Chamber and committees

It is one of our ambitions that disabled people in Scotland should live life to the full in homes built or adapted to enable them to participate as full and equal citizens. A Fairer Scotland - Our Disability Delivery Plan launched in December 2016 sets out a number of housing related commitments that support this ambition.

We are working with local authorities, disabled people, and other stakeholders to ensure that each local authority sets a realistic target within its Local Housing Strategy and other strategic housing plans for the delivery of wheelchair accessible housing across all tenures and reports annually on progress. We will ensure that the grant subsidy arrangements for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme do not prevent specialist housing identified by local authorities as a priority from being built.

The total amount of resources committed to Scottish Development International's High Growth Market Unit since May 2016 is £401,490. This includes all staff and project delivery costs.

The Scottish Government is very supportive of City Deals - cities and their regions are the engines of our economy. SG officials continue to meet and work closely with both Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils to discuss and support their developing proposals and are in discussions with UKG officials about these proposals.

The provision of disabled parking and access requirements within new and existing buildings is delivered through compliance with legislation. Governance arrangements for the range of publicly-funded bodies mandate compliance with legislation.

While the Scottish Government is considering its response to the Taylor Review, the report fails to recognise that Scotland has been ahead of the curve for some time with regards fair work issues, including promoting the Living Wage as the most effective means of tackling in-work poverty, establishing the independent Fair Work Convention, and supporting trade union representation in all workplaces.

The franchise contract commits ScotRail to deliver free Wi-Fi across the train fleet by December 2018. ScotRail have commenced fitment of the equipment on its train fleet and by the end of 2017, around 90% of trains will benefit from Wi-Fi, with the remaining 10% of trains to be fitted by the end of 2018.

Network Rail is continuing to develop the Digital Railways Programme that aims to transform passengers’ experience of the railway, providing improved infrastructure.

Turning to ferries, Wi-Fi connectivity is available at the ports and vessels that serve the Northern Isles Ferry Service (NIFS). The operator of the Northern Isles Ferry Services, Serco Northlink Ferries (SNF) continues to upgrade and improve the Wi-Fi connectivity of the vessels within the fleet – increasing bandwidth and data connection speeds. These improvements will continue during the current contract and in any future contracts.

The CalMac Ferries Wi-Fi and broadband project went live in July 2016. Following the roll-out, Wi-Fi connectivity is available at almost every port and vessel.

CalMac Ferries Wi-Fi will be continually monitored and improvements will be considered.

CalMac has commissioned an independent assessment of the Wi-Fi availability on-board Hebridean crossings.

In relation to Wi-Fi on-board aircraft, it is for each individual airline to consider whether this is a service they will offer to their passengers. As there will be cost implications to the airline of providing access to Wi-Fi in the air, it is for each airline to determine if providing such a service fits within their business model. Although this is not a decision in which the Scottish Government can intervene, I am aware that more and more airlines are now offering Wi-Fi on their flights, be it free or as a charged extra.

The installation of broadband on buses is also a matter for each individual bus operator to consider and fund using their own commercial judgement on the implementation. A number of bus operators across Scotland have already fitted Wi-Fi to their new buses. Similarly, the provision of Wi-Fi on the Edinburgh Trams is a matter for Edinburgh Trams Ltd, however I understand that they offer free Wi-Fi as a complimentary benefit of travel.

The Scottish Government has taken steps to improve access to free Wi-Fi through the Public Wireless Programme (PWP), which awarded around £1 million in grants to Local Authorities to upgrade existing Wi-Fi services and introduce new provision in a range of public buildings from libraries to homeless hostels. As a direct result, 99% of Scottish libraries now offer free public Wi-Fi.

More widely, PWP identified clear appetite across Scotland’s public bodies to maximise wireless opportunities for digital delivery and that significant outcomes can be realised with relatively small levels of capital funding. To maximise the impact of public funding, we have published guidance – aimed at the public sector – that promotes a design-led approach, focussing on the needs of end-users and what strategic outcomes can be realised through deploying Wi-Fi.

Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with Network Rail to discuss the progress of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme which includes the introduction of electric services between Edinburgh and Glasgow from October 2017.

The forecast for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax revenues for 2016-17 and the five-year period thereafter were set out in Table 22 of the Draft Budget 2017-18 Devolved Taxes Methodology Report which can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/12/6669/6

The provisional Land and Buildings Transaction Tax outturn for 2016-17 was
£484 million as set out in the debate following the 2016-17 provisional outturn statement on 22 June 2017. Data for residential and non-residential transactions are available in Table 1 of Revenue Scotland's monthly statistical publication currently covering the period April 2015-May 2017 inclusive which can be found here: https://www.revenue.scot/about-us/publications/statistics. Revenue Scotland will be publishing the full outturn figures for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in the 2016-17 Devolved Taxes Account in September.

For the period 2012-13 to 2014-15 inclusive, the Scottish Government did not raise any revenue from fully devolved taxes though, from April 2015, revenue has been raised from two fully devolved taxes, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Scottish Landfill Tax.

The amount raised from the two fully devolved taxes in 2015-16 was £572 million as published in Revenue Scotland's 2015-16 Devolved Taxes Account which can be accessed here: https://www.revenue.scot/sites/default/files/Revenue%20Scotland%20-%20Annual%20Report%20-%20Devolved%20taxes%20August%202016%20-%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf

The 2016-17 provisional outturn statement presented to Parliament on 22 June 2017 set out that the provisional amount raised from the fully devolved taxes in 2016-17 was £633 million. Revenue Scotland will be publishing its full outturn figures in the 2016-17 Devolved Taxes Account in September.

Although responsibility for digital connectivity is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government has already taken steps to, and seeks opportunities to, integrate digital rollout into infrastructure planning and development.

Scottish Planning Policy makes clear that advanced, high quality electronic communications infrastructure is an essential component of economic growth across Scotland and that the planning system should support development which helps deliver world-class digital connectivity, whilst National Planning Framework 3 highlights the importance of digital infrastructure, across towns and in cities, and in particular, more remote, rural and island areas.

From 1 January 2017, amendments to the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 set a standard for in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks. This enables easier installation of fibre at any time (on or after completion) and applies to new homes and other buildings.

We are also actively seeking opportunities to facilitate and use digital connectivity on major transport projects, such as the dualling of the A9.