Chamber and committees

Ministers have not discussed the outcomes of the Island Communities Impact Assessment on HIAL’s Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy (ATMS) with HIAL. Implementation of the ATMS project, including consideration of the outcome of the Island Communities Impact Assessment, is an operational matter for HIAL.

CalMac invests significantly in vessel maintenance. Each vessel is taken out of service annually to undergo an established programme of inspection and maintenance activities. This includes planned maintenance, preventative maintenance, repair and certification renewal to ensure the continued safety and reliability of the service.

The annual cost of maintenance and repairs by CalMac Ferries Limited on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services fleet since 2010 is detailed in the following table:

The figures are given as a fleet value rather than per vessel to retain commercial confidentiality of CalMac Ferries Limited.

This is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Scottish Government is committed to maintaining and improving the reliability of lifeline ferry services that play a key role in supporting the economic, social and cultural development of island and remote communities - including the Arran service.

We continue to invest in the reliability of vessels in Clyde and Hebrides network through the Resilience Fund which was established in 2008 to improve the future reliability and availability of vessels, including both vessels operating on the Ardrossan to Brodick route and for ensuring the resilience of the Lochranza service.

It is extremely disappointing that Pentland Ferries has taken a business decision not to make the MV Pentalina available for charter. However, the Scottish Government will continue to work with CalMac and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to actively explore opportunities for chartering alternative additional tonnage for the Clyde and Hebrides network.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan, published 4 February 2021, and projects, working with CalMac Ferries Ltd and Caledonian Marine Assets Ltd, we aim to replace ferries by the end of their normal working life.

The First Minister announced on 22 June that on 9 August, subject to confirmation nearer the time, all physical distancing requirements will be removed.

Ferry operators have been planning for the removal of physical distancing in order to increase passenger capacity wherever possible.

Any additional passenger capacity released will be made available on a first come, first served basis, as per the terms of the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles ferry services contracts.

The Charter for Grandchildren was originally published in April 2006. We republished the Charter of Grandchildren in April 2018 as part of our Your Parenting Plan resource. The Scottish Government has no plans to revise the Charter at this time.

The Charter for Grandchildren is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/parenting-plan-charter-grandchildren/

The Scottish Government has committed in the Family Justice Modernisation Strategy to further promote the Charter for Grandchildren.

The Family Justice Modernisation Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/family-justice-modernisation-strategy/pages/1/

To ensure that they remain necessary and proportionate to the health harms of Covid-19, a review was undertaken ahead of the publication of the Strategic Framework Update and the Physical Distancing Review on 22 June 2021 to consider whether an earlier re-opening of night clubs was feasible. It underlined that the risks of transmission associated with the re-opening of night clubs remained significant. These include poor ventilation, alcohol consumption and high noise levels. There is also the additional risk of close physical contact in nightclubs. These risks are considered to be higher than in other settings which is why this sector is under tighter restrictions than other settings such as bars. Importantly, nightclubs are generally frequented by younger demographics who will be amongst the last to be vaccinated.

However, the Scottish Government provided greater clarity on the timing and conditions under which a re-opening would be possible. The Strategic Framework Update advised that nightclubs would be able to reopen when Scotland moves beyond level 0, we hope to make that change on 9 August provided over 40s and adults at risk have protection from the virus through 2 doses of the vaccine and the virus is sufficiently under control.

The publication of the Strategic Framework Update and the review into Physical Distancing will hopefully have provided the events sector greater clarity, particularly on when limits will be removed and physical distancing will end. Live music events are allowed in levels 2 and below albeit subject to capacity limits. There is guidance in place which may allow events to go ahead above those limits subject to approval from the local authority when Scotland is in level 0. We hope that all limits on attending events can be removed on 9 August when the whole of Scotland is expected to move beyond Level 0 provided key conditions are met. Additionally, we are currently working with stakeholders to establish the right package of baseline protective measures which will be necessary at these events following Scotland’s move beyond Level 0.

In responding to the pandemic, The Scottish Government have been guided by the principles outlined in our Framework for Decision Making. Here we set out the direct and indirect harms of the pandemic, which we consider in our "four harms" approach: one of those being that protective measures have a damaging effect on our prosperity.

Decisions to allocate areas to Levels are finely balanced, taking into account a range of factors. These factors include the need to control the virus and minimise harms from Covid, in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as the wider economic and social harms or the restrictions. In addition any decision has to ensure that restrictions are justified, necessary and proportionate, and in a way that ensures impacts on fundamental rights are understood and minimized.

The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with businesses and their representative organisations during the pandemic, and are in close and regular dialogue with business leaders on a range of priority issues. We have also provided additional financial support to businesses in areas which have remained subject to higher levels of restrictions and we have worked closely with councils to ensure businesses subject to restrictions for a longer period of time remain supported.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01146 on‎ 1 July 2010. 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