Seòmar agus comataidhean

SEPA's Flood Maps do not show flood risk to individual properties, instead they identify areas which, as a whole, are at risk of flooding and its impacts. Insurance companies have their own flood maps on which to base their decisions, and SEPA’s Flood Maps should have no influence on insurance premiums. SEPA's terms and conditions have to be accepted before anyone can access the Flood Maps online which make it perfectly clear that the Maps must not be used for commercial purposes, or to set insurance premiums. SEPA is working with the Association of British Insurers, to help to increase understanding across the industry of the purpose of the flood maps (i.e. for community level decision making) and stress that they are not suitable for property level assessments.

SEPA has also taken action to inform insurance companies that work across the UK of the differences that exist between England and Scotland in the data available to insurers. Unlike the Environment Agency in England, SEPA does not provide specific flood risk datasets to the insurance industry.

When evidence is submitted to SEPA showing misuse of the flood maps, SEPA is proactive in dealing with the issue. In the first instance a letter of concern would be issued to the organisation responsible for the misuse, to reinforce SEPA's terms and conditions and to stipulate that the particular use of the maps brought to SEPA's attention is accountable to legal challenge. If an organisation continues to misuse the maps, and there is sufficient evidence to prove this, SEPA will take legal action against the organisation.

Scottish Government officials have met with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association (Scotland) and with Police Scotland on several occasions to discuss the sharing of information between general practitioners and the police for the purposes of firearms and shotgun licensing. Discussions are continuing in order to ensure the appropriate and timely sharing of information and the safety of individuals and the public.

The details of flood protection schemes owned by local authorities are held on the Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database (SFDAD) administered by SEPA. This database is available for registered users to view through a secure website. The aim of this website is to provide users with a tool to view detailed information on flood protection schemes and their associated assets within Scotland. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is aware of SFDAD and that it is open for its members and other insurers to register for the service and view the information therein.

At the moment, SFDAD only includes those schemes that have progressed under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961. However, the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 (the 2009 Act) makes provision for capturing all structures and measures that contribute to flood risk management into one dataset. The Scottish Government is working with SEPA and the local authorities to develop SFDAD so that it can, ultimately, include more the more detailed information required by the 2009 Act.

Although a new station at Beattock does not feature in our current £5 billion investment programme in Scotland’s railways to 2019, we are committed to on-going improvements to rail services and connectivity.

Funding for new railway stations can be considered from the Scottish Government's £30 million Scottish Stations Fund which aims to lever in third party funding to provide new and improved stations. Projects will be considered subject to the Scottish Government’s investment priorities for the strategic transport network, a robust business case, affordability and other competing proposals.

The Scottish Government is involved in a wide range of activities to attract investment in South Scotland. These activities include boosting export performance to attract foreign investment, developing transport links to help maximise the potential of the area as well as working with the South of Scotland Alliance to raise the profile of the South of Scotland and to identify and develop opportunities for growth.

Projects identified in the South of Scotland Alliance's Rural Regional Economic Development Programme as significant in supporting economic growth include four key areas of activity to maximise opportunities: Borders Railway and Central Borders Business Park, Mountain Biking, M74 Economic Development Strategy, and the Stranraer Waterfront. The Scottish Government is committed to creating a more inclusive form of growth that tackles inequalities whilst driving competitiveness and we are committed to working with the Alliance as these projects develop.

Over the last three years seven Regional Selective Assistance grants worth a combined £2,146,300 have been awarded to businesses in the South of Scotland, helping to create 175 new jobs. In the same timeframe six inward investments have been secured for the South of Scotland, creating 531 new jobs and safeguarding a further 67 jobs.

We also recognise that good digital infrastructure has an important role to play in attracting new investment. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is delivering over £410 million of investment to extend fibre broadband access across Scotland to areas where the market would not otherwise go, and over 95% of premises across the south of Scotland will have access to fibre broadband by the end of 2017 as a result of this investment. However, we want to push coverage even further and, as set out in the Programme for Government, the Scottish Government has committed to delivering 100% superfast broadband coverage by 2021 and we expect new procurements - to deliver new investment to meet our 100% target - to begin from 2017.

We will continue to work with partners to ensure that the South of Scotland continues to attract new investment.

There are no current plans to increase the HGV speed limit as we believe that there is currently insufficient evidence in this area to justify a change.

In conjunction with the A9 average speed camera system we have increased HGV speed limits on single-carriageway sections of the A9 between Perth and Inverness in order to address issues specific to that route.

With road safety considerations paramount, we will continue to consider any emerging evidence regarding speed limits for HGVs including findings from our on-going monitoring of the A9 and the increased HGV speed limit in England and Wales.

The following table sets out the length of each trunk road managed and maintained by the Scottish Ministers in (i) Scotland and (ii) Dumfries and Galloway.

Suicides in Hospitals

Records do not provide precise enough information on the location where the suicidal act occurred to identify those event that happened in hospital. Whilst data can identify people who are in hospital at the time that they died from suicide, it is anticipated that a large number of these will be due to suicidal acts occurring outside of hospital, after which the individual is taken to hospital.

Suicides in Prisons

Information relating to Prisoner Deaths is published on the SPS Website under Freedom of Information.

Any death in prison custody may lead to a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976 however the decision to hold an FAI is a matter for the Lord Advocate/Procurator Fiscal. No cause of death is recorded where a death has not yet been determined following FAI.

For information the term 'Event of Undetermined Intent' is an outcome where the exact intent of the individual concerned cannot be ascertained.

The table below shows the number of suicides in prison determined by Fatal Accident Inquiry, recorded in calendar years 2007 to 2016.

Funding for National Records of Scotland since 2012 and for its predecessor bodies, including National Archives of Scotland, is set out in budget documents available at:http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Finance/18127/Documents.