 Ac efallai, fy ngyntydd y sectorfolio hynny erioedd frasio'r byw pwysigol Watch. Ar gyfer cyfrifiadau cyfan, beth efallai y cyfrifiadau cyfan yn eich amser dyna o'r cyfan sylwyd yn gweith drawn cyfarfodol oed, gyda'r cyfrifiadau cyfan amdana y cyfrifiadau cyfan yn eich amser yn eich amser yn eich amser yn eu cyfrifiadau cyfan. Mae hi angen yn y mae'r angen yn y cyfrifiadau cyfan y bunuid ar y cyfrifiadau cyfan. Fy na'u eu cyfrifiadau cyfan y cyfrifiadau gyfan yn eich amser, The Scottish Government provides support to companies through our enterprise agencies. For instance, Scottish Enterprise works with businesses to understand the business opportunities of low-carbon products and services and provides support with product service development where appropriate. The Scottish Government also supports the sustainable energy supply chain programme via the energy saving trust and resource efficient Scotland. That supports businesses across Scotland to help to build capacity and aid in maximising their share of spend from various Scottish and UK Government programmes. Stuart McMillan I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. Two businesses in my constituency, one of whom the minister for business innovation and energy met a couple of weeks ago, have various products and services to improve energy efficiency in buildings across the country. What assistance is provided to businesses to help them to fully test their products, to get them to market, which could have a beneficial effect in terms of the environment, the economy and also job creation? A wide range of services, as I indicated, are available to companies through the enterprise agencies and, indeed, universities to support their innovation journey from initial concept development to market launch. The support range is from expert advisory services, support to raise investment, grant funding to develop new products and invest in R&D, including, for instance, SMART Scotland, which provides grants to small to medium enterprises based in Scotland. The grant helps the business to undertake technical feasibility studies and research and development projects that have a commercial end point. Information on the full range of services and contact information is provided on the Scottish Enterprise website. As the minister, what efforts the UK Government has made to seek the opinion of the Scottish Government regarding the each home counts review and the improved standards framework for installation of energy efficiency products, particularly in light of the hundreds of consumers in Scotland who continue to suffer financial hardship as a result of issues with the UK Government's previous green deal initiative? The Scottish Government has long held the view that the UK Government does not need to strengthen its consumer protection frameworks to ensure that customers are well protected. Therefore, we welcome the each home counts review when first announced with officials meeting with Dr Bonfield to share best practice and offer areas and example of where things needed to be improved. We recognise the recommendations from the reviews really just the start of the process and that further details will need to be developed, and we are carefully considering the reviews recommendations as part of the development of Scotland's energy efficiency programme. We will continue to liaise with the UK Government to better understand how it is building on the recommendations of the report and ensuring that proposals for improving consumer protection are fully implemented. Companies should be properly supported not only to make products that help tackle climate change but also to help transport them in a greener and more low-carbon way. Can I ask the cabinet secretary if new plans for low-emissions zones outlined in the programme for government will also include urban consolidation hubs for goods vehicles, given transport emissions have not fallen under the SMP Government? That is one of the things that we are consulting on. The member may be aware that on 9 September, I think that I am right in saying that was the date that we launched the consultation on low-emissions zones. That includes reference to precisely the issue that the member is raising. Low-emissions zones, of course, will be developed in conversation with local authorities. For many local authorities, that may look like an attractive option, but at this stage we are not mandating specific frameworks for low-emissions zones. That is something that will be developed over time, but I invite the member to look at that consultation and he or he may wish to advise others to input to that on that specific issue. The cabinet secretary will be aware of widespread concern in the north-east about the First Minister's decision to wind up the energy jobs task force after she attends her final meeting today. I wonder in that context if she can tell us what new initiatives the Scottish Government will take to support and encourage oil and gas service companies to provide their experience and knowledge of engineering, of construction, of commissioning and of maintenance to projects such as the Murray Offshore Wind project and other large projects that are designed to tackle climate change and which really need that expertise coming from the existing north-east industries? That is quite a broad question, but if the minister could answer her part. I think that I would struggle to bring that into my own portfolio remit, but I am aware from some of my previous portfolio responsibilities and fair work skills in training that some of the aspects that the member is raising there would be very germane to that. I think that if he wished to have a further conversation in a much more detailed way, then