Seòmar agus comataidhean

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Criathragan Hide all filters

Displaying 2367 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-02888

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how many breaks in broadband service provision lasting (a) more than and (b) up to one hour there have been in each of the last 12 months in each Scottish Parliamentary (i) constituency and (ii) region, and what information it has regarding how many were due to (A) technical reasons and (B) over-subscription.

Question reference: S5W-02887

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with broadband providers in the last year regarding the speeds that they offer customers.

The Scottish Government has regular dialogue with broadband providers on a range of issues, including speeds. I most recently met with BT on 6 September 2016 at which broadband speed issues were discussed. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has a key role in overseeing the quality of service, and speeds, delivered by broadband providers. I recently met Sharon White, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, where broadband speeds, and wider quality of service issues, were discussed.

Question reference: S5W-02881

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking through its Better Broadband Scheme to increase the take-up of standard broadband services; how much of the funding that it allocated to the scheme (a) has been spent and (b) remains unspent, and how many applications to it (i) have been approved, broken down by amount awarded to each applicant, (ii) have been rejected, broken down by the reason, and (iii) are pending a decision.

The Better Broadband Scheme is a UK Government initiative. Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds the scheme; sets the eligibility criteria for vouchers; and approves suppliers to be part of the voucher scheme. All financial transactions are undertaken by BDUK. The Scottish Government’s role is to process applications in Scotland, assess these against BDUK’s eligibility criteria, and issue voucher codes. The Scottish Government has not allocated any funding to the scheme and is not sighted on how much funding remains available. The UK Government has not allocated a specific amount of funding to Scotland.

To date, the Scottish Government has approved 169 voucher applications. These vouchers do not have a specific fixed value but are capped at £350. As financial transactions are undertaken by BDUK, we are unable to confirm the amounts ultimately awarded to each applicant.

The Scottish Government has deemed 40 applications ineligible as these did not meet the criteria set by BDUK. Detailed reasons are set out in the following table:

Already has Satellite	5
Already connected to fibre	5
Part of CBS project	12
Scheduled to receive Fibre within next 6-12 months	9
Can obtain speeds in excess of 2Mbps	9

35 applications are currently pending a decision.

Question reference: S5W-02902

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of how it will fund the additional £42 million likely to be necessary to extend broadband that is referred to at page 12 of the August 2016 Audit Scotland Report, Superfast broadband for Scotland: A progress update.

Question reference: S5W-02886

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 4 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £20 million advance paid by HIE to BT that is referred to at page 10 of the August 2016 Audit Scotland Report, Superfast broadband for Scotland: A progress update, was spent; for what reason this advance was paid; whether payment of such advances is normal practice, and what (a) its position is on whether this was in line with and (b) action it took to ensure that this did not breach EU state aid rules.

The £20 million advance payment was made to enable the delivery of the substantial subsea backhaul deployment as part of the Highlands and Islands Digital Scotland contract. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) liaised with the Scottish and UK Governments at that time to confirm that the payment was in line with relevant procurement and State Aid rules. The payment was held in a separate account by BT and the funds were drawn down following evidence of eligible expenditure. The interest earned on the funds, which totalled £606,000, was returned to HIE when the £20 million had been drawn down in full. These funds will be used to extend coverage across the region.

Question reference: S5W-02909

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 October 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will carry out its commitment in the 2016-17 Programme for Government that it will "equip all of its citizens with all of the skills necessary to gain the full benefits of broadband provisions".

Extending Digital Participation is an on-going programme that is innovative and responsive to advances in technology. It embraces a cradle to grave approach and offers choice to citizens, delivering options from basic digital skills through to employer recognised qualifications.

Those who would benefit the most from being online are often those who are the more vulnerable in society. We have formed a unique partnership with Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. An umbrella organisation for charities which already hold a trusted position within their communities to deliver bespoke digital inclusion projects. In addition we work with Housing Associations and other social landlords providing support to help their tenants to gain or improve their digital skills.

Libraries are also valued delivery partners with an important part to play in increasing the levels and quality of digital participation in Scotland. A network of Digital Champions from each of the local authorities help support the investment in training and growing skills within staff and the public.

Our partnership with Scottish Union Learning is increasing skills within the workplace and our support for extracurricular coding clubs encourages young people to increase their digital skills and improve employability.

Question reference: S5W-02895

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the copper connections used by BT are adequate for the roll-out of superfast broadband.

The Scottish Government continues to press BT to ensure that broadband speeds delivered over copper connections are maximised. BT is currently testing new technologies aimed at maximising broadband performance over copper, including a Long Reach VDSL trial on the Isle of Lewis. If successful, this should improve speeds across rural Scotland.

Any premise unable to receive superfast broadband speeds following the completion of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme, and not part of commercial deployment plans, will be eligible for future phases of public investment to extend superfast access.

Question reference: S5W-02894

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what level of simultaneous use would cause an appreciable break or slowdown in broadband service.

Question reference: S5W-02880

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the HIE provision of satellite broadband that is referred to at page 10 of the August 2016 Audit Scotland Report, Superfast broadband for Scotland: A progress update.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) initially allocated £300,000 from its contractual innovation fund to support the delivery of vouchers provided as part of the National Satellite Broadband Scheme. Around £50,000 was utilised. This scheme has since been replaced by the UK Government’s Better Broadband Scheme and is now wholly funded by the UK Government. The balance of HIE’s original funding allocation for satellite has since been reallocated back to the innovation fund, and will be used to extend coverage across the region.

Question reference: S5W-02879

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 16 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 30 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the shortfall in European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) support that is referred to at page 10 of the August 2016 Audit Scotland Report, Superfast broadband for Scotland: A progress update.

The Scottish Government’s original application for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) resources sought £20.5 million for the Rest of Scotland Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project. The Scottish Government subsequently reduced the funding sought from the ERDF programme in light of revised criteria for calculating eligible capital expenditure. £12 million was subsequently drawn down.