Chamber and committees

Prior to public ownership, CMAL paid a total of £83.25m split between £82.5m contract milestone payments and an additional contract variation of £0.75m to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited.

The current budget to complete both vessels remains £123 million, as set out in the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy’s update to Parliament on 23 March 2022.

The CEO of Ferguson Marine wrote to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, on the delivery timetable and budget for vessels 801 and 802 on 28 September 2022. In his letter he forecast the costs in public ownership not to exceed £101 million for 801 and £108.6 million for 802. This includes a provision for warranty estimated at £3.5 million per vessel.

Our priority now is to undertake our own due diligence and this will be supported by external, independent financial advisors to ensure that a rigorous approach is taken to scrutinising this request for additional funding. This work is at an early stage. No decision has yet been made and will not be until this scrutiny has been completed.

The R100 contracts set out which premises Openreach will deliver to. Openreach has no flexibility to remove premises from contractual build without prior agreement from Scottish Government. To date, no premises have been removed from the R100 contracts.

Prior to contracts being awarded, commercial broadband infrastructure providers were invited to share details of their existing and planned build through an Open Market Review. The responses to this were then tested through a Public Review to ensure that only premises which were not in commercial build plans would be eligible for the build through the R100 contracts.

Sampling was carried out in the Chemical Investigation Programme 2 (CIP2) Scotland in areas of high density and low dilution wastewater treatment works (WwTW) at inland watercourses to identify WwTW at the greatest risk of non-compliance with the Priority Substance Directive. A selection of WwTW were chosen to represent influent, effluent, upstream and downstream of WwTW in order to keep the cost of testing the extensive suite of substances affordable. CIP2 Scotland consisted of over 160,000 results.

Aberdeen City, Dundee City, East & West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire are served by WwTW that discharge to coastal waters rather than inland waters. In CIP3 Scotland, sampling is being carried out at WwTW which discharge to coastal & transitional waters. Sampling is being carried out from Dalmuir & Ardoch WwTW which serve East & West Dunbartonshire and Shieldhall WwTW which serves East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire.

The SPCB is committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all staff throughout their working lives. Recognising the impact of period and menopause on the workforce is key to the Parliament’s commitment to an inclusive working environment.  The Parliament’s Period and Menopause Policy and supporting guidance was launched in 2019. 

The policy and guidance are in place to help create a positive culture where staff experiencing problematic periods or menopausal symptoms get the support they need to manage their symptoms at work.  Managers and MSPs, in their capacity as employers, are encouraged to create a positive workplace culture, including holding regular conversations with team members about health and wellbeing, including periods and menopause. The policy also recognises the impact on partners, families and colleagues. 

The Parliament has hosted a number of sessions for staff to provide space to discuss the impacts of the menopause and the support that can be provided to those experiencing symptoms. 

The SPCB was recognised for its efforts in 2019 and was awarded the Public Sector Award for Championing Gender Equality, with specific reference to the removal of barriers to improve the working experience and engagement with staff.

Since 2019, the Parliament has been open in sharing the journey with other organisations, also enabling us to progress our own understanding. The SPCB is currently reviewing the policy against those that were published after and is committed to engage with staff on an ongoing basis.  This review will include benchmarking against other organisations, and feedback on provisions such as period leave. 

In addition, MSPs, their staff, and SPS staff have access to a range of health and wellbeing related policies, advice and services including the Parliament’s Occupational Health Service, which can provide assessments or referral to medical specialists.  Staff can also access flexible working arrangements, including flexible working hours and time off for medical appointments.  In addition, the SPCB are extending the availability of free period products to all toilets within Holyrood.  

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09994 on 16 August 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

£25m digital inclusion funding was made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21 for local authorities to use to support learners, in line with their own local needs. This funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 tablets or laptops for learners across all local authorities. This included 2,905 devices in West Lothian.

A number of local authorities have also invested their own funding in technology and have distributed connections and devices to learners in line with their own digital strategies.

This is a complex and ambitious commitment, and we are currently undertaking preparatory work, including looking in detail at the available infrastructure in schools. We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term.

I know that many consumers in rural and remote areas of Scotland, already facing higher living costs rely upon heating oil to heat their homes.

I am very disappointed at the inadequate support announced by the UK Government for users of these fuels, especially since the additional £100 offered does not come close to the increases in heating oil and LPG costs seen in recent months.

We have raised these concerns directly with the UK Government, and will continue to do so.

Our Internationalisation Plans take an evidence-led approach to trade and investment policy and delivery, focusing on those sectors and opportunities where Scotland strengths align to global trends in trade and investment. All of our plans were developed in collaboration with our key delivery partners including Scotland's enterprise and skills agencies. Implementation of the Plans align our priorities around trade and investment with those countries and markets where Scotland already does well, but could perform better. This evidence base enables Scottish Development International, on behalf of the enterprise agencies and Scottish Government, to align their resources, including international offices and specialist staff.

For details of the specifics in this question, I have asked Scottish Enterprise to write to you directly with the information you seek.

From January 2022 to September 2022 the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund has committed grant support for the retrofit of 330 social housing properties across Scotland. The fund offers grant support of up to 50% of the total eligible costs of the project. Projects in the South Scotland region have been awarded an average grant of £5,668 per property.

The Scottish Government is determined to maximise the economic opportunity for the Scottish supply chain from our offshore wind potential.

Legislation relating to both the maritime industry as well as employment law is reserved to the UK Government. However, we remain fully committed to utilising every lever within our devolved competence to support and grow domestic supply chain and create new green jobs.

The introduction of a Supply Chain Development Statements by Crown Estate Scotland as part of the ScotWind and the current Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG) leasing round is one of these measures - failure to deliver on Supply Chain Commitments could result in a fine or a termination of the seabed lease.

We will drive forward offshore wind skills development – working with stakeholders to focus on the opportunities for diversification and skills transfer from our oil and gas sector, in line with our commitment to a Just Transition.