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Independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband.com, states that fibre broadband coverage across Scotland has increased from 95% to 97.6% since September 2017, with superfast coverage of 30 Megabits per second and above increasing from 90.9% to 93.8% across the same timeframe. This is, in large part, thanks to the £400 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) roll-out, which has supported over 936,000 premises to date. Our £600 million investment in the procurement phase of our Reaching 100% (R100) programme, which is being 96.5% funded by Scottish Government, will drive extension of superfast broadband access to all non-domestic and domestic premises in Scotland.

We are creating an investment climate in Scotland that supports and accelerates commercial deployment of digital infrastructure. We are offering 10 years non-domestic rates relief on new fibre, in comparison with 5 years relief in England, and are continuing to develop rental Guidance to make it easier for telecommunications operators to access public sector land and buildings.

Scottish Government is continuing to prioritise its extensive programme of surveillance, monitoring, research, and rapid action to help reduce the spread and impact of Phytophthora ramorum on larch. Slowing down the spread is achieved through the felling of diseased larch trees and movement controls to reduce the spread of the disease.

The process followed when tackling Phytophthora ramorum on larch is the same within public and private woodland but depends on location:

• Within the designated “Management Zone” in the South-West of Scotland, where infection and death of larch is already widespread, land managers can request a permission to cover felling operations related to any larch which they wish to remove. In addition, the movement of all potentially infectious material outwith the Management Zone is controlled.
• In the rest of Scotland, once an infection has been confirmed, the land manager will be served with a Statutory Plant Health Notice, requiring the felling of the infected larch stands as well as all larch in a surrounding buffer area. All infected timber from outside the Management Zone must be sent to an approved facility for processing.

These processes are consistent with the Ramorum (on larch) Action Plan for Scotland, and have been agreed with the members of the Scottish Tree Health Advisory Group.

The Scottish Government has spent:

• £150,490 in 2014-2015
• £484,474 in 2015-2016
• £471,864 in 2016-2017
• £1,281,302 in 2017-2018
• £3,762,056 in 2018-2019

These figures relate to central funding to support the development and implementation of Scotland’s cyber resilience strategy and associated action plans. Since 2017, resource for these purposes has come from both the Scottish Government and the UK National Cyber Security Programme, funding from which has been made available to devolved administrations.

These figures do not include total spending on cyber resilience by the Scottish Government, its agencies and the wider Scottish public sector as part of operational delivery of digital public services, as this information is not centrally held.

The period of five years specified in the question predates the commitment to deliver the Scottish Government’s £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) programme. Our £400 million Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme has continued to deploy over the period since R100 was first proposed.

The R100 programme itself, as I have previously advised colleagues across Parliament, is in the final stage of the public procurement process, with final tenders received being evaluated at this time and, as such, no funding has been issued to contractors at this stage.

The procurement has been split into three lots – North, Central and South – with the South lot being allocated a budget of up to £133 million to deliver for the people of the South of Scotland.

The amount awarded from the Climate Challenge Fund to organisations since the start of the financial year 2016-17 is as follows:

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many town or city centres have free Wi-Fi connections available.

Scottish Government analysis in 2017 of towns and settlements with populations greater than 14,000 found that businesses in each of these do offer free public Wi-Fi to some degree (e.g. cafés, hotels, supermarkets, bars or shopping centres) in addition to where some local authorities fund free public Wi-Fi. Further provision of free public Wi-Fi is available from transport operators such as Scotrail in over 50 railway stations, on trains on all rail routes and from some bus companies on some routes. In addition to this, 100% of libraries in Scotland have free public Wi-Fi available.

All regulation and legislation in relation to all telecommunications, including access to broadband and mobile data services, are reserved to UK Ministers under the provision of the Scotland Act 1998.

100% of public libraries in Scotland offer free Wi-Fi. This is as a result of Scottish Government making £1m of investment between 2015 and 2018 through the Public Wireless Programme.

“Forging our Digital Future with 5G: A Strategy for Scotland” was published on 26 August 2019 and is available on the Scottish Government’s website at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781839600371 .