Chamber and committees

More than £400 million has been invested in the DSSB programme, which has provided access to fibre broadband to over 940,000 premises to date - over 100,000 more premises than originally estimated - with over 90% of those premises capable of accessing download speeds of at least 24 Megabits per second (Mbps).

Higher than anticipated take-up of services has resulted in funding being returned to the DSSB contracts across Scotland. 30,000 premises across Scotland have already benefitted from this.

Independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband, states that 65.2% of premises in the Orkney Islands local authority area are now able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps and above. This is an increase from just 11.1% in 2014, when DSSB deployment began, reflecting the underlying failure of the UK-wide market to deliver for Scotland’s islands communities.

Whilst 9,983 premises on the Orkney Islands have already been supported with investment through Scotland’s DSSB programme, the recently announced £3 million for the Highlands & Islands contract will extend coverage even further, with areas such as Holm and Tankerness set to benefit from full fibre connections.

The first meeting of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Islands Forum is scheduled for 15 November 2019; the group will meet monthly thereafter.

The purpose of the forum is to ensure that key considerations for islands and rural communities are integrated into plans for DRS during the pre-laying period and the implementation planning process, including supporting preparation of an Islands Impact Assessment.

Membership is by invitation, with invitations currently being issued. The forum will include representatives of the islands producer, retailer, and hospitality sectors, a local authority, the Scottish Islands Federation, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

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

SPS has currently implemented 5 separate phases of our population management plan. This allows SPS to safely manage a maximum of 8492 people in our prison estate.

Phase 1 was initiated during November 2018 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1400 (additional 413 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Glenochil - extending the operating capacity to 694 (additional 26 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Dumfries - extending the operating capacity to 195 (additional 19 spaces above design capacity);
• HMP Inverness - extending the operating capacity to 120 (additional 27 spaces above design capacity); and
• HMP Perth - extending the operating capacity to 700 (additional 69 spaces above design capacity).

Phase 2 was initiated during December 2018 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1450 (additional 50 spaces);
• HMP Edinburgh - extending the operating capacity to 917 (additional 50 spaces);
• HMP Glenochil - extending their operating capacity to 750 (additional 56 spaces);

Phase 3 was initiated during February 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Kilmarnock - extending the operating capacity to 596 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places.

Phase 4 was initiated during April 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Addiewell – extending the operating capacity to 796 through procurement of an additional 96 prison places

Phase 5 was initiated during May 2019 and was achieved by:

• HMP Barlinnie - extending the operating capacity to 1500 (additional 50 spaces); and
• HMP Low Moss extending the operating capacity to 884 (additional 100 spaces).

The Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct, Mobile Employee Agreement and guidance on the use of Social Media Tools are made available to employees and users of the Scottish Government computer services via our corporate web-site, Saltire. There is no issue with extending these guidelines to the Scottish Government's external website ( https://www.gov.scot ) and steps will be taken to ensure these are published as soon as possible.

This information is not held centrally.

The modes of communication used by (a) ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) its officials for business purposes on Scottish Government devices are:

• Fixed Telephone lines
• Mobile Phones (including text messaging and access to SmartPhone Apps)
• Government email is available on a host of centrally-managed devices.
• Video and audio Conferencing (including Skype for Business)
• Social Media channels
• Saltire intranet
• Yammer (enterprise social network)

Some parts of the organisation may use other modes of communication within their local business areas e.g. Marine Scotland use radio communication packages to aid communications between ships and aircraft.

All modes of business communication are monitored in accordance with guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre. There are a number of communications tools that staff can download to mobile devices but which are not provided by the Scottish Government. All users are reminded that such usage remain subject to an acceptable use policy as outlined in our IT Code of Conduct and their use is subject to FOI(S)A 2002 and compliance with our Information Management Principles.

Following the Scottish Information Commissioner’s 2018 intervention, new training packages have recently been compiled for delivery to all business areas within the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government’s FOI Unit has designed these packages with input and approval from the Commissioner’s office and are in the early stages of delivery. Participation in electronic training will be mandatory for all staff, with additional face to face training for designated case handlers. Numbers of staff participating will be monitored.

Previously, training on FoI for Scottish Government staff has been delivered through an e-learning package. There is no collected data on how many staff members have completed the package.

In addition to the training available, the Scottish Government’s intranet provides comprehensive guidance on the handling of information requests and the FoI Unit offer full support at all stages of the process.

The Scottish Government has received around 8,500 Freedom of Information requests over the last three calendar years. The Scottish Government has not recorded how many of the responses to these requests included information originally communicated via specific media platforms, as there is no business or legislative requirement to do so.

The Scottish Government fully recognises that the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 apply to all types of recorded official information, from any source and our guidance to case-handlers is explicit that appropriate searches should be carried out.

The Scottish Government only applies limitations to modes of communication when the security or reputation of the organisation is at risk.

All web, mail and social media usage from the Scottish Government’s network is monitored and protected by our Cyber Security Centre using industry standard tools. The Scottish Government is accredited to Cyber Essentials Plus level.

Officials who use the Scottish Government’s mobile telephony services may install third-party applications for business use, including encrypted messaging apps. There are a number of communications tools that staff can access via the web or download to mobile devices, but which are not provided by the Scottish Government. All users are reminded that any web or mobile apps are subject to an acceptable use policy as outlined in our IT Code of Conduct and their use is subject to FOI(S)A 2002 and compliance with our Information Management Principles.