- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme will be extended beyond the 31 March 2022 deadline.
Answer
Only the interim voucher portion of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) – worth up to £400 per connection – is closing on 31 March 2022, and there are no plans to extend it beyond this date. The main voucher portion of the R100 SBVS – worth up to £5,000 per connection – will remain open for applications beyond that date.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to stimulate demand for competition between broadband and fibre infrastructure providers in local authority areas where there are only single operators.
Answer
Telecoms is entirely reserved to the United Kingdom Government, which means that the Scottish Government does not have the powers to intervene in commercial matters. Therefore, in the absence of further action by the UK Government, it is ultimately up to suppliers themselves to decide how and where they choose to stimulate demand for connections and/or services. However, we do work closely with communications providers and encourage new entrants into Scotland’s fibre infrastructure market – for example, by extending non-domestic rates relief to fifteen years for newly laid and lit fibre, ten years more than the UK Government currently offers.
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated cost is of public money for the two dual-fuel engines ordered by Ferguson Marine for the delivery of two ferries for the CalMac fleet.
Answer
The value of the purchase order for the main engines and shaft alternators for vessels 801 and 802 totalled 5,270,000. The agreement for this scope of work was put in place prior to the yard coming into public ownership by Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited on 14 January 2016.
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-06126 by Maree Todd on 28 February 2022, what its position is on whether over-70s breast cancer screening will have restarted by the end of 2022.
Answer
As answered PQ S6W-06126, in recognition of the anxiety the pause is causing, I have asked for work to explore options that will accelerate the restart of self-referrals for women aged 71 and over. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic. As part of these considerations our goal is to restart the option to self-refer by the end of September 2022, with a number of factors still to be worked through. The restart will be done in a phased way without unduly impacting appointment times for the eligible screening population for whom there are clear screening benefits. Every effort continues to be made to increase capacity in the screening programme, including through deploying additional mobile units and offering weekend and evening appointments.
Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the (a) Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Finance, (b) Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport and (c) Minister for Transport last met representatives from Ferguson Marine to discuss the delivery of ferries for the CalMac fleet, and what specifically was discussed at any meetings.
Answer
I have responsibility for Ferguson Marine and the vessels under construction there. I meet with the yards management on a fortnightly basis to drive faster progress, as well as receiving detailed monthly reports. Our last meeting was on 14 March 2022.
I am aware that the Minister for Transport visited the yard on 16 March 2022 for a tour and an introductory meeting with the new CEO.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it carried out a survey of the (a) MV Glen Sannox and (b) Hull 802 vessels prior to taking Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd into public ownership, and whether it identified any issues during those surveys, and, if so, what those issues were.
Answer
Prior to the Scottish Government taking control of the yard leading to Nationalisation, it was not possible to undertake a detailed analysis of the work required to complete the vessels. The detailed design and planning was the responsibility of the former owners of the yard.
It was only once the yard was in Scottish Government control that the full information was available and the full extent of issues with the design and approval of the ship become known. On 18 December 2019, the Turnaround Director submitted a report on the conditions of the two ferries, together with a revised programme and cost to complete the vessels. A copy of the report can be found on the Scottish Government website – Ferguson Marine: report on cost and programme for vessels 801 and 802 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the (a) timetable for the delivery and (b) latest estimated overall cost of public money of the two new ferries being built for the CalMac fleet.
Answer
The CEO of Ferguson Marine is preparing an update, for the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, on the delivery timetable and budget for vessels 801 and 802 which will be submitted before the end of March 2022.
- Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed the 2020-28 Northern Isles Ferry Services contract with Serco since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Answer
The Northern Isles Ferry Services contract awarded in June 2020 was reviewed before contract initiation to ensure lifeline ferry services were supported throughout the Covid pandemic.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is a signatory to an Openreach Fibre Community Partnership programme, in light of its announcement of 14 December 2020 regarding the contract with Openreach worth £384 million for the R100 North of Scotland Lot.
Answer
The Scottish Government is not a signatory to Openreach’s Fibre Community Partnership programme. The Fibre Community Partnership is a commercial offering, and has no direct link to the £384 million R100 North contract. As a registered supplier for the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, Openreach could choose to use the programme to deliver a solution for a community through aggregation of vouchers. However, I understand that they have currently paused registrations for the programme as a result of high demand.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 17 March 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-05516 and S6W-05517 by Lorna Slater on 24 January 2022, what emissions have been modelled for incineration with energy recovery as part of its Greenhouse Gas Inventory reports to date.
Answer
Emissions for incineration with energy recovery are not separately reported in Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics: 1990 – 2019 . These emissions are included under “Power stations” in the Greenhouse Gas Dataset, which is published as part of the statistics.