Chamber and committees

Through the duration of the project well over 10,000 different people have been employed on site. An annual average of 1300 people have been employed on site on the Forth Replacement Crossing, which well exceeds the initial projection of a maximum of 1200 people at the peak of construction.

The Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) programme allowed an average of 20% downtime for weather over the construction period. Since deck lifting operations commenced in September 2015, the downtime due to adverse weather, specifically wind, has been 40% compared to the 25% anticipated by the contractor. Until May 2016, FCBC believed that they could mitigate these weather effects. However the impact of the unfavourable wind speeds in April and May 2016 was particularly severe, with 13 days and 12 days lost to wind respectively. As a result, FCBC advised Ministers that due to the combined effects of the time lost in these two months they could no longer deliver the December 2016 target opening date for the structure. In the period from June 2016 up to the end of February 2017, FCBC has reported a total of 37% of working days with some activities affected by the weather, principally wind.

The total estimated cost of the Forth Replacement Crossing is £1.325 - £1.35 billion, £245 million lower than the June 2011 estimate when construction began. The inflation element of the £245 million saving is £192 million. The remaining saving of £53 million is a reduction in the allowance for risk and optimism bias which have steadily decreased as the project has progressed through robust risk and project management. These savings are in addition to those achieved through the contract procurement process in 2010 which reduced the median project forecast by £512 million and the near halving of the initial £3.2 to £4.2 billion project estimate by incorporating the Forth Road Bridge and other existing infrastructure in the overall project scope.

The arrangements for the opening events to commemorate the opening of the Forth Replacement Crossing are currently being finalised. A full range of options to commemorate the options is being considered together with the requests to participate in any events. It is expected that the final arrangements, details and dates will be confirmed shortly.

The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme is progressing well and remains on track to meet its target of 95% fibre broadband access by the end of 2017. In 2016, Audit Scotland reviewed progress of the DSSB Programme and concluded that it was on track to meet coverage targets, with more premises than expected being able to access superfast speeds. To date 87.9% of premises across Scotland can access fibre broadband. This figure assumes that commercial rollout is completed on time and in line with plans submitted to the Scottish Government as part of the 2012 Open Market Review.

Likewise the Reaching 100% programme is also progressing well with responses to the Open Market Review currently being evaluated and supplier engagement continuing. The programme remains on track to launch new procurement activity later this year.

The Reaching 100% programme will promote an ‘outside-in’ approach, prioritising future public investment in the hardest to reach rural areas – those that won’t benefit from the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

The Scottish Government’s draft budget confirmed that up to £112 million will be invested during 2017-18 to improve digital infrastructure across Scotland. The funding will support the final phases of the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme and enable new activity to begin on the Reaching 100% programme and mobile infill. The DSSB programme is delivered via two contracts - one in the Highlands and Islands investing £145.8 million and one in the Rest of Scotland investing £266.5 million. As procurement for the Reaching 100% programme has not yet begun it is not currently possible to determine the level of expenditure across each region.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07593 on 9 March 2017. The development and breakdown of the initial projected cost of the Forth Replacement Crossing project was detailed in the Financial Memorandum to the Forth Crossing Bill dated 16 November 2009. This was subjected to detailed scrutiny by both the Parliament and the Forth Crossing Bill Committee and resulted in the Bill being passed in December 2010 by 108 votes to 3.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

It is the responsibility of the contractor FCBC to manage matters relating to its workforce and the Scottish Government does not hold this information. However, Transport Scotland has been provided with assurances from the contractor, FCBC, that contractual agreements are in place to pay local rates.

Consideration of potential economic impacts was reported in Chapter 7.14 of the DMRB Stage 3 Scheme Assessment Report Part 2 Engineering, Traffic and Economic Assessment, published Nov 2009. The Scottish Government will provide an update on these aspects following a period of at least three years of operation of the project. The DMRB Stage 3 Scheme Assessment Report can be found: http://www.transport.gov.scot/system/files/documents/tsc-basic-pages/FRC_Stage_3_Scheme_Assessment_Report__Part_2__v3_Final.pdf

Transport Scotland is part of the Scottish Government and meetings with Ministers occur regularly in the course of normal business. Transport Scotland Directors also routinely attend monthly meetings with Ministers to discuss issues including progress of major infrastructure projects, including the Forth Replacement Crossing project.