either my colleague Paul Wheelhouse or Keith Brown would be only too happy to oblige him. To ask the Scottish Government how its targets on climate change and sustainable development are supported through renewable energy projects such as the turbines in the Pentland Firth. While Scotland is a world leader in tackling climate change, we have made sustained progress against ambitious statutory targets and we are bringing forward new legislation to ensure that we maintain that leading position. We know that a variety of low-carbon generating capacity will be required by 2050 in order to achieve our binding climate change targets. Our support for innovative renewable energy projects such as the Maidgen tidal array in the Pentland Firth, which is the first large-scale array of its type in the world, is just one illustration of our commitment to building a modern, integrated low-carbon energy system. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can the cabinet secretary outline what support the Scottish Government is giving to sustainable and renewable initiatives in my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselborough? Since 2008, 986 awards have been made across Scotland through the climate challenge fund that covers 622 communities. In Midlothian North and Musselborough, the climate challenge fund has awarded a total of £176,000 to five different projects. Through our low-carbon infrastructure transition programme, we have provided early advice to a number of projects in the constituency area. However, commercial confidentiality prevents me from providing details at this point. It is the aim of the programme, however, to publish all information when available. Donald Cameron I refer to renewable energy in my register of interests. In relation to the Scottish Government's updated target to end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2032, can the cabinet secretary clarify if the Scottish Government has made any initial assessment of the energy capacity that is required to meet the target and what proportion of that will come from renewable energy sources? That work is currently on-going. We hope to be in a position to be able to give further advice in that area in the near future. However, I am looking at my colleague the transport minister to ascertain whether he wants me to say near future or not. There is a question that a number of people will want an answer to, and it is one in which we are doing a great deal of work. To ask the Scottish Government what representations it will make to the UK Government over the failure to award a contract for difference to the major entitled development in the Pentland Firth. The announcement about the result of the second allocation round was disappointing for the tidal industry. I am not sure that it came as a surprise. The way that the scheme is structured and designed does mean that innovative projects are always going to lose out in favour of bigger players and more mature technologies. That is why, as a Government, we are continuing to press the UK to commit to a fairer system in this area that offers early-stage technologies the chance to replicate the impressive cost reductions that we are currently seeing in offshore wind. To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to initiatives that aim to make Glasgow more environmentally friendly. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the environment and its contribution to the quality of life of our communities, as well as Scotland's international image and reputation. The Scottish Government supports delivery of local environmental quality through its establishment of policy frameworks, supporting tools and funding to local authorities and other organisations. Annie Wells I am pleased to see that an inquiry into air quality has been launched by the Environment Committee and the Scottish Government made a number of commitments last week as part of its climate change bill. However, three streets in the city were recently named as the most polluted in the country, with a number of schools breaching the 150-metre safes zone. In line with the comments from British Lung Foundation Scotland this week regarding the need for the Scottish Government to ensure that councils improve pollution monitoring, particularly outside schools and urban areas, in line with one of our own plans, what action will the minister take to ensure that greater transparency and the recording of data by local authorities? Well, local authorities are the responsible authorities in respect of air quality in their own areas. It is, of course, an issue that is of concern not just to Glasgow but to a number of other urban areas. I am aware of the streets that are in that list. I understand that a number of them, however, is likely to be mitigated as time goes by because of the construction of new motorway. There are a couple of streets left where there are some very particular problems. I am also conscious of the issue around schools about which there has been considerable publicity this week. There is a deal of work to be done there. Although, again, in terms of the actual measurements, we look for local authorities to consider how best they can get that information brought in. We are introducing an air quality fund to support local authorities with the delivery of air quality action plan transport-based mitigation. I hope that local authorities will have a look at the availability of that. Obviously, we will have to work with commercial and bus sectors in respect of their own vehicles. There are a great many things that can be done. I very much hope that Glasgow will be taking up on some of the available offers that there are. Thank you, Presiding Officer. An interesting