Chamber and committees

As part of the development of the refreshed National Litter and Flytipping Strategy, we will commission research on the scale and cost of litter and flytipping in Scotland shortly. This research will provide an update on the cost of litter and flytipping to public bodies and will be published before the final National Litter and Flytipping Strategy is published.

The combined sewer network is designed to spill during heavy rainfall to protect homes from flooding. The reported 40% increase in sewage spills in the last five years is primarily due to increases in total annual rainfall and rainfall intensity which are related to climate change. The Scottish Government is committed to reducing sewage spills into rivers and seas across Scotland.

We have introduced legislation through the Urban Waste Water Treatment (Scotland) Regulations 1994 and the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 to minimise the impact of sewage discharges on the water environment.

We are working closely with Scottish Water and SEPA to prioritise investment to reduce sewage spill frequency and impact on the water environment. As part of a long-term strategy, Scottish Water is aiming to transform its waste water services to meet the challenges presented by the impacts of climate change and population growth.

The proportion of the total estimated Scottish Government investment at Annex D of the Infrastructure Investment Plan between 2021-22 to 2025-2026 in relation to a) utility networks, b) transport and c) digital communications is 8.7%, 27.2% and 5.4% respectively.

Further details relating to this estimated five-year planned investment are contained within the following table noting that gas and electricity network policy and regulation as well as digital infrastructure is reserved to the UK Government. The Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) funding covers a range of projects relating to low carbon infrastructure, some of which include heat networks. For the purposes of this answer, the full LCITP allocation has been included within the table as it is not currently possible to say what share is dedicated to utility networks.

The Scottish Government is committed to dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness. We have underlined this commitment by commencing procurement of construction the section of the A9 between Tomatin and Moy. The procurement for this £115M section commenced with publication of a contract notice on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal on 19 August 2021, and the contract for construction is expected to be awarded in the second half of 2022.

Design work is progressing well with the statutory process well underway for seven of the remaining eight schemes. Made orders for two adjoining schemes, Glen Garry to Dalwhinnie and Dalwhinnie to Crubenmore were published on 30 July 2021. An additional two schemes, Tay Crossing to Ballinluig and Pitlochry to Killiecrankie, are due to be published in the coming weeks. The only section not to have started the statutory process is between Pass of Birnam and Tay Crossing, which was the subject of a co-creative process with the local community. Work is currently underway to identify the preferred route for this section.

A market consultation exercise commenced earlier this year to inform assessment of procurement options for remaining sections when the statutory processes are complete. Determination of the optimal procurement option is a complex exercise which is considering a pipeline of work in a form that can be delivered by the industry, supports the economic recovery post COVID and minimises disruption to users if this lifeline route.

It is expected this analysis will be completed in the coming weeks and will inform decision making on our procurement approach and phasing.

The contract notice for the third section of the A9 to be dualled, Tomatin to Moy, was published on the Public Contracts Scotland portal on 19 August 2021. We anticipate the contract for this section to be awarded in the second half of 2022 with construction work starting thereafter.

It is also expected that the procurement process for the A737 Improvements at Beith project will commence later in 2021-22.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update published in December 2020, a route-map will be produced by the end of 2021, assuming the pandemic has moved to a phase to allow this.

As we have done in previous years, the Scottish Government flew the Red Ensign from its main buildings on 3 September as a sign of respect and recognition of the sacrifices made by our Merchant Navy Seafarers. In addition, we issued social media via the Scottish Government’s Veterans account to raise awareness of the key role played by the men and women of the Merchant Navy both today and throughout its illustrious history.

The Scottish Government do not hold the information requested. The delivery of training by Police Scotland, in Sri Lanka, is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

The Covid emergency gave rise to an unprecedented number of enquiries, questions and correspondence from members of the public. These covered a broad range of topics, including issues relevant to civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights.

As announced on 24 August, the Scottish Government will establish an independent Scottish public inquiry this year to consider matters in relation to Scotland’s handling of the pandemic. The Scottish public inquiry is expected to adopt a person-centred, human rights based approach.

The Scottish Government is currently inviting views on the draft aims and principles of the public inquiry. Further information about how MSPs and other interested parties can submit their views can be found at www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-inquiry/ .

Professor Iain Docherty’s report was commissioned by Abellio ScotRail to look at the future of rail across Scotland’s railway and the challenges and options facing the railway as the industry recovers from the pandemic. The Scottish Government was therefore not required to have any discussions regarding the public release of the report as this was a decision between Abellio ScotRail and Professor Iain Docherty.