Chamber and committees

Premises served by Exchange Only (EO) lines require considerably more complex engineering work in order to deliver fibre broadband to them. Despite this, the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme has connected a significant number of premises served by EO lines.

Latest figures show that over 780,000 premises have been connected through the DSSB programme. Of these, over 267,000 of these premises were Exchange Only (EO) lines that are now fibre enabled.

Despite telecoms being reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government has committed to build on the success of our initial investment and ensure that every premise in Scotland, including those served by EO lines, can access superfast broadband by 2021. This is the only commitment of its kind in the UK and demonstrates the extent of our ambition in this area.

Exchange Only (EO) lines are not excluded from the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme. Over 267,000 premises previously served by EO lines can now access fibre broadband as a result of our DSSB investment, with further connections to follow.

The Scottish Government has given a commitment to examining the case for an extension of the Borders Railway, along with potential improvements to the A1, A7 and A68. This work is currently being taken forward by Transport Scotland through the Borders Transport Corridors – Pre-Appraisal study. This study will provide a sound evidence base to be taken forward for further assessment within the Strategic Transport Projects Review which will be delivered during the lifetime of this Parliament.

Our education system, and employability and training opportunities such as Individual Training Accounts, Modern Apprenticeships and the Scottish Union Learning Fund, aim to ensure that all of our people are equipped with the skills to contribute to our economy.

We invest £1.6 billion a year in Scotland's further and higher education sectors to support skills development. The Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland along with Scottish Enterprise develop Regional Skills Assessments to provide a single, agreed evidence base on which to base future investment in skills.

As part of the Scottish Government commitment to expand Scottish Apprenticeships, we are increasing the number of Graduate Level Apprenticeships (GLAs) available. GLAs are developed through employer engagement with the higher education sector and offer an opportunity for employees to work and achieve a degree level qualification at the same time.

The Scottish Government allocates funding to Creative Scotland’s Production Growth Fund which incentivises productions to base themselves in Scotland and requires them to spend at least six times any grant received here, encouraging them to use Scottish facilities and crew. Recent projects to receive awards, shot in part in the south of Scotland, include Keepers, Churchill and Calibre. Creative Scotland's Screen Commission actively promote all areas of Scotland as filming locations.

In the Programme for Government we made a commitment to double investment for film and TV to £20m next year, to continue support for Gaelic TV production through MG Alba, and to create a dedicated Screen Unit to encourage further growth in the film and TV sector. We have also given financial support to the National Film and Television School’s plans to establish a base in Scotland.

We have also consistently argued for the BBC and other broadcasters to increase their support for the creative industries, most recently in our responses to consultations on the BBC and Channel 4 where we urged that these broadcasters are set higher quotas for the amount of network TV programming they make in Scotland.

The Scottish Government welcomes all discussion on how to improve conditions for teachers in Scotland, and we will give this report full consideration. We want to create a world-class education system that helps all of our children to succeed, and of course highly skilled, motivated and appropriately rewarded teaching professionals are an integral part of that. The Scottish Government has been working with teachers, teacher unions, local authorities and other partners to address concerns around workload levels, and this will continue to be a key theme of our education reforms as we take forward our governance review.

The Cloich wind farm consent issued on 8 July 2016 is subject to conditions. Condition 5 Implementation in accordance with approved plans and requirements of this consent states:

"Except as otherwise required by the terms of this consent and deemed planning permission, the Development shall be undertaken in accordance with the Application including the approved drawings listed at Note 1 at the end of the conditions (as supplemented or amended by any further or additional environmental information) and other documentation lodged in support of the application."

Reason: to ensure that the Development is carried out in accordance with the approved details

The decision letter for Cloich can be viewed at: www.energyconsents.scot

Should the developer seek to vary the consent which has been issued, the proposed amendment will be subject to a separate application to the Scottish Ministers, and full assessment of environmental effects and public consultation will be undertaken before any decision is taken on whether to authorise the amendment.

The Scottish Government welcomes the new partnership between Scottish Borders Council and the University of Highlands and Islands (UHI). We are currently supporting the development of a series of new routes to teaching in Scotland and would be happy to consider ways in which this approach, and others like it, can be further supported.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of actions through Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action. This includes improved substance misuse education in schools through Curriculum for Excellence and improved identification of, and support for, children affected by parental substance misuse. Good practice guidance has been developed for practitioners and commissioners based on the literature review ‘What works in drug education and prevention’ (Scottish Government, 2016).

The Scottish Government provides support for diversionary activities for young people and guidance for parents and carers about young people and alcohol. Since 2008 we have committed £92 million to CashBack and other community initiatives, funding community activities and facilities largely, but not exclusively, for young people. The independent evaluation report published on 10 June 2014 showed how CashBack is changing individual young people’s lives for the better and that significant impact is being made on participation, diversion, and progression pathways; and engagement outcomes for young people and communities across Scotland. This positive impact was further evidenced within the Research Scotland evaluation of the first year of Phase 3 (2014-15) published in February 2016. Our full phase 3 (2014-15 – 2016-17) is due to be published in October. The impact of the programme is highlighted on our website http://cashbackforcommunities.org/regions/ and the Scottish Government site http://sh45inta/Topics/Justice/policies/community-engagement/cashback/Evaluation.

In addition the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 imposed a mandatory condition onto licences to have an age verification policy (Challenge 25) to make it harder for under-age drinkers to gain access to alcohol and the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 has made it an offence from 15 May 2017 to give or make available alcohol to children or young people for consumption in a public place, helping the Police to address the scourge of drinking dens.

The most recent Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) was published in October 2016 and analyses drinking behaviour in
13 and 15 year olds. It shows that the proportion of pupils who have ever had an alcoholic drink is at its lowest figure for both age groups since the survey began in 1990 (28% of 13 year olds and 66% of 15 year olds). The survey shows that the proportion of 15 year olds who made successful direct purchases (i.e. from shops, supermarkets, off-licences, pubs, clubs and nightclubs) decreased considerably between 2006 and 2013.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a number of new measures to tackle wildlife crime throughout Scotland. These include working with Police Scotland to implement additional resources for the detection and investigation of wildlife crime and a commitment to increase the maximum penalties for wildlife offences during the current Parliament.

The Police Scotland Lothians and Scottish Borders Division has a dedicated full-time Wildlife Crime Liaison Officer who works closely with local communities to raise awareness, promote best practice and enforce legislation.

All wild birds are protected under law, and it is an offence to kill a wild bird unless under licence. The investigation of suspected wildlife crime incidents is a matter for Police Scotland, who are aware of the reported shooting of a goosander on the River Tweed in August 2017, and have opened an investigation.