question was raised by Annie Wells. I wonder what impact does the cabinet secretary expect that the doubling of the funding for active travel will have on Glasgow and other major cities, including my own constituency city of Stirling? The doubled funding is going to allow us to expand our programme of building segregated and, by that method, attractive cycle and walking routes in our major cities and create environmentally friendly places for people to enjoy. We are also supporting work on the creation of a long distance cycle and walking route, which I know will be of great interest to many. Increased funding will enable us to ensure that the encouragement and support people need to enjoy the new routes that are in place, such as a smarter choice, smarter places programme, cycle-friendly communities. Perhaps more importantly, cycle training. Some members may be aware that I got on a bicycle for the first time in more decades than I care to remember recently, and it did occur to me that, as well as training teenagers how to cycle safely, that perhaps returner cyclists need a bit of focus as well. The cabinet secretary will be well aware that air pollution in Glasgow and the rest of Scotland kills 2,500 people each year. Does the cabinet secretary share my view that the solution is clear? If a four-point plan, we need to support the creation of more low-emission zones, we need to ramp up investment in active travels that we just heard, introduce bus regulation and make 20-mile-an-hour default speed limit in cities. A plan that will tackle climate change, boost active lifestyles and help the economy, does the cabinet secretary agree? 20-mile per hour limits are a matter for local authorities to consider. I know that, for example, Edinburgh has already brought them in in a number of different areas. I cannot speak for every single city, but no doubt there is consideration being given to them. Yes, low-emission zones, as the member will be aware from the programme for government, are something to which the Government is very committed. We were already committed to introducing the first one by 2018, but what we want to do now is to raise that ambition to committing to low-emission zones in the four biggest cities by 2020 and where evidence supports them in other air quality management areas by 2023. The member will have heard me refer to the consultation on low-emission zones earlier, which will contain within it a discussion about a number of the sorts of things that he has already raised in his question and that will be important to consider. I am not sure that I want to add anything more to active travel than I did from my previous answer. To ask the Scottish Government how its newly announced innovation fund will impact on air pollution and climate change targets in west Scotland. One of the most important stages of innovation is demonstrating your technology or business model commercially. Of course, we have already had a question that referred to that in a different way. The new funding will be used to focus on innovative low-carbon energy projects building on the low-carbon infrastructure transition programme. One of the key application requirements for the phase 2 fund will be to demonstrate an anticipated carbon reduction against business, as usual, which in many cases is gas. In phase 1, the low-carbon infrastructure transition programme supported five innovative low-carbon capital projects in the west of Scotland. All new funding will be made available through open and fair funding and invitations announced against specific low-carbon criteria. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. As we know, the cost of air pollution is too high for our environment and for our health, with around 3,000 deaths per year attributed to air pollution. Does the minister not agree with me that cutting air passenger duty in the hope of increasing air travel will do nothing to meet the objectives of the Scottish Government to reduce emissions that pollute our air? The entire climate change plan, which is currently in development, will be finalised early in 2018 and fully takes into account the impact of air passenger duty and balances across all sectors. Scotland is one of the world's leaders on climate change. We have demonstrated our capacity to manage that across all sectors, and we will continue to do that. Ivan McKee Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that it is vital that Scotland continues to take a global lead on tackling climate change? Not only is this important for the environment, but by taking a lead on innovation, it will be hugely beneficial for our economy. Certainly, I agree on the first point. I have made reference to it in a couple of answers already that Scotland is already a global leader on climate change. It is important for the environment, but it is equally important that the economy works in concert with that. Innovation has long been one of Scotland's strengths, so it is incredibly important that we build on that historic strength and encourage innovation when there is a focus on commercial viability, because that is key to Scotland's continuing economic success. We have already got a strong record of achievement in low-carbon innovation, and the innovation fund that was announced in last week's programme for government means that we can look forward to further collaboration between the public sector, the private sector and academia to continue to maximise this advantage for Scotland's communities. Maurice Corry Can the cabinet secretary tell me how many electric vehicle charging points will be required to meet the government's target of phasing out new petrol and diesel cars by the year 2032, and how many will be put into place with the innovation fund? The work is being done at the moment with stakeholders to establish what that network will require to look like in order to achieve the ambition that we have set out. And when there is a finalised figure, no doubt that will be made public. Question 5, Willie Rennie. