EU funding benefits Scotland significantly. Brexit has created uncertainty for communities across Scotland who rely heavily on this investment and are unable to plan beyond the UK’s departure of the EU. We have committed to maintain our current record level of investment in supporting the capacity of Disabled People’s Organisations during the lifetime of this parliament. Through this programme of work, we will explore how disability impacts different equality groups and what this means for our policies, services and communities.

Housing remains a top priority for the Scottish Government and that is not affected by Brexit. We will not allow the UK Government’s approach to Brexit to jeopardise our vision for all people in Scotland to live in high quality sustainable homes that they can afford and that meet their needs. We are committed to maintaining stability in the housing sector so that it can continue to deliver our ambitions.

The Scottish Government has not set a quota for the delivery of accessible homes. It is for local authorities to assess housing needs and demands in their areas and to set out through their development plans and local housing strategies how identified need and demand will be met, including the use of quotas where appropriate. Wherever possible, units funded through the Scottish Government’s affordable housing programme are built to the varying needs standard.

The first Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) electric trains entered service in December 2017. The new class 385 electric trains which will enter service in 2018 will enable the operation of seven and eight carriage length trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow offering a substantial increase in passenger capacity and comfort for travellers on the Edinburgh - Glasgow via Falkirk High route. Analysis undertaken as part of the EGIP business case published in January 2014 indicates that the new longer electric trains will meet passenger demand well into the next decade.

The new class 385 units will be subject to stringent contractual reliability targets which will ensure that the new electric trains will offer significantly improved reliability over existing diesel services.

All Scottish Government communications and content are written in Plain English and designed with the audience and accessibility in mind. We aim to adhere to W3C accessibility standards for online content and can offer a range of alternative formats which include Audio; Braille; Easy Read; Large Print and British Sign Language. Digital publications can be viewed online, downloaded or listened to on mobile devices and are compliant with assistive technologies. The Scottish Government is also working continuously to make its digital content as accessible and usable as possible for all abilities and disabilities. This includes older audiences and those with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments.

The Scottish Government’s publishing contractor is required to monitor and regulate all work passed to them in terms of accessibility and to challenge those who have not followed the accessibility guidance.

Over the past 40 years EU law has become woven into the fabric of UK and Scots law including the development of disability legislation. Legislating to protect the right of disabled people is generally a reserved matter which is the responsibility of the UK Government. Where we have powers to act, protecting the rights of everyone in Scotland is a key priority for this Government and protecting any of those hard won rights from being eroded by the impact of Brexit is something we will work very hard to ensure.

We already have policy in place to protect wild land. Both Scottish Planning Policy and National Planning Framework 3 give significant protection to wild land areas. The Planning Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 4 December 2017 and there are no plans to include statutory protection for wild land areas.

The following table contains the figures for Offences involving tobacco and persons under 18.

Offences involving tobacco and persons under 18, 2011-12 to 2016-17.

This covers the following sections of the legislation:

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S4(1) - Sale of tobacco products to persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S5(1) - Purchase of tobacco products by persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S6(1) - Purchase of tobacco products on behalf of persons under 18

• Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 - S7(1) - Confiscation of tobacco products from persons under 18

Due to the way crimes are recorded by police we are unable to break this figure down any further.

The number of people prosecuted and convicted in Scotland under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6 (Purchase of tobacco products on behalf of persons under 18) is shown in the following table.

Number of people proceeded and convicted under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6(1)¹, 2011-12 to 2015-16.

1 - where main crime/offence

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings Database.

The latest available information in our Criminal Proceedings database is for 2015-16. The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S6A (Purchase of nicotine vapour products on behalf of persons under 18) was introduced on 1/4/2017. This information will not be included until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2017-18 in early 2019.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics

As an enforcement tool Local authorities have a power to issue fixed penalty notices in the first instance in relation to breaches of the legislation.

The 2017 Programme for Government indicated that, through the Scottish Growth Scheme, we would expand the SME Holding Fund by £25 million and that, alongside additional private sector investment, we expected this to provide over £100 million to innovative, high-growth companies. To date, this funding has resulted in investment of £10 million in 12 companies across a range of sectors such as software development, textiles, energy, multimedia, fintech and healthcare.

We intend to issue a consultation early next year on potential changes to primary legislation in this area.

We are also committed to making changes where we can in advance of primary legislation to improve how cases under section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 are dealt with.

So we have, for example, chaired a working group on Child Welfare Reporters, who provide reports to the court in cases under section 11 of the 1995 Act. More information on the outcomes of that working group is at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/17867/reporters

We have also recommended to the Family Law Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council that the court form used to obtain the voice of the child in section 11 cases should be improved. That work is being taken forward. Rules to put a new more child-friendly form in place will be considered at the next meeting of the Family Law Committee on 5 February 2018.

In addition, the Family Law Committee, following a paper by the Scottish Government and research by the Committee, set up a sub-committee to consider case management of family actions. The report of the sub-committee has been published http://www.scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk/committees/family-law-committee/23-october-2017-papers and the Scottish Civil Justice Council has agreed that there will be a consultation on it.