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The Scottish Government has given clear assurances in Parliament that the terms and conditions, pay and pensions of British Transport Police officers and staff will be the same as they are currently, or that an equivalent level of benefit will be provided to ensure transfer takes place on a no-detriment basis.

The benefits of integration were identified in the Policy Memorandum to the Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill:

 - ensuring that railway policing in Scotland is accountable, through the Chief Constable and the SPA, to the people of Scotland;

- enhancing railway policing in Scotland through direct access to the specialist resources of Police Scotland;

- future-proofing the infrastructure policing model in Scotland against changes that may arise from the review of infrastructure policing in England and Wales.

Alongside the Policy Memorandum, the Scottish Government published a report compiled by an independent research company that summarised the views of respondents to the Scottish Government consultation, including benefits and disbenefits. The Financial Memorandum set out projected costs associated with the Bill.

The Joint Programme Board which is overseeing the programme has continued to develop its understanding of benefits, risks and costs as more detailed work on integration has progressed.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the stops that have skipped each year broken down by how many times, on the Borders Railway.

ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with performance information by Sector Group and these are monitored against the specified benchmarks contained in the Franchise Agreement.

The Scottish Government's approach to supporting rail freight is outlined in the rail freight strategy, Delivering the Goods, which was published in March 2016. This is backed by significant investment in our railways including a
£30 million ring-fenced Scottish Strategic Rail Freight Investment Fund which is helping to unlock opportunities for rail freight across the country. Looking ahead, we have set regulatory targets for Network Rail through our High Level Output Specification (published in July 2017) to work with industry partners to attract new freight and grow existing markets. Whilst decisions on moving goods and the development of freight handling facilities are a matter for the commercial sector, the Scottish Government continues to operate EC state aid approved modal shift grant schemes which aim to remove freight from road to the more sustainable modes of rail and water, these grant schemes have enabled rail freight services to remove millions of lorry miles from our roads.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of services each year on the Borders Railway that have arrived at each stop on time.

Performance in the railway system in Great Britain is measured using the Public-Performance Measure (PPM), which counts all trains planned to run, which run and arrive within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time.

ScotRail provides Transport Scotland with performance information by Sector Group and these are monitored against the specified benchmarks contained in the Franchise Agreement.

ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to manage the delivery of rail services, to accommodate the anticipated increase in rail traffic around the festive holiday period.

While the responsibility for day to day operation rests with ScotRail, Transport Scotland has contractual processes in place to regularly monitor ScotRail’s performance in delivering the obligations of the Franchise Agreement. This includes ensuring that services are punctual and reliable by achieving contractual targets for arriving on schedule and minimising cancellations. It also includes ensuring that ScotRail provides the capacity that they have committed.

In the event of any unplanned disruption, ScotRail are obliged to ensure customers are kept well informed in a timely manner through announcements at stations and on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter; and their customer service app provides live updates, and a live map of where the disruption is happening.

There are no planned engineering works that would affect ScotRail’s services over this period (the planned work at Edinburgh Waverley and at Stirling station, will be on days when trains will not be running). The work at Glasgow Queen St is external to the railway proper.

Over £2m has been invested in average speed cameras (ASC) on the A90 to make the road safer for everyone travelling along the route.

As part of this spend, £43,853 was invested to develop and deliver a robust communication strategy which aimed to raise awareness around the introduction of ASC on the route.

These cameras are already encouraging improved driver behaviour and better speed limit compliance, which will lead to fewer camera detections, fewer penalty points, fewer drivers fined, and ultimately reduce the number of people being killed or injured on this route.

Any change to the way in which exams are delivered in Scotland is an operational matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). I have asked the Chief Executive of SQA to write to you.

The Scottish Government wants all children and their families to eat healthily, have a healthy weight and enjoy the same healthy life expectancy no matter where they live. We recognise there is no simple solution and are presently consulting on a bold new diet and obesity strategy. This proposes a package of measures to improve the food environment and improve children’s diet including limiting the promotion of products high in fat, sugar and salt and tackling advertising. The consultation on A Healthier Future - Action and Ambitions on Diet, Activity and Healthy Weight' runs until 31 January 2018.

Through the Curriculum for Excellence, every school pupil is entitled to learn about food and health, not just practical cooking skills but also nutrition, hygiene and making choices alongside the influence of advertising. We are also supporting children to eat a healthy balanced diet throughout their school day including free school meals for Primary 1-3. Between 2015-19 we are investing £50 million in Active Schools.

The source of the statistic provided by The Scotsman article in question is the Scottish Government's 2016 Annual Report on Wildlife Crime in Scotland which is available via the following web link: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/12/7653.

Hare coursing, an offence covered by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, accounted for 38 of the 44 offences involving hunting with dogs in 2015/16. A significant element of the increase in this crime is attributable to greater awareness of the offence and improved reporting of suspicious activity.

Police Scotland recognises hare coursing as a Wildlife Crime Priority (noting that it is often linked with other types of rural crime) and is considering ways to further address it in 2018. Anyone witnessing suspicious activity should report it to Police Scotland by dialling 101 or 999 if a crime is in progress.