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of plastic nerddles on beaches in north-east Fife. Cabinet Secretary. Presiding Officer, do not smile. Nerddles are small plastic pellets about the size of a lentil that are produced by industry to then be used in the manufacture of plastic goods. And I dare say that Willie Rennie met with and attended the lobby by Greenpeace, that perhaps was where he, like me, discovered the existence of those. They make their way into our seas and on to our shores by spillages occurring when they are handled or transported by business and we unfortunately don't collect data on the total number or weight of plastic nerddles on beaches in north-east Fife. One can imagine how difficult that would be given the size. Surveys are undertaken by volunteers. Willie Rennie. Ruby Bay beach in north-east Fife is polluted by hundreds of thousands of these plastic beads. But Fife is not alone. It is estimated that about three quarters of beaches in the UK are polluted, which pose a risk to wildlife and the environment. Now operation clean sweep works with industry to cut the spillage of nerddles, but not every company handling this plastic is participating. Will the minister consider legislation to ensure that every company does participate in future? I would never want to rule anything out, although I am not sure how practical it would be just as a superficial response. I am happy to discuss with the member if that is a route that he thinks would be helpful. He is absolutely right, however, to flag up the very serious nature, the extent of marine litter and particularly of plastics in our ocean, which is why we gave some considerable focus to that in the programme for government. Thank you very much. That concludes our section on environment, climate change and land reform. We now move on to questions on rural economy and connectivity. Question 1, Monica Lennon. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Transport and the Islands last met representatives of stagecoach and first group and what was discussed. Sorry, Cabinet Secretary, how is it useful? Not definitely, minister. I last met representatives of stagecoach on 7 August at the bus take holders group and representatives of first group on 11 September, just on Monday past, where a number of issues were discussed from bus to rail policy and much in between. Monica Lennon. I thank the minister for that answer. As the minister might be aware, at his previous meetings with first group and stagecoach, the ones of the 28th and 30th of March this year, they became part of the growing list of Scottish Government ministerial meetings, which under FOI we know have not been minited. Given the on-going issues around transparency at the heart of the Scottish Government and its such important issues relating to the forthcoming transport bill, it will likely have been discussed at those meetings. Can the minister provide further explanation as to the reasons why no minutes were taken and were minutes taken at your recent meetings? Lectured by a supporter of North Lanarkshire Labour about transparency is like being lectured by Donald Trump over responsible Twitter usage. It is a pathetic attack to make if she wants an idea of what was discussed. Of course, I would be more than happy to write to her, as I have said, that it is bus policy, where we have a shared agenda to see an increase in bus patronage as opposed to a decline. In terms of the meetings that she discussed, in terms of introductory meetings, they are just that. They are an opportunity for us to get to know each other, to understand, of course, the basic issues that are troubling the bus sector and what the Government can do to help to rectify some of that. So if she wants an explanation of each meeting, what was discussed, of course she can write to me and I'll be happy to provide. I'm sure that that would be substantiated by the first group and by stagecoach. I'm more than happy to do that. I'm sure that the minister meant to strike a slightly more humorous tone than it came across, but I would just encourage all members to be courteous to each other across the chamber. On a constructive note, can I ask the minister if he can explain how the Scottish Government is planning on providing local transport authorities with improved options to influence the provision of bus services in their area to better meet local users' needs? I thank the member for a constructive question. The constructive answer would be, of course, that we look forward to bringing forward a transport bill. A part of that will be a bus element. The consultation on that has been launched today, and we will consult on a number of issues, whether it is local franchising, municipally-owned bus companies, enhanced partnership, open data. All of that will give more powers to local authorities to be able to shape bus services that help their communities. On top of that, of course, we will continue our support for the BSoc grant, and our support for the national concessionary travel scheme, and we will look to extend that. All in all, we hope to drive up patronage on buses, which has been declining not for years, but I'm afraid for decades. Minister will no doubt be aware of the impact that peak-time congestion is having on communities using buses and coaches. Can I ask him if he has any plans to extend bus and coach priority to other parts of the trunk road network, given the perceived success