Chamber and committees

The first Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) electric trains entered service in December 2017. The new class 385 electric trains which will enter service in 2018 will enable the operation of seven and eight carriage length trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow offering a substantial increase in passenger capacity and comfort for travellers on the Edinburgh - Glasgow via Falkirk High route. Analysis undertaken as part of the EGIP business case published in January 2014 indicates that the new longer electric trains will meet passenger demand well into the next decade.

The new class 385 units will be subject to stringent contractual reliability targets which will ensure that the new electric trains will offer significantly improved reliability over existing diesel services.

Over the past 40 years EU law has become woven into the fabric of UK and Scots law including the development of disability legislation. Legislating to protect the right of disabled people is generally a reserved matter which is the responsibility of the UK Government. Where we have powers to act, protecting the rights of everyone in Scotland is a key priority for this Government and protecting any of those hard won rights from being eroded by the impact of Brexit is something we will work very hard to ensure.

All Scottish Government communications and content are written in Plain English and designed with the audience and accessibility in mind. We aim to adhere to W3C accessibility standards for online content and can offer a range of alternative formats which include Audio; Braille; Easy Read; Large Print and British Sign Language. Digital publications can be viewed online, downloaded or listened to on mobile devices and are compliant with assistive technologies. The Scottish Government is also working continuously to make its digital content as accessible and usable as possible for all abilities and disabilities. This includes older audiences and those with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments.

The Scottish Government’s publishing contractor is required to monitor and regulate all work passed to them in terms of accessibility and to challenge those who have not followed the accessibility guidance.

We already have policy in place to protect wild land. Both Scottish Planning Policy and National Planning Framework 3 give significant protection to wild land areas. The Planning Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 4 December 2017 and there are no plans to include statutory protection for wild land areas.

The following table contains the figures for Offences involving tobacco and persons under 18.

Offences involving tobacco and persons under 18, 2011-12 to 2016-17.

This covers the following sections of the legislation:

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S4(1) - Sale of tobacco products to persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S5(1) - Purchase of tobacco products by persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S6(1) - Purchase of tobacco products on behalf of persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S7(1) - Confiscation of tobacco products from persons under 18

Due to the way crimes are recorded by police we are unable to break this figure down any further.

The number of people prosecuted and convicted in Scotland under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6 (Purchase of tobacco products on behalf of persons under 18) is shown in the following table.

Number of people proceeded and convicted under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6(1)¹, 2011-12 to 2015-16.

1 - where main crime/offence

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings Database.

The latest available information in our Criminal Proceedings database is for 2015-16. The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6A (Purchase of nicotine vapour products on behalf of persons under 18) was introduced on 1/4/2017. This information will not be included until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2017-18 in early 2019.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics

As an enforcement tool Local authorities have a power to issue fixed penalty notices in the first instance in relation to breaches of the legislation.

The 2017 Programme for Government indicated that, through the Scottish Growth Scheme, we would expand the SME Holding Fund by £25 million and that, alongside additional private sector investment, we expected this to provide over £100 million to innovative, high-growth companies. To date, this funding has resulted in investment of £10 million in 12 companies across a range of sectors such as software development, textiles, energy, multimedia, fintech and healthcare.

We intend to issue a consultation early next year on potential changes to primary legislation in this area.

We are also committed to making changes where we can in advance of primary legislation to improve how cases under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 are dealt with.

So we have, for example, chaired a working group on Child Welfare Reporters, who provide reports to the court in cases under section 11 of the 1995 Act. More information on the outcomes of that working group is at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/17867/reporters

We have also recommended to the Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council that the court form used to obtain the voice of the child in section 11 cases should be improved. That work is being taken forward. Rules to put a new more child-friendly form in place will be considered at the next meeting of the Family Law Committee on 5 February 2018.

In addition, the Family Law Committee, following a paper by the Scottish Government and research by the Committee, set up a sub-committee to consider case management of family actions. The report of the sub-committee has been published http://www.scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk/committees/family-law-committee/23-october-2017-papers and the Scottish Civil Justice Council has agreed that there will be a consultation on it.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of supporting parents and children through relationship breakdown, particularly given the impact that divorce and separation can have on children. That is why we are providing around £2 million a year through our Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund to organisations which provide relationship support, including Relationships Scotland and The Spark.

We have also funded Relationships Scotland to develop a ‘Parenting Apart’ service, with the specific aim of helping separating or separated parents support their children through what can be a difficult time; and we continue to support ParentLine Scotland, which provides advice and information to parents and families on a range of issues, including issues relating to the break-up of relationships.

We are proposing to launch a consultation early next year on part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. This consultation will seek views on any changes which are needed to the law, and associated procedures, when there is a dispute between separated parents on matters such as contact.

A Public Consultation entitled "Improving Parking in Scotland" was launched on 31 March and closed on 30 June to the general public and 31 August to local authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships.

We are currently analysing 661 responses to the consultation, which will inform our policy on how best to manage and enforce parking in Scotland. The findings will also assist in the development of provisions for the Scottish Government's Miscellaneous Transport Bill which is due to be introduced in year 2 of this Parliamentary session.