Chamber and committees

The UK Government has recently revised its position on EU funding guarantees to cover in full the payment of all EU funding contracts for SRDP projects that are entered into before the UK proposes to leave the EU. The guarantee covers all payments for CAP Pillar 2 (SRDP) schemes, where LEADER sits, amongst others. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution has confirmed that these guarantees will be passed on in full to Scottish stakeholders to provide stability and certainty for the rural economy.

The UK Government’s position on EU Funding Guarantees demonstrates in the starkest possible terms that there are absolutely no guarantees or clarity on what will replace current European Union funding streams after the date that the UK proposes to leave the EU.

No. Should the UK Government take the decision not to opt in to Regulation (EU) 2016/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the UK's membership of Europol would cease from 1 May 2017. At that point Police Scotland would no longer be able to benefit from the significant support and resources available through Europol membership which could impact on ongoing live operations.

The UK Government has recently revised its position on EU funding guarantees to cover, in full, the payment of all EU funding contracts for structural funds projects that are entered into before the date that the UK proposes to leave the EU. The Scottish Government has confirmed that these guarantees will be passed on in full to Scottish stakeholders to provide stability and certainty for the Scottish economy.

The Scottish Government will negotiate with the UK Government to ensure that future financial support for the economic development, skills, low carbon, digital and poverty initiatives currently supported by structural funds is allocated on a fair and equitable basis across the UK post Brexit. We will work closely with the local authorities, enterprise and skills agencies, digital partners and the third sector to shape future measures taken to help grow the economy and support individuals and communities.

The Scottish Government has devolved responsibility for fisheries management and will continue to do so in the event that we leave the European Union. We will continue to work closely with the fishing industry and other stakeholders to ensure that resources are harvested sustainably and that the fishing industry and associated communities are able to thrive in the long-term.

Under the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) the principle of equal access is applied, whereby all vessels registered in the EU fishing fleet register have equal access to all EU waters managed under the CFP. There are some exceptions to this, predominantly that national waters out to 12 nautical miles can be limited to vessels from that country, and those with pre-existing historical rights. Currently there 12 non Scottish nations who fish in Scottish waters, being Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Faroes, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Polish, Belgium, Ireland, and other UK (Northern Irish, Welsh, English and Isle of Man)

As the member is aware, following recent media coverage, National Minimum Wage is not currently being paid to the crew on freighters operating the freight service to and from the Northern Isles. These freighters are leased, with crew, from Seatruck to the operator of the Northern Isles Ferry Service, Serco Northlink Ferries.

Employment law is a reserved matter and the European Commission has confirmed that any requirement on contractors, as part of a public procurement process or public contract, to pay their employees a living wage set at a higher rate than the UK’s National Minimum Wage, is unlikely to be compatible with EU law.

I find the current situation unacceptable and have sought further legal advice on the issue. I have also again written to the UK Government, as my predecessor, Keith Brown MSP did in 2014, seeking their intervention in what is a reserved matter given National Minimum Wage legislation.

I have also arranged for a meeting with Seatruck’s CEO tomorrow morning to discuss the matter further.

Crew directly employed by David MacBrayne Ltd, Serco NorthLink Ferries Ltd and Marine Scotland are paid above the National Minimum Wage. I can confirm that David MacBrayne Ltd are a Living Wage employer.

The Scottish Ministers are currently considering all available options to promote fair work practices, including collective bargaining and payment of the National Minimum Wage and, where possible, the Scottish Living Wage in their contracts.

The information requested is contained in the tables specified within the following statistical publications:

Fire and Rescue Service Fire Safety and Organisational Statistics, Scotland, (table 7) for 2013-14 which is available on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/02/9404/21; and, Fire Safety and Organisational Statistics, Scotland, for both 2014-15 and 2015-16 which are available on the website of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at: www.firescotland.gov.uk. Specifically the information requested can be found at table 3 in both documents on page 26 and page 28 respectively.

The following table lists the numbers and percentages of superfast (24Mbps+) coverage per constituency in relation to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband roll-out, as of the end of Q1 2016-17. Information regarding the number and percentage of premises receiving 5mbps and 10mbps is not recorded by the Scottish Government. Likewise, the Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of premises connected through commercial deployment of superfast broadband and, as such, cannot provide those figures. The percentage coverage figure provided in the following table assumes that commercial rollout is completed on time and in line with plans submitted to the Scottish Government through the Open Market Review conducted in 2012. It also assumes that all commercial coverage will be capable of delivering superfast speeds. The Scottish Government plans to launch an Open Market Review, ahead of new procurement activity next year, to determine (a) what has been delivered commercially and (b) what will be delivered commercially over the next 3 years. This will require suppliers to provide speed information at premise level. We will use this information to define a new intervention area for future public investment in broadband.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have advised that in 2015-16, which covered the first two months of the TTF there has been a committed spend of £6,133 for individual applications to the fund in early stages following its establishment. In 2016-17, following the establishment of the dedicated website there has been a marked increase in take-up and it is estimated that there has been a total of £1,185,624 in total cash payments delivered to the 28 September 2016, with a further estimated committed spend of £2 million.

The Transition Training Fund was announced as a £12 million fund available over three years. This clearly shows that we are on course to delivering on our commitment to fully utilise the fund in its first year of delivery.

It is not possible to state definitely which premises do not have access to broadband. The answer is dependent upon the commercial deployment of broadband, which the Scottish Government does not hold information on.

The 2016 Ofcom Communications Market Report estimated Scotland's broadband coverage to be 99.86% of all homes and businesses.