of what is happening on the M90? Indeed, for his views on usage of the hard shoulder and motorways during peak-time congestion. I am more than happy to take constructive suggestions such as that and have a look at what we can do more on the trunk road network. What I would say is that when bus operators speak to me about congestion, it is usually at the local level. Glasses go in the west of Scotland, perhaps, where some of the worst congestion is that we see across the country. What more can be done in that regard is really up to local authorities, the bus operator, but having a conversation with Government about how we can help to assist that in low-emission zones might be part of that conversation. I am more than happy to take away some of the suggestions that have been made. If the member wishes to write to me with more detail, I will explore what more can be done on the trunk road network. We are doing some work on that with Transport Scotland, but if he has more specific suggestions, I will examine them and explore them, but I would highlight that at a local level. That is where we need to tackle congestion in order to, as I said, reverse the trajectory of the decline of bus patronage. I wonder whether, perhaps, in future discussions with the stagecoach, Hamza Yousaf might be willing to take up the issue of reduction in services in the far north of Scotland in Caithness, not only is that having an impact on travellers within the Caithness area, but it is disrupting connections with onward ferry journeys to and from my Orkney constituency. As a result, I think that it can only result in fewer people taking on the bus and using that as an option. It is an issue that was raised with me in my recent visit to Orkney. Of course, we were delighted at that time to announce the reduction of ferry fares to the mainland, but, of course, the point was made that, when people come and use that scrap, there is a strong nest route in particular ensuring that there are enough bus services to take them for the length of their journey thereafter. Of course, I am more than happy to raise that with stagecoach. I should say that, of course, there is a commercial entity, and therefore that decision is a commercial decision for the bus operator to make. If he would like to make that representation to stagecoach, I would advise him to do so, if he has not already done so, but I am more than happy to do it in my next meeting with stagecoach. Fulton MacGregor To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that fibre broadband is installed in new housing developments. From 1 January this year, amendments to the building Scotland regulations 2004 set a new standard for in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks, thus enabling easier installation of fibre at any time. I also understand that open reach now offers fibre to the premises connectivity to developments of 30 properties or more, as well as a tariff proposal for smaller housing developments. For homes delivered under the affordable housing supply programme, the Scottish Government issued guidance to local authorities and registered social landlords advising that homes should include ducting to help future proof access to internet and broadband services where possible. Finally, in new-build developments, where there is commercial demand for superfast broadband, we expect that that will be delivered commercially without the need for public funding. Fulton MacGregor I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The vast majority of my constituency has now had fibre broadband installed, which is welcome. However, there are thousands of new houses planned for Coatbridge and Crescent, and already there are hundreds of households that do not have fast broadband and will not for many years to come. I welcome the response that I have already had, but will the cabinet secretary work with the housing minister to ensure that open reach and housing developers are working together to install fibre broadband as part of any new-build programs? Well, yes, we are working together with the private sector. We have good relations with the main players with whom we engage regularly. The building warrants requirement for new homes is a step forward. It is a good thing, but that does not affect existing homes. We have been able to extend access to broadband to 750,000 homes and premises as a result of our contracts with BT, but there is more work to be done. I can assure the member and other members who are interested in this that we are very much sharing the objectives of ensuring that such access is universally available. To ask the Scottish Government what changes it plans to the next BT contract for 100 per cent access to superfast broadband by 2021. Cabinet secretary, I should make clear that, contrary to the premise of the question, we are making no assumptions about who will win the contracts to deliver our 100 per cent commitment, the R100 contracts, neither BT nor anyone else. Indeed, we are seeking to ensure competition within the procurement process. I thank the cabinet secretary for that point on procurement. Too often, residents are told that their postcode has access to superfast broadband and are therefore included in the coverage statistics. However, in reality, they often do not. An example of that would be Keg, a village in my constituency of Aberdeenshire West, where the superfast fibre cable passes their houses on the very road that they sit on, but residents do not have access to the cable. Will the Scottish Government revise its definitions of fibre-enabled and have access to fibre in its new contract, to whoever it may go to, to ensure that it is a more accurate representation of accessibility to superfast broadband? The supplementary question was certainly well disguised by the original question, which is an entirely general nature. However, if the member cares to write to me about this specific instance, I will look into it. That said, however, I remind the member that the responsibility for regulation about the modes of introduction of access of superfast broadband rests entirely with the UK Government under schedule 5 of the Scotland Act. Therefore, the power to regulate what must be done rests entirely in that place, which is sad because it has not taken the outside-in approach to ensure that rural areas get access to broadband as quickly as urban areas. That has not happened because the UK Government has not chosen to use the regulatory powers that it possesses and could have used, like other countries, for precisely that purpose. