Chamber and committees

The R100 superfast broadband commitment was delivered by ensuring that everyone could access a superfast broadband connection, if they chose to, by the end of 2021 either through the R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme or commercial coverage.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is a demand-led scheme, meaning it is ultimately up to tenants and owners as to whether or not they seek to secure a connection through this route.

In August 2022, a £36 million contract extension to the R100 North and South contracts was announced, which will extend the reach of those contracts to a further 2,637 rural and island premises. Whilst this extends the contract completion dates for these contracts it means that more premises in rural and island communities will be able to access full fibre, gigabit capable, broadband services.

I am committed to finding a way to meet the Programme for Government pledge to consider how best to provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum in Scotland. A short-term pilot led by the Refugee Survival Trust and third sector partners in Glasgow commenced on Monday 30 January and will run until July. A report will be produced by the Refugee Survival Trust and included in consideration of the Scottish Government's next steps towards meeting our commitment.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy has now been published and is available here:

Strategy - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805259275

Executive Summary - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805259282

Easy Read - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805259299

Having reviewed our progress on the accompanying Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan, we now intend to carry out further engagement over the summer period to develop these further. We now intend to publish these supporting documents in the Autumn.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

The comment I made during the members’ business debate on motion S6M-09174 on 22 June 2023, was in reference to contributions to the Scottish Government consultation Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation.

An analysis report of responses to the consultation has now been published and is available to view at: Landreform in a Net Zero nation: consultation analysis . In particular, section 2 of the analysis report (Criteria for large-scale holdings) and section 11 (Assessing impact) consider responses to the proposed threshold, and any potential unintended consequences of the policy. In addition to this analysis report, where permission was granted by respondents, consultation responses have been published in full .

Transport Scotland, acting on behalf of Scottish Ministers, is a statutory consultee in the planning process on developments that affect the trunk road network, including the A1 at Reston. In support of the Reston station development, Transport Scotland undertook a review of the submitted Transport Assessment prepared by the developer.

The results of the junction assessment showed that there were no significant adverse operational impacts on the A1/B6438 junction as a result of predicted development traffic associated with the Reston Station development.

Each year Transport Scotland, through its Operating Companies, undertakes a review of collisions on the trunk road network to identify cluster sites, or routes with recorded collisions that may be worthwhile of further investigation. This evidence led approach ensures that resources can be targeted at locations where the greatest potential for casualty reduction is available. The most recent screening process did not identify the A1/B6438 junction as a priority site for further investigation, however Transport Scotland will continue to monitor road safety at this location.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19190 on 27 June 2023. 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 .

My officials will meet with Police Scotland on 20 July to discuss the next steps.

Under the current constitutional arrangements in the United Kingdom the application process for all immigration routes is fully reserved to the UK Government and is dealt with by the Home Office. If a displaced person from Ukraine has been issued a visa, including under the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme, they are free to travel anywhere within the UK or to leave and re-enter the UK when they wish, as long as they are meeting the conditions within their visa. The cross border geographical movement, within the UK, which includes that between Scotland and England is not monitored and the data requested is therefore not available.

As of 28 June 2023, a total of 3,551 vouchers have been issued through the Reaching 100% (R100) Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

2,985 of those vouchers have had their build confirmed at a total Scottish Government investment of £5,470,355.80.

The remaining 566 vouchers have been issued – however, as build for these has not yet been completed, we have not received invoices for them. As such, the additional voucher value of these cannot be confirmed at this time.

Independent work commissioned by Transport Scotland on the renewable energy requirements projected to be needed for the entire transport sector as it decarbonises between now and 2045 are set out in the Zero Emission Energy for Transport Forecasts: National Demand Forecasts for Electricity and Hydrogen report published on 26th May last year. The findings of this report show that the amount of electricity (and hydrogen) Scotland’s transport system is expected to need is well within the levels of what the energy sector is expected to generate.

It is important to highlight that electricity network companies are investing to ensure that our infrastructure can support our transition to net zero. Both Scottish electricity Distribution Network Operators have worked closely with the Scottish Government and other stakeholders to ensure that their business plans reflect the scale and pace of deployment necessary to meet Scotland’s net zero and interim targets.