Chamber and committees

The R100 North lot contract was signed one year later than planned due to a legal challenge which resulted in a necessary pause in the procurement process. The contract we subsequently signed with BT plc will go far beyond our superfast commitment of 30 Mbps by delivering a significant number of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections, providing future-proofed, gigabit capable connectivity.

The additional engineering work required to deliver these connections will take time, however we remain committed to ensuring that everyone can access superfast broadband services by the end of 2021. Anyone whose home or business broadband speed is less than 30 Megabits per second (Mbps), and where there are no plans under the R100 contracts or commercial build to bring superfast broadband to their address by the end of 2021, will be eligible for a voucher through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

This year we support to hotel facilities, including rural hotels, with £900k by means of our enterprise agencies as part of our highly targeted £14m COVID-19 Hotel Support Programme.

As we look forward beyond immediate business support, we are working closely with the sector and have secured £25m to deliver the recommendations of the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce. These wider actions will stimulate demand for the sector contributing to its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As previous Scottish administrations have done in the past, we are committed to enhancing our external reach and voice. Our new offices in Copenhagen and Warsaw will promote Scotland’s interests and expertise in the Nordic and Central European regions, attracting investment and supporting the exchange of knowledge and best practice. We will set out the costs of the Copenhagen office in due course but would expect them to be broadly in line with those of several other existing offices. It is too early in the planning process to provide an estimated cost for the Warsaw office.

The Scottish Marine Energy Research Programme (ScotMER), a Scottish Government initiative, is actively developing the evidence base required to facilitate the sustainable development of offshore wind. This programme works with key stakeholders and scientific experts to identify and address priority evidence gaps across environmental and socioeconomic interests.

Under this programme, the implications of underwater noise and efficacy of mitigation techniques have been identified as key evidence gaps, and we are working with industry and academia to deliver new research to inform future planning, consenting and licensing of offshore wind.

More information on ScotMER is available on: https://www.gov.scot/policies/marine-renewable-energy/science-and-research/

Year Five of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, which commenced in August, will be delivered in the same model as Year 4. Levy payers will continue to have access to up to £15,000 worth of training and Small and Medium Enterprises up to £5,000 worth of training.

We have committed to evaluating the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2021-22. The purpose of the evaluation will be to assess the impact the Fund has made on meeting employers training needs, addressing skill gaps and supporting workforce development. The evaluation will also provide recommendations to inform both the future of the Fund and the future development of national policy on up-skilling / retraining and in-work learning.

Reviewing the ‘fixed cap’ model for both Levy-paying employers and SMEs accessing the Fund will be part of this evaluation. Any recommendations from it in respect of its future delivery will be considered by Ministers next year.

The Scottish Government will be advised by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), if there is likely to be an unrealistic demand placed on the fund.

We will continue to engage and work collaboratively with the sector and SLIC, which provides leadership and advice to Scottish Ministers, local authorities and the wider libraries sector, to ensure we are addressing any concerns in relation to the Public Library Covid Relief Fund.

Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland. After section 1 of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 has been commenced, children under 12 whose behaviour has caused significant harm to others will be eligible for support provided by the Bairns’ Hoose.

Between 1 May 2021 and 19 June 2021 Marine Scotland received landing notifications of 18,557 Ballan, 255 Corkwing, 13 Cuckoo, 720 Goldsinny and 274 Rock Cook wrasses. Licence conditions dictate that landings of wrasse are recorded in terms of number of wrasse, by species and per ICES rectangle. This information is provisional, based on management information and may be subject to change.

Number of wrasse landings by Species, 1 May 2021-19 June 2021.

All legislative and regulatory responsibility for telecommunications rests with the UK Government and Ofcom respectively. As such the Scottish Government has no arrangement with Openreach around access to private land in Scotland. Wayleaves are negotiated directly between operators and landowners. Where it is not possible to reach an agreement operators can seek to have an agreement imposed by the courts using the Electronic Communications Code.

As part of the Reaching 100% (R100) North lot contract, 16 subsea cables will be delivered to 15 Scottish islands - Colonsay, Iona and Lismore in the Argyll & Bute local authority area; Eigg in the Highland local authority area; Eday, Flotta, Hoy, Rousay, Sanday, Shapinsay and Stronsay in the Orkney Islands local authority area and Fair Isle, Unst, Whalsey and Yell in the Shetland Islands local authority area.

Initial survey work is now complete and we expect all cables to be laid by the end of 2022, subject to favourable weather conditions.