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On receipt of the letter dated 10 January 2017 from Mr Mundell, officials approached the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to ask for specific details about staffing and ambulance provision in Kirkconnel and the Dumfries & Galloway (D&G) region.

SAS confirmed that Kirkconnel Station has a full complement of staffing at present with 5 crew members. There are also 13 A&E Units deployed across D&G that will respond to call-outs in Kirkconnel when required.

In total there are 57.5 whole time equivalent (wte) Paramedics and 7.5 wte vacancies. To address these vacancies, SAS confirmed that 6 new trainee technicians will be appointed to the Dumfries & Galloway region. In addition, there are 5 Community First Responder Schemes in operation in the D&G region.

The Scottish Government's substantial investment in infrastructure, regeneration and business support across Dumfries and Galloway helps to deliver inclusive economic growth in towns such as Langholm.

The infrastructure investment made across Dumfries and Galloway, which benefits economic growth, includes:

• road investment - over £23 million invested maintaining the A7 between Galashiels and the English Border since 2007, with a significant programme of further work being delivered;

• digital investment - 95% of premises in Dumfries and Galloway will benefit from access to fibre broadband provided by Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband by the end of 2017, with fibre-based broadband now available in Langholm; and

• school investment - contributing £24.5 million as part of Scotland's Schools for the Future Programme for 3 projects in Dumfries and Galloway with a total value of £85.9 million.

We also fund initiatives that directly benefit local employers in Dumfries and Galloway, including:

• business support - through Scottish Enterprise which account manages 51 companies in Dumfries and Galloway and has, since 2015/16, made offers of Regional Selective Assistance of £1.75 million;

• business support - through our funding of the local authority delivered Business Gateway which supported 344 start ups in Dumfries and Galloway in 2015/6 and received £0.914 million under the 2014-20 ERDF Programme to Dumfries and Galloway Council for a Business Gateway project to target SMEs with growth potential and assist them with their growth ambitions;

• business support - over 5,000 properties are benefiting from reduced or zero business rates in Dumfries and Galloway under the Small Business Bonus Scheme this year. The Scheme has saved Dumfries and Galloway businesses over £44 million since it was established in 2008;

• skills support - 765 Modern Apprentice starts in 2015-16; and

• skills support - a 3 year funding package of £580,000 allocated in October 2015 to the Developing the Young Workforce Dumfries and Galloway Regional Group.

Our regeneration funding also contributes to economic resilience across the area, including:

• funding of over £70,000 provided to the Upper Eskdale Development Group through the Strengthening Communities Programme in 2014-15 to increase resilience and sustainability of the organisation; and

• Stranraer Town Centre Regeneration Initiative to benefit from £1.8 million from the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund in 2016-17, in addition to £790,000 from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund in 2009-10.

We are committed to helping communities across Scotland realise their growth ambitions. I held a roundtable in Langholm on 3 February drawing together the community, businesses and key public sector agencies to discuss the community's ambitions for future growth in their town. I look forward to working with the community to help deliver their aspirations for growth and employment.

In our Enterprise and Skills Review, we recognised the unique needs of the south of Scotland and are taking forward our commitment to establish a new vehicle to meet the enterprise and skills needs of the area which will be of benefit to communities, including Langholm.

Traffic warning signs are a common road safety feature commonly used on roads throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. They are used to warn drivers of a hazard ahead, which may not be readily apparent to a driver.

There are currently 511 warning signs on the trunk road section of the A7 in Dumfries and Galloway over a distance of 18 miles between Mosspaul and the English Border. These signs cover a range of hazards including junctions, bends, traffic signals, farm traffic, wild animals, pedestrians and risk of ice.

Full details of permitted warning signs is detailed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 and the Highway Code (www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/traffic-signs).

The following activities are open to support young people with dyslexia:

Tailored employability routes, including pre-employment training, to prepare young people with learning difficulties for MA opportunities;

Enhanced funding contributions for all MA frameworks, up to and including the age of 29;

opportunity for providers to apply to a ASN Discretionary Fund, which allows tailored support measures to be put in place for those with learning difficulties, as well as support in accessing Access to Work Funds;

Working directly with the Open Doors Consortium In-Work Support initiative, to offer tailored support to individuals who require support to sustain their employment.

Support specifically designed for young people with dyslexia includes:-

Through the Equality Challenge Fund (ECF), Concept Northern established an SCQF Award (Assistive Technology Associate), designed specifically to help young people with dyslexia progress into an MA;

Concept Northern also used the ECF to support ten young people with dyslexia to successfully progress into MA opportunities.

It is the role of Scottish Government to provide policies, frameworks and resources to NHS boards to allow them to deliver services that meet the assessed needs of their local populations. Within this context, the provision of specialist services for adults with brain injuries is the responsibility of local Boards, taking into account national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

Additionally, in 2015 we provided a £40,000 grant to NHS Lothian to support a pilot project, designed by the Scottish Acquired Brain Injury Network, which aims to ensure that all admitted head injured patients will be cared for by neuroscience clinicians in a dedicated multidisciplinary service. This pilot has now come to an end and we look forward to receiving a final evaluation of the project in due course.

Hill farming is an important part of our rural landscape and I value very highly the contribution that our Scotland's farmers and crofters make in these remote and challenging areas. I am also very aware of the fragile state of hill farming economics which is why I recently announced my intention to hold two hill farming summits

Support to hill farmers is given a high priority under pillar two of the CAP to ensure it remains sustainable for future generations. Over £65.5million is paid annually through the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) to provide vital support to around 11,500 farmers and crofters who operate in rural and remote areas of Scotland. Unlike the UK Government, who has ended their equivalent scheme, we have committed to continue it in Scotland. The importance of this support is why I am seeking confirmation from the UK Government that they will guarantee these payments for applications in 2019. Further to LFASS, hill farmers can access support through a number of other SRDP schemes.

Hill farmers are also supported through the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening Payment, and provided they meet scheme requirements, the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (Mainland and Islands) and /or the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme, all under pillar one of the CAP.

The Scottish Government has maintained its Equality Budget at £20.3 million for eight consecutive years. The Equality Budget is an important resource in advancing equality as it provides support for activity and interventions to improve the outcomes for people and communities across Scotland. In 2016-17, the Scottish Government provided over £850,000 of funding to LGBT organisations across Scotland. This included resource for LGBT Youth Scotland to provide local development networks and support for National Youth Council members in Dumfries, and funding for the Equality Network to provide one-to-one capacity building support for LGBTI community groups in rural and other areas across Scotland. In recognition of the challenges annual funding cycles present to third sector organisations, three year rolling funding will be introduced under the Equality Budget for 2017-20.

There have been 13 overnight closures, 2 daytime weekend closures, 1 evening closure and 1 continuous closure on the A7 Trunk Road during the last 12 months due to roadworks carried out by our Operating Company.

In addition the road may also have been closed for short periods of time by Police Scotland to allow them to attend to road traffic accidents and any subsequent follow up actions required.

The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

The Scottish Government recognises that small community halls and buildings are essential to the vibrancy of Scotland’s small communities. Where these community halls are registered as charities with the Office for the Scottish Charity Regulator, have incomes of less than £200,000 and don’t operate retail facilities, then they are eligible for full exemption on their water charges. Eligible charities must apply annually for their exemption from their Licensed Provider.