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it being Scottish food and drink fortnight, what advice it has on supporting the food and drink industry and what action it recommends that the public takes as part of the fortnight? Scotland's food and drink sector is one of our great success stories. Food and drink fortnight aims to encourage producers and suppliers to promote Scottish produce and pride in our farmers, fishermen, crofters, distillers and others who make our great food and drink. This year, the key message is to change one thing, whereby everybody, whatever their connection to the industry, is encouraged to change one thing about their relationship with Scottish food and drink, to make a positive contribution to the industry. I thank the cabinet secretary for his response, but what he confirmed is that the growth of our food and drink sector in constituencies such as mine has been supported in recent years through grants from the EU. Last week, I visited Katie Rogers, artist and dairy in Stirlingshire, who received funding in June for new equipment to help expand our business. Should we leave the EU, can he advise if the UK Government is guaranteed to provide financial support for innovative food and drink businesses such as this in the future? Cabinet secretary, you know that I have committed to eating more of Scotland's fantastic dairy produce as part of the fortnight. I hope that the minister will agree with me that that should not be much of a hardship for me. That is one excellent thing that Mr Crawford has adopted. Having had a look at Katie Rogers' website, I would recommend everybody to visit the website and visit the premises, which I believe are around or near Balfron and consist of high-quality yoghurt products. That is the advertorial part of the answer. To answer the substantive question, the UK Government has confirmed that contracts entered into at the point of UK exit will be guaranteed. However, that is only 18 months away. What happens after that? We do not know in respect of this particular form of grant finance, which is so important, especially to small businesses such as Mr Crawford's constituents one. Therefore, my advice to Mr Gove is to get on with the day job, get on with the work of sorting out how we are going to continue to help our food and drink industry grow with the grants and the financial assistance that we have come to expect to be available under the EU. To ask the Scottish Government if it will provide an update on whether it plans to legislate for the mandatory installation of CCTV in abattoirs to monitor animal welfare. The Scottish Government has already recommended the installation of CCTV as best practice in the monitoring of animals at the time of killing. I am advised that an estimated 95 per cent of animals are slaughtered in plants where CCTV has already been installed voluntarily. As announced in the programme for government, the Scottish Government will consult in 2017-18 on the introduction of compulsory video recording of slaughter abattoirs in Scotland to aid enforcement of welfare requirements by abattoir management and food standards Scotland. Current advice concluded that CCTV does not by itself prevent welfare failures or secure welfare compliance. We will continue to monitor animal welfare at time of slaughter through the presence of Food Standards Scotland, veterinary and inspection staff in all approved slaughterhouses. I was very pleased to see the commitment to consult on mandatory installation of CCTV in the programme for government. While we may disagree on other issues from time to time, I am sure that Mr Ewing and I would not want it to be said that he was falling behind the aforementioned Mr Gove on progress on the issue. He says understandably that CCTV does not in itself ensure compliance with welfare standards and should not be a substitute for good management. However, can he tell us that the consultation will very clearly set out how mandatory installation of CCTV could form a part of good management of those facilities and that the consultation will be on the question of how, not whether, it should be done? I think that we do share the same approach of having the highest animal welfare standards. The answer that I gave reflects the fact that the expert committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, who provides independent scientific advice to all GB Administrations that have provided advice that CCTV cannot act as a substitute for direct oversight by management or veterinarians and further this group of experts, as I think Patrick Harvie does know, that by itself CCTV does not prevent welfare failures or secure welfare compliance. That expert committee did not recommend that CCTV be made a legal requirement. Instead, they recommended that CCTV is promoted by assurance scheme operators. I am very pleased to see that Quality Meet Scotland has updated its process of assurance scheme standards to add a new animal welfare section to apply to slotters. That might be of interest to the many members who have raised the important issue in the chamber. As far as the consultation is concerned, I think that it is right that the consultation set out matters factually, in detail, comprehensively and give those who are interested, particularly those who have a particular interest in the industry and also animal welfare, all of the facts and set out those dispassionately and in a neutral fashion. That is the right way to do that. In having consultations, we do not prejudge the outcome. We want to see the responses to those consultations before we decide what to do. