Chamber and committees

CMAL has appointed naval architects Leadship to carry out future vessel feasibility studies and concept designs which will include passenger cabin options.

As the project progresses, engagement events will be held which will ensure that all key stakeholders are able to contribute to the outcome of the project.

This is a matter for ScotRail. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The total cost for the helicopters utilised at the Cannich fire is not known at this stage, as the incident is still ‘live’ with damping down activity ongoing, and the two suppliers (PDG Aviation Ltd and Skyhook Helicopters) have not yet submitted their respective invoices.

The final cost of the helicopter support will run to hundreds of thousands of pounds, with the majority of the cost being met by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).

FLS deployed the helicopters to the incident at the request and in liaison with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Cost allocation has not yet been discussed with neighbouring land owners/managers.

The EPC for Strathbeg House in Thurso was completed on 20 May 2023 and has now been lodged with the Scottish EPC register. The EPC rating is D

The current ScotRail mobile app went live on 1 July 2019 and the following data, as provided by ScotRail, is relevant from that date until the present day:-

- App downloads: 1.4 million (this figure includes re-installs which ScotRail is unable to differentiate)

- Average users per month: 619,000 (average across last three months)

- Average sessions per user per month: six (average across last three months)

- Average session length: one minute, five seconds (average across last three months)

Information on the facilities available at ScotRail stations can be found on its website at the following link:-

Stations and facilities | ScotRail

The information on cycle storage at stations can be found under each station under the heading “interchange”. This confirms if the station has cycle storage available and how many storage spaces are available at that station.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18475 on 16 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

The Scottish Government has committed to making £3.5 billion available in this Parliamentary term towards the delivery of more social and affordable homes as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

The report is currently being finalised and will be published later in 2023 once this process has been completed.

I met with the Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council on 17 May. At that meeting, we discussed a range of matters relevant to the work of the Council. This included the approach that the Council plans to take to the review of guidelines that it produces. It was outlined that when reviewing offence or offender-specific guidelines, the Council will carry out an interim review when a guideline has been in effect for a year, considering data on relevant cases and engaging with sentencers to assess whether the guideline has had the intended effect and identify any unintended consequences. This will be followed by a full review after three years which the Council will publish, setting out the impact of the guideline in the medium term. The review of sentencing guidelines is a role that the Council undertakes independently.