Information is available on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 – which relates to dogs worrying livestock on agricultural land.

A table showing the information requested has been prepared and a copy of this table titled 'Table 1: Offences of Protection of Livestock from Dogs, North Ayrshire, 2007-08 to 2020-21' is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib number 62925).

The Scottish Government has a number of ways to engage with UK Government on trade matters and has championed the interests of Scottish seafood exporters throughout the EU exit and trade negotiations process. That work continues through the Scottish Seafood Industry Action Group.

The issue of delayed or rejected smoked salmon consignments has not been raised with the Scottish Government directly. I wrote to the member on 2 December 2021 to seek further information and to put the affected business(es) in touch with my officials directly.

Through a combination of the £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme and continued commercial coverage, every premises in Scotland will be able to access a superfast broadband connection.

We do not hold data on full fibre coverage across Scotland. However, Ofcom provides this data as part of the interactive report they produce alongside their Connected Nations updates. Their latest published information, including local authority area breakdown, can be found at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/connected-nations-update-summer-2021/interactive-report .

We are aware that, following our successful public awareness campaign, there is significant public interest in carrying out work to comply with the new standard for fire alarms in all Scottish homes. It is, therefore, possible, that some retailers will have short term supply issues. We are also aware that some manufacturers may be affected by difficulties with imported components. However, 90% of the market share is met by manufacturers with a UK base using European components, and they have assured us that there is a sufficient supply of alarms available to meet the expected demand by 1 February 2022, when the new standard comes into force.

However, I would emphasise that when the legislation comes into force, it says that work should be done within a reasonable period, which takes into account individual circumstances. No home owner will be penalised if they are unable to do the work within that timescale.

(a) As per the guidance on Discretionary Housing Payments and the guidance on the GOV.UK webpage, anyone receiving Industrial Injuries Benefit (and equivalent payments made as part of a War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme) are exempt from the benefit cap. Therefore, all local authorities should disregard this payment as income when assessing applications for housing related benefits.

(b) The Council Tax Reduction Regulations instruct that armed forces independence payments should be fully disregarded as income in the calculation of council tax reduction. Therefore, all local authorities should disregard these payments as income in relation to applications for council tax reduction.

The information requested is not held centrally. The data the Scottish Government receive from Police Scotland for the publication of Official Statistics on recorded crime is a simple count of the numbers of crimes and offences, for each local authority, which the police have recorded. This can be broken down by quarter or, since April 2019, by month. Given this, information is not held on crimes recorded for specific weekends. Additionally, as the Scottish Government do not receive further information on the circumstances of individual crimes, it is not possible to identify if an assault is directly related to bonfire night activities. It should also be noted that as Bonfire Night does not always occur on a weekend, reviewing weekend based-activities across years is unlikely to give a like-for-like comparison.

The recent Heat in Buildings Strategy confirmed our intention to consult upon and deliver regulations by 2025 setting minimum energy efficiency standards equivalent to EPC Band C across private housing, where this is technically feasible and cost effective. We have proposed backstop dates for meeting these standards of 2028 for Private Rented Sector housing and 2033 for Owner Occupied housing.

In relation to enforcement, we will be considering a number of options ahead of a detailed consultation on proposals for regulation during summer 2022, in line with the commitment in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

On 30 November we launched a call for evidence for a National Public Energy Agency which may have a role on delivery of our proposed heat and energy efficiency standards. However, this is one of a number of alternatives, and subject to detailed investigation and consideration.

Next year’s consultation will also consider proposals for the ways in which any new energy efficiency standards may dovetail with the housing market and conveyancing processes. Our aim will be to work with the market, and to reduce disruption as much as possible.

The Scottish Government recognises the value Agritourism brings to the Scottish economy and has committed to allow funds of between £50,000 to £80,000 to support a delivery plan for the Agritourism Growth Strategy.

The section of the A1 between Edinburgh and the border with England is a trunk road and therefore responsibility for investment decisions on the route rests with Scottish Ministers. There has been no recent meaningful engagement with the UK Government on their plans for the A1 in England. Furthermore, I would like to refer the member to the previously answered question S6W-02271 on 14 September 2021 on the Scottish Government’s plans for dualling and improving the A1. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of reported incidents that may be homophobic in nature. Data is available on the number of police recorded hate crimes that include an aggravation for sexual orientation, the vast majority of which were found to be for prejudice towards the gay and lesbian community in 2018-19.

The Scottish Government published a study on the characteristics of police recorded Hate Crime in February 2021. The table below shows the number of sexual orientation aggravated hate crimes recorded by Police Scotland from 2014-15 to 2019-20, for (a) North Ayrshire, (b) Inverclyde and (c) Scotland. The number of hate crimes with a sexual orientation aggravation presented below is higher than the figures provided in the aforementioned study. This is because the table also includes hate crimes that have multiple aggravations (one of which is sexual orientation).

The study also looked in more detail at the prejudice shown by perpetrators. In the vast majority (94%) of sexual orientation aggravated hate crimes in 2018-19 the perpetrator showed prejudice towards the gay and lesbian community. In over two-thirds (69%) of crimes the words used or actions taken by the perpetrator showed a prejudice towards the gay community, with a further quarter (25%) showing prejudice towards the lesbian community. In 2018-19, the study showed that 39% of sexual orientation aggravated hate crimes had a Police Officer as a victim. Due to the sampling design, information at local authority level is unable to be calculated.

A second study into the characteristics of police recorded hate crime is due to be published in 2022. This will provide the same type of detailed disaggregated data and information on police recorded hate crimes for the year 2020-21.