total number of movements within the contract for the period referred to in this question were 610,628 therefore delays to court proceedings and hospital appointments equate to 0.07% of the overall contract movements.

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

The following table shows the average length of time from leaving the establishment to arriving at court. There is no data available for the duration of non-core service journeys from establishments.

The minimum speed of broadband that will be available by 2021 will be determined following procurement of contracts relating to delivery of the 100% superfast broadband commitment.

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

The following table shows the number of complaints made in the past year. The total figure for each month include complaints from service users as well as public sector partners to the contract.

The total number of movements within the contract for the period referred to in this question were 158,049 therefore complaints regarding the contract for court custody and prisoner escort services in Scotland equate to 0.30% of the overall contract movements.

I welcome the report from the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change which we commissioned in 2015.

The Government will consider the Sub-Committee's advice and recommendations for inclusion in our next Climate Change Adaptation Annual Progress Report, due in May 2017. Further recommendations will be taken into account in drafting the second Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, due for publication in 2019.

We will consider the areas highlighted in the report which recommend the need for further data on progress and work with stakeholders such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Planning Authorities, Scottish Natural Heritage, National Health Service, Health Protection Scotland, Scottish business representatives and Scottish Water to improve these datasets.

The next Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, due in 2019, will take into account the recommendation to 'introduce an effective monitoring and evaluation regime, to allow the impact of actions and delivery of each objective to be fully assessed'. This work will be undertaken by Scottish Government in collaboration with a range of relevant stakeholders including ClimateXChange - Scotland's centre of climate change science expertise.

The Scottish Government has set out a greater level of ambition than that of the UK Government by committing to extending superfast broadband access to 100% of premises across Scotland by 2021. This far surpasses the 10Mbps solution proposed by the UK Government through the Universal Service Obligation.

The Scottish Government is committed to extending superfast broadband access to 100 per cent of premises across Scotland by 2021.

Beyond this, we are working with Scottish Futures Trust to develop our World Class Digital Infrastructure programme. This is looking beyond immediate coverage priorities and taking a longer term view, with the aim of ensuring that Scotland has the underlying infrastructure that can support the future evolution of digital technologies – whether from superfast to ultrafast networks, or from 4G to 5G. This work is identifying key infrastructure requirements, assessing commercial models and determining how the public sector most effectively stimulate commercial investment and activity in these areas.

The Scottish Government has responded to both the UK Government and Ofcom consultations regarding the introduction of a proposed broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). In addition letters have been written to the UK Government and Ofcom, urging them to establish a Working Group involving the Devolved Administration to oversee the design of the proposed USO for broadband. I also recently met with Sharon White, Chief Executive of Ofcom, at which the broadband USO was discussed.

The potential impact of the UK Government’s Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband cannot be fully assessed until there is greater clarity on how it will be delivered across the UK. Ofcom is expected to publish its initial findings by December 2016. We have proposed to the UK Government and Ofcom that, in advance of this, they establish a Working Group involving the Scottish Government and other Devolved Administrations, to explore these issues and ensure alignment.

If designed effectively, the USO could help ensure that every part of the UK has an underlying fibre infrastructure that supports a range of technologies capable of delivering a 10Mbps service initially; but one that is dynamic and future-proofed, keeping pace as technology and service capabilities grow. As such, if designed in this way the USO could usefully support our plans to extend superfast access to 100% of premises.