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the rural economy in that well-known island of Skye, Lochaber and Badenough. I am very familiar with the island of Skye. I am sure that all members are, Presiding Officer. In area 1, it is not aware of this fact. Anyhow, the Scottish Government is committed to supporting sustainable economic growth across Skye, Lochaber and Badenough with the range of actions through our enterprise agencies and directivities, such as supporting the GFG Alliance's purchase of the former Rio Tinto Alcan aluminium smelting plant in Fort William. It is early days yet—I have stressed that, Presiding Officer—but this predicted investment will add £1 billion to the local economy over the next decade. The cabinet secretary will agree with me that broadband will be transformational in the rural economy. I warmly welcome the commitment in the programme for government to put rural Scotland at the front of the queue in the R100 roll-out. Is the Scottish Government committed to working with community broadband groups, for example, Lochail Net and Badenough broadband, in that process? We are committed to working in that way. The community-led broadband networks have had a positive impact. Some of them are supported by community broadband Scotland. Indeed, Lochail Net is an excellent example of having connected, I believe, 390 premises and benefitted from 91,500 of the CPS funding. The other thing that I would say is that we want to and are committed in our manifesto to providing access through our R100 programme to every home and business premise in Scotland by the end of this parliamentary term. Peter Chapman Thank you, Presiding Officer. I remind the chamber of my register of interests. Given that LFAS is such an important part of supporting the remote areas that Kate Forbes speaks about, what are the Scottish Government plans to do with the savings from LFA—LFAS—parashoot payments option? Right. I am not sure that there will be any savings from LFAS. Perhaps what Mr Chapman is meaning is that, because the current intention is that LFAS payments according to EU rules are to be paid for the forthcoming year at 80 per cent of the previous entitlement, what happens to the remaining 20 per cent? That was something that we considered very carefully and quite rightly so. It is simply contrary to EU rules that we could have devised a backdoor route to making up for that 20 per cent loss directly to the LFAS recipients. That would have been a clear contravention and would simply have resulted in disallowance on quite a major scale. I would also say—I presume that Mr Chapman knows this—that the European Parliament has urged the commission to reconsider the introduction of the 80 per cent LFAS this year and is urging that that be next year. I believe that the commission is considering that. As soon as we get any further up information about that, we will report back to Parliament. Were that to be the case, I would have to find £13 million from my portfolio to make up that payment. I would certainly want to do my damdust if that is not an unparliamentary term to do just that. Rhoda Grant The cabinet secretary will be aware that both Rolch Aber and Skye have enjoyed besieged tourist seasons this year, but that has brought its own problems with the lack of infrastructure to cope with them. The single-track roads and Skye are leading to iconic attractions that are at gridlock, as is the 882 running through Fort William. Can I ask what the cabinet secretary is going to do to improve that essential infrastructure to allow tourists to enjoy the sites and locals to go about their business? Kate Forbes has made me aware of the important issue through her assiduous work on the summer meeting with the local groups. I am pleased to hear that Rhoda Grant shares those interests. Plainly, in some ways, in Scotland, we are now a victim of our success. We have become so popular in tourism thanks to the leadership of Visit Scotland, assisted from time to time by the occasional Minister for Tourism, that things have gone extremely well. Now, of course, the pressures are the pressures coming from that success. Do not forget that the value of that money coming into the economy is great and extending the shoulder season is really helping with things like the NC500 to provide a step change in the contribution that tourism is making to the highland economy. Overall, that is a great thing, but I know that a lot of effort has been made locally by local businesses and people in Skye. Kate Forbes is involved in that, as well as by the Highland Council. I have discussed that informally with Margaret Davidson to tackle those problems of success, particularly at some of the sites that are extremely busy, as Rhoda Grant recently points out at the end of the single track road. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes to see what, in practice, can be done between the public and private sector working together. However, I am delighted that tourism is doing so well in Scotland.