Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-16136

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to achieve 100% broadband coverage across the whole of (a) Scotland and (b) the South Scotland region.

Question reference: S6W-16137

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 March 2023
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that there is 100% broadband coverage for rural properties that currently rely on the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15847

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has invested in digital technologies within the cultural sector in each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government has invested in digital technologies within the cultural sector through direct funding, programmes and sponsorship of public bodies such as Creative Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland. Therefore, what follows is not an exhaustive list.

Digital technologies are vital to all businesses in realising their ambitions and supporting the growth of the Scottish economy. Through our Digital Development Grant and Digital Development Loan, £7.1 million of funding went directly to over 500 businesses that recorded themselves to be within the Culture sector over the last five years.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government launched the Creative Digital Initiative (CDI), a £1 million digital support programme for creative and cultural businesses. It was developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, the Enterprise agencies and Skills Development Scotland. CDI supported creative and cultural businesses to develop their digital capabilities, improve their digital skills in and enhance their creative opportunities as they responded to the challenges imposed by COVID-19.

During Covid-19, the Museums and Galleries Scotland Digital Resilience Fund supported adoption of digital technologies within the culture sector and was administered by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS). This funding provided much needed support for the sector to support the purchase of equipment necessary to enable work from home and provision of digital access to museum collections and activity. It paid out £110,806 to 67 museums in 2020.

Digital and digital engagement is also a key area of work for Creative Scotland. An overview of projects funded with a focus on digital activity is compiled in their Annual Reviews. Creative Scotland is currently finalising the review for 2021-22 and it is due to be published shortly.

In 2020-21, Creative Scotland funded 188 projects with a focus on digital activity, with a total award of £5.2 million. This is an increase on 2019-20 – when 21 projects with a focus on digital activity were funded, to a total of £847,993.

In 2018-19, Creative Scotland funded 36 projects with a focus on digital activity, with a total of £935,471.

In 2017/18, Creative Scotland made 40 awards through our Open and Targeted Funding programmes to the value of £1.2 million, with one third of those focussed on work with children and young people using digital tools creatively.

These awards are a mix of both Scottish Government Grant in Aid funding and The National Lottery.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. As Historic Environment Scotland’s spending on digital technology for the historic environment is an operational matter for them, I would invite the member to write to HES Chief Executives Office at [email protected] to request the information.

Question reference: S6W-15846

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds on the number of jobs that have been supported by the cultural sector in each of the last five years, and what projections it has made of future employment growth in this area.

Information regarding employment in the creative industries is publicly available on the Scottish Government’s website and can be found at Growth Sector Statistics Database . The relevant data is included in Table 2.5.

The employment data in the Growth Sector Statistics Database does not provide coverage of businesses and self-employed workers operating under the VAT threshold, which are of particular significance to creative and cultural employment, given that many work freelance or in small businesses. As part of ongoing work to develop our approach to measuring the size and performance of the sector within the National Performance Framework, we are currently undertaking work to improve our estimates of employment in the sector to include additional cultural, heritage and creative activities and to allow for better coverage of freelancers.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on future employment growth in this area.

Question reference: S6W-15787

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14973 by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023, what action has been taken following the meeting on 15 February 2023 regarding the use of diesel generators at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

At the meeting on 15 February 2023, Scottish Government officials were given reassurances by Scottish Power Renewables that they are taking forward work on alternatives to the use of diesel generators.

Scottish Government officials continue to seek regular updates from Scottish Power Renewables on this work as it progresses.

Question reference: S6W-15788

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14975 by Michael Matheson on 2 March 2023, whether there are any plans to conduct any monitoring or investigations at (a) Arecleoch and (b) Glen App wind farms.

SEPA has informed Scottish Government officials they have no plans to conduct any monitoring or investigations at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

As noted in my answer to question S6W-14975 on 2 March, Scottish Power Renewables have advised the Scottish Government that all spills on the sites have been of a minor nature and therefore have not required a notification to be sent to SEPA.

Local planning authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance with any conditions and other environmental commitments, or mitigations as identified as part of the Environment Impact Assessment. All cases are considered under their own granted consent.

Question reference: S6W-15789

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Skills Development Scotland to increase the number of funded electrician apprenticeships in 2023.

I recognise that apprenticeships are vital to ensuring that the electrical sector has the skills it requires.

SDS is responsible for managing the apprenticeship programme in response to industry demand and in line with Ministerial expectations. They will continue to ensure that apprenticeships can support the sectors we need to grow our economy and deliver our just transition to net zero.

It is standard practice for SDS to review changing demand for apprenticeship starts in-year, and they adjust the number of starts allocated to respond as appropriate within their budget.

‎SDS undertook a reallocation process for MA starts in December 2022 and were able to allocate several hundred starts to training providers, with an extra 116 places allocated to the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT). They then allocated a further 87 places in February 2023, bringing the total number of places allocated to SECTT during 2022-23 to 865.

Question reference: S6W-14974

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns regarding the health and safety of workers and poor environmental management practices in connection with allegations that Scottish Power has used diesel generators to power 71 wind turbines after a fault developed.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter entirely reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

Scottish Power Renewables have told Scottish Government officials that their management systems are accredited to ISO standards and that they have established a working group to consider alternatives to diesel.

Question reference: S6W-14976

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 10 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to meet with Scottish Power in relation to reported concerns regarding the health and safety of workers and poor environmental management practices in connection with allegations that Scottish Power has used diesel generators to power 71 wind turbines after a fault developed.

Scottish Government officials met with representatives from Scottish Power Renewables on 15 February 2023 to discuss the use of diesel generators at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter entirely reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

Question reference: S6W-14897

Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £50 million Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund, launched in September 2022, has been distributed to (a) each local authority and (b) registered social landlords.

£7.473m has been allocated to Aberdeen City Council, North Ayrshire Council and New Gorbals Housing Association. When including the pilot by North Lanarkshire Council, a total of four capital projects providing 754 homes are being supported by funding in the region of £13 million. We are also at an advanced stage of due diligence on several further applications from local authorities and registered social landlords across Scotland. These have the potential to bring up to a further 250 homes back into use. Approved project costs are published on our website at: Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund - gov.scot

Chamber and committees