Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-08873

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00873 by Fergus Ewing on 19 April 2017, whether it will publish the reply it received from the UK Government.

Question reference: S5O-00945

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 3 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has provided to East Ayrshire Council since 2012 to support affordable housing.

Question reference: S5W-08872

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00873 by Fergus Ewing on 19 April 2017, in light of the EU abolishing mobile roaming charges from June 2017, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding these charges after the UK exits the EU.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the UK Government on mobile roaming charges after the UK exits the EU. This, as with all aspects of telecoms policy and regulation, is a reserved issue.

I have written to Matt Hancock, Minister of State for Digital and Culture, on a number of occasions since 25 October 2016 on a range of digital connectivity issues. I have not yet received a substantive reply to the issues I raised in these letters.

Question reference: S5W-08875

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00873 by Fergus Ewing on 19 April 2017, what engagement it has with the UK Government regarding matters of shared interest in relation to broadband and mobile services.

At official level, the Scottish Government has regular engagement with the UK Government on a range of policy and operational issues relating to broadband and mobile, including broadband rollout in Scotland as part of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

I have written to Matt Hancock, Minister of State for Digital and Culture, on a number of occasions since 25 October 2016 on a range of digital connectivity issues, and have sought a meeting with him to discuss these. I have not yet received a substantive reply to the issues I raised in these letters, nor has a meeting taken place.

Question reference: S5W-08874

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-00873 by Fergus Ewing on 19 April 2017, whether it has received assurances from the UK Government regarding continued access to the digital single market.

To date, the Scottish Government has received no assurances from the UK Government regarding continued access to the Digital Single Market.

In spite of continued lack of meaningful engagement on the part of the UK Government, the Scottish Government will continue to engage in good faith with the UK Government to seek to ensure that Scotland’s interests are represented within the UK’s negotiations with the European Union, including continuing to call on the UK Government to include a priority objective for Scotland to enjoy the benefits of the European Single Market and from continued access to the Digital Single Market.

Question reference: S5W-08341

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 21 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will help meet the upfront costs of digital and skills training.

Our recently published Digital Strategy for Scotland underlined the immense importance of digital skills to Scotland's citizens, businesses and the economy as a whole. These skills are clearly vital to the successful growth in key areas such as financial technology, software development, data analysis, life sciences, and the computer games industry, to name just a selection.

The importance of digital skills is why the strategy included a commitment to launch a new Digital Growth Fund, which will be supported by £36 million over the next three years.

This Fund has the potential to contribute towards the cost of training thousands of women and men each year. Our intention is that it should provide loans to organisations wishing to develop the digital skills of their staff across a range of areas.

Our aim is that the Fund will be ready to invite applications during 2017.

Question reference: S5O-00873

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 19 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on the impact on Scotland's rural economy of a withdrawal from the digital single market.

Question reference: S5O-00737

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 March 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much support will be provided to schools in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency through Pupil Equity Funding, and when this will commence.

Question reference: S5W-05990

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent Bank of Scotland Business Digital Index.

The Scottish Government welcomes the results of the recent UK wide Bank of Scotland Business Digital Index, which explores attitudes and usage of digital technology and measures how SMEs are adopting digital technologies in their day to day business.

Advances in technology continue to transform our economy. The Scottish Government wants to help all of Scotland’s businesses achieve their full potential in this increasingly digital world, which is why we've invested £15.5 million over the past four years to work with a range of partners on tackling digital skills gaps and helping Scottish businesses become more digitally able.

This investment and partnership approach is now showing dividends, as this index highlights – it shows particularly strong growth in Scotland, with an overall digital maturity index higher than London. Fewer than a third of Scottish small businesses lacked basic digital skills, compared to a UK average of 38%; Only London rivals Scotland in terms of this measure.

Later this year the Scottish Government will be repeating its Digital Economy Business Survey, first undertaken in 2014, which will provide its own more detailed and Scotland-specific update on the digital maturity of Scotland's businesses.

Question reference: S5W-05582

Asked by: Willie Coffey, MSP for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 January 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the lives of disabled people and break down barriers to opportunity.

On 2 December 2016 we launched A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Our Delivery Plan to 2021 for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Plan has five long term ambitions: support services that meet disabled people’s needs; decent incomes and fairer working lives; places that are accessible to everyone; protected rights; and active participation. The ambitions have 93 actions to help make a positive difference to the lives of disabled people.

We will ensure that there is opportunity for disabled people to hold us to account on progress with this plan. We will lay a progress report before Parliament in early 2021 to determine where we need to focus our efforts in the next parliamentary session.

Through engagement with stakeholders, principles underpinning our approach to Social Security in Scotland were developed which include placing dignity and respect at the heart of all we do. In addition, we have carried out an extensive consultation to help inform our approach and will be publishing a report on the consultation responses early this year. This will help to inform the work of the Disability and Carers' Benefits Expert Advisory Group which will also be established early this year to provide recommendations and guidance on issues including assessment for benefits in Scotland.

We will continue engagement through our stakeholder groups and the establishment of ‘Experience Panels’ involving at least 2,000 people, with recent experience of applying for or receiving benefits, to help us design, build and improve the new system, and support our work on a longer-term basis.

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