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Fergus Ewing MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, met with the Chair and Board of Highlands and Island Enterprise on 2 December 2016.

These issues will be considered as part of phase two of the review, and as part of this process we will consider how our aspirations for inclusive growth are best supported.

It is vital that we create a system of consumer protection, competition and regulation in Scotland that is fully aligned with the needs of our citizens and businesses and which improves people's lives. We have newly devolved, although limited, consumer and competition powers and are using these to maximum effect. Since taking on new powers in May our actions have included establishing a Nuisance Calls Commission and developing a coherent overarching strategy for how the Scottish Government supports advice services. Details are in our recently published policy statement Delivering better outcomes for consumers and businesses in Scotland which also includes our future work programme. It can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/12/5688. During the coming months the Scottish Government will examine in detail the best way to deliver our Manifesto commitment on a unified consumer body. We have also published a Consumer Rights page on mygov.scot as part of our activity for National Consumers Week 2016, which can be found at https://www.mygov.scot/consumer-rights/.

The Scottish Government welcomes the advice from the Council of Economic Advisers. A Plan For Scotland: The Scottish Government's Programme For Scotland 2016-17 makes clear that in the year ahead we will continue to raise awareness of the Pledge, and encourage more and more businesses to choose this route to higher productivity and business growth.

The report on Phase 1 of the Scottish Government's Enterprise and Skills Review, which outlined Ministers' decisions to create closer alignment between enterprise and skills support services was published on 25 October.

The Scottish Government believes that everyone in Scotland who can marry or enter into a civil partnership has the right to do so freely and without coercion and the legislation in Scotland is there to ensure choice, safety and protection.

Section 122 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 is providing an additional layer of protection to people who may be affected by forced marriage. There have been no prosecutions under the Act. The 2014 legislation does not replace the Forced Marriage etc (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Scotland) Act 2011 but sits alongside it. The protection provided by and FMPO continues to exist alongside a new criminal offence. This means that a person could choose to take the civil route, or to go to the police (as they can now).

Note that if a person chooses to go to the police, and the police refer the case to COPFS, it will then be for the COPFS to decide whether or not to take any criminal proceedings against those involved in forcing a person into marriage.

The Scottish Government is committed to using its new powers on consumer advocacy and advice to ensure the interests of Scotland's consumers are protected, and we welcome Which's continued work to champion and protect those interests.

Earlier this year, Ofcom - which has responsibility for telecoms regulation in the UK - announced a range of measures designed to ensure that telecoms providers provide a quality of service that customers rightfully expect. These measures include automatic compensation when things go wrong, tougher performance rules for Openreach, and the introduction of performance tables on quality of service.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with Ofcom on the detail of how they test user experience in Scotland, across both mobile and fixed broadband, and we are currently developing options for how this can be enhanced. Ofcom is also currently conducting research which asks consumers if they have had reason to complain to their supplier in the last 12 months, with the results expected in March.

No charges have been reported to COPFS under s122 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and there has therefore been no prosecutions.

Police Scotland has advised that since 28 March 2012 there have been 16 applications for Forced Marriage Protection Orders. There have been no prosecutions for breach of an order.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05385 on 16 December 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-05385 on 16 December 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.