Chamber and committees

The security and resilience of the UK’s telecommunications network is reserved to the UK Parliament.

The Scottish Government works closely with UK Government, industry, Ofcom and other Devolved Administrations through the Electronic Communications – Resilience and Response Group (EC-RRG), which helps to plan for and respond to disruptive events.

Scottish Government officials also regularly engage with individual telecoms operators around disruptive events, such as Storm Arwen and the recent subsea cable break impacting Shetland, to help coordinate response and debriefs.

Our £28.75 million investment via the Scottish 4G Infill Programme is delivering new mobile infrastructure in 55 locations, which is improving 4G coverage and strengthening resilience of networks serving rural and island communities.

Fares on the Northern Isles Ferry Services network have been frozen until the end of March 2023 to help combat the ongoing cost crisis facing communities across Scotland.

I appreciate the need to get bookings released so that businesses and individuals can plan ahead, and aim to confirm fares and open bookings beyond 31 March as soon as possible.

Energy pricing and the powers to create local tariffs are reserved to the UK Government. However, we will continue to engage with BEIS about its Energy Price Guarantee review for April 2024 and the consideration of social tariffs for domestic consumers, especially for those in or at risk of fuel poverty.

The First Minister has also chaired two energy summits since August. These have discussed the impact of UK Government measures in response to the energy crisis and agreed that these should be more support targeted towards vulnerable households and businesses, including those living in rural communities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13195 on 21 December 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

The Low Carbon Transport Loan, launched in 2011, provides interest free loans to help households and businesses purchase electric vehicles. Since its launch, the scheme has invested over £176 million, helped purchase 6,148 low emission vehicles, and saved over 113,000 tonnes of CO2. The LCTL has several distinct streams, including the domestic, business and taxi loan streams.

The Energy Saving Trust deliver the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of the Scottish Government. The target for processing submitted claims containing all requisite information is within 10 working days.

The following table shows the percentage of payments made to businesses within 10 working days of all the necessary information being submitted by the applicant. Despite the challenges posed by COVID, for the vast majority of cases falling outside of the target, payments have only been delayed by 1 or 2 days.

Energy suppliers and advice services operating in Scotland have advised us in the course of our regular engagement that electric prepayment meters have a minimum top up amount of £5. The maximum credit a traditional (non-smart) prepayment meter can hold is £255, which is also the maximum value that can be placed on a top-up key.

Gas prepayment meters have a minimum top up amount of £1 and gas meters can generally hold up to £999 credit. Unless the top-up key is already full at the moment when a customer tries to redeem the voucher, there should be no reason that they are unable to top up.

I would urge any affected consumers to contact their supplier or otherwise call Energy Advice Scotland on 0808 196 8660 or at energyadvice.scot for assistance in resolving the problem.

I refer the member to my answer to the question S6W-12401 on 7 December 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 

I refer the member to my answer to the question S6W-12400 on 7 December 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

While the Scottish Government recognises that many people in rural and island communities already experience higher costs of living compared to those living in more central areas, the roll out of the Energy Bills Support Scheme is a matter for the UK Government.

The Scottish Government recently doubled our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million through the Emergency Budget Review, with local referral partners including Home Energy Scotland, the Fuel Bank Foundation, Advice Direct Scotland and Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. We also recently provided £1.2m of additional funding to boost advice services across Scotland.

I would urge consumers who are struggling with their energy bills to contact Energy Advice Scotland on 0808 196 8660 or at energyadvice.scot.

To answer both parts of your question: The Scottish Government received confirmation from the Maritime Coastguard Agency on 20 October 2022 that the vessel which caused damage to the primary telecommunications feeding Shetland had been identified and is a UK registered fishing vessel.