Chamber and committees

To date, we are not aware of the UK Government committing any funding for the upgrade of either the A75 or the A77. The UK Government’s Union Connectivity Review (UCR) published its interim findings in March 2021 and identified both the A75 and A77 as critical road transport corridors connecting Northern Ireland with Scotland and England.

At the same time, the UK Secretary of State for Transport announced that a £20m Union Connectivity Development Fund was available for advance design / development on a select number of transport corridors, including the A75. It is not clear if any of that funding has been spent on preliminary work for the A75.

The Final UCR Report was published in November 2021 and recommended that the UK Government commit funding to support the significant upgrade of the A75. The failure to mention the A77 suggests it will no longer be considered a priority for upgrading.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10967 on 23 September 2022. 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 alcohol ban on ScotRail trains and in stations is enforced by the British Transport Police who assist railway staff to ensure that the rules are being adhered to as far as possible.

In the development phase of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, we analysed future predicted coverage data supplied by mobile network operators. These indicated plans for commercial deployment on Barra. State Aid regulations then in force precluded S4GI deployment where there was planned commercial investment. On that basis, it was not possible to include candidate locations on Barra within the scope of the programme, and as consulted on as part of public consultations conducted by the programme in 2017 and in 2018.

I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.

The three projects now offered Option Agreements from Crown Estate Scotland under the ScotWind clearing round are located entirely within the SMP-OWE Plan Option NE1. Adoption of the SMP-OWE and the seabed leasing round followed the delivery of a Sustainability Appraisal, which included a Social and Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA). This SEIA estimated the negative impact of the Plan Option NE1 and the SMP-OWE as a whole, based on a series of development scenarios. Through that process and direct engagement with the fishing sector, the Plan Option was reduced further to avoid overlap with fishing activity. The SMP-OWE planning process considered fisheries data through an assessment of spatial and economic data, alongside consultation and steering group information. Although the planning process attempted to minimise impact on a wide range of receptors, there remains some overlap with receptors and we would expect engagement with the fishing sector as project applications are developed to be critical to determining the ultimate footprint of any development.

The Fuel Insecurity Fund was first established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, to help households struggling with their energy costs who were at risk of severely rationing, or self-disconnecting entirely because they could not afford their energy costs.

I have not visited Glasgow Airport during my time as Minister for Transport, however I look forward to meeting with the CEO of AGS Airports on 5 October 2022.

Following the ScotWind and clearing announcements, the Scottish Government is undertaking a review and re-assessment of the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy (SMP-OWE). As part of this process, the draft review of the SMP-OWE and associated assessments will be consulted upon in Spring/Summer 2023. The consultation is planned to last 12 weeks. Fisheries representatives will also be asked to form part of the review steering group.

Spawning and nursery grounds were a key consideration in the planning exercise for the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind energy. Existing spatial information on the likely locations of spawning and nursery grounds were incorporated into the opportunity and constraint analysis that provided the basis for the initial identification of areas of search for the planning process. Later, when areas of search were narrowed down, the Strategic Environmental Assessment, part of the wider Sustainability Appraisal, assessed the potential for the plan to negatively impact these spawning areas and outlined suitable mitigation measures, where required. The plan highlights where this may be necessary and where further assessment maybe required at a project-level.