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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health without stigma, including medication where this is the most appropriate intervention.

Prescribing is a clinical decision to be taken by clinicians based on their assessment of the best interests of the patient and following the relevant clinical guidelines.

Public Health Scotland report the total number of children and young people aged 19 or under who were prescribed antidepressant medication in calendar years 2021 and 2022 as follows:

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Public Health Scotland publishes the number and percentage of patients who start treatment within the 18 week standard on a quarterly basis at NHS Board level.

The publications for CAMHS waiting times can be found at Publications - Public Health Scotland .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19494 on 28 June 2023 which confirmed that the Scottish Government response to the Scottish Mental Health Law Review was published on Wednesday 28 June. 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 .

Ensuring that we have a suitably qualified workforce in place will be imperative for delivering a smooth rollout of energy efficiency and zero emission heating measures which will support us to achieve our net zero ambitions.

We currently offer support to the sector through a number of schemes which includes the Low Carbon Skills Grant which is available to heating and plumbing apprentices to undertake heat pump training as part of their qualification.

To further ensure the quality of works carried out we also provide funding to assist Scottish SMEs installing heat pumps in achieving MCS certification for the first time through the MCS Certification Fund.

We will continue to keep our offers of support under review to ensure that they are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.