Chamber and committees

The availability and reliability of broadband by each mode of public transport is summarised in the following table:-

Ben Macpherson MSP, as Minister for Rural Affairs and Natural Environment, met with the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTTNPA) via Microsoft Teams on 17 February 2021. This was a meeting with the Convener (James Stuart) and Chief Executive Officer (Gordon Watson) of the LLTTNPA. The agenda covered; LLTTNPA’s background to strategic priorities, green recovery and the park authority’s future plans.

Arrangements are being put in place to establish the new Council for Economic Transformation, which will shape and drive our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We have already publicly committed to do this within the our first 100 days and we will update with regard to progress, including how it interacts with other advisory groups such as the Council for Economic Advisers, shortly.

The Council of Economic Advisers has met virtually on a number of occasions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members calls with officials took place on 8 June 2020, 1 September 2020 and 11 December 2020. A full meeting was held on 29 October 2020 with the attendance of the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance. A further full meeting of the Council was held on 4 March 2021, with the attendance of the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture. Minutes of these meetings will be published on the Scottish Government website.

Arrangements are being put in place to establish the new Council for Economic Transformation, which will shape and drive our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We have already publicly committed to do this within the our first 100 days and we will update with regard to progress, including how it interacts with other advisory groups such as the Council for Economic Advisers, shortly.

Following an extensive review of how best to deliver support to community networks, it was concluded that – despite helping to deliver a number of successful community projects – Community Broadband Scotland (CBS) was no longer the most viable model. As such, CBS was officially closed down in January 2018, with communities given the option of continuing with their own project with public sector support or being included in the Reaching 100% (R100) programme, with all 15 remaining pipeline communities opting for the latter option.

In total, 18 community projects received grant funding, totalling £2.1 million, through CBS – delivering a total of 1,490 connections. In financial year 2016-17, CBS grants totalled around £313,000. In financial year 2017-18, they totalled around £19,000.

Arrangements are being put in place to establish the new Council for Economic Transformation, which will shape and drive our 10 year National Strategy for Economic Transformation. We have already publicly committed to do this within our first 100 days and we will update with regard to progress shortly.

SMEs and micro businesses are critical to the social, economic and environmental health of Scotland and we are committed to leveraging the full procurement rules to make it as easy possible for SMEs to bid for and win public procurement contracts and/or participate in local supply chains:

• Scotland outperforms the UK Gov target of 33% central government procurement spend going with SMEs by 2022. Even without target setting, in Scotland, 47% of public procurement spend in 2018-2019 went to SMEs; exceeding UKG( 26%), EU average (45%) and US(30%).
• last year, 58% of procurement spend on Scottish businesses went to SMEs, which account for only 40% of business turnover in Scotland, showing that SMEs are able to take advantage of the significant benefits that exist in relation to engaging with public procurement in Scotland.
• In 2019-20, over 26,000 suppliers were awarded public sector contracts worth £6.9bn through our Public Contracts Scotland portal; our data shows that 79% of suppliers awarded contracts in Scotland were SMEs from all locations and 63% were Scottish SMEs.
• We continue to provide funding (up to £150,000 in 2021-22) to the Supplier Development Programme which delivers free training and guidance on how to submit and win public procurement bids. During FY 2020-21, over 2,400 Scottish SMEs attended training events with 93% stating they were more likely to bid for public sector contracts as a direct result.
• The Supplier Development Programme also delivers free local and national Meet the Buyer events to put suppliers in touch with public sector buyers to learn more about up and coming contracts
• In March 2021, we published the results of a comprehensive survey of suppliers which received over 1550 responses. Its findings indicate that there is much to be positive about in respect of Scottish public sector procurement and the recent work done to improve it. At the same time it found that there are clearly areas in which the Scottish public sector could do more to build on the steps already taken to maximise the impact of public procurement in Scotland.
• This year we have also launched a series of SME round table meetings to hear directly from SME suppliers about their experiences of bidding for and winning public contracts.
• Of the [1] £369 million that Scottish Government spent through its contracts, over £120 million went directly to SMEs, with many more SMEs benefiting through our supply chains; they shared over £40 million of spend as subcontractors, with £30 million of that going to Scottish SMEs.

[1] Scottish Government Procurement Annual Report 2020

Sentencing decisions are for the independent courts in each case based on the circumstances before them. Courts can already impose electronic monitoring for a range of offences where they deem it appropriate. Sentences such as a Restriction of Liberty Order include an electronically monitored curfew and can include exclusion zones around an address which can also be monitored electronically.

Electronic monitoring can also be a feature of post-release sentence management as a condition of licence. The Parole Board have the ability to recommend licence conditions which can include being electronically monitored at or away from a particular location.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. On 30 May 2021, Police Scotland published an article on 'assaults on police linked to coronavirus', which may provide the information requested. A link to this article is as follows: https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2021/may/over-1-000-assaults-on-police-linked-to-coronavirus-1/

It is unacceptable that Scotland’s police officers and staff should be attacked or abused while going about their daily duty and we fully support the actions that Police Scotland and the Chief Constable are taking to protect police officers and staff from assaults and their impact.

Scotland’s justice system has extensive powers to deal with perpetrators, through statutes such as the Emergency Services (Scotland) Act 2005 and section 90 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. For more serious attacks, the Crown may prosecute cases under common law offences such as assault, with potential penalties of up to life imprisonment.

A Scottish Government official last met with the Institute of Aquaculture on 2 February 2021 when they attended a meeting of the Aquaculture Research Collaborative Hub (ARCH-UK) at which institute representatives are co-leaders. Discussion related to research which had been undertaken and proposed continuation of the ARCH-UK initiative. An official last met with the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre on 9 June 2021 at a Women in Scottish Aquaculture (WISA) meeting where a digital platform to promote women in aquaculture was presented.