Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation looking to address the climate emergency, EST then delivery the Low Carbon Transport Loan on behalf of Scottish Ministers.

Since the scheme launched in 2011, EST have paid out (i) £176.5 million in loans for new vehicles and (ii) £46.2 millions in loans for used vehicles. (A) To date £101.5 million has been paid back for new vehicle loans and £7.8 million for used vehicle loans. (B) The scheme’s terms and conditions require the loan to be repaid over a term of up to 6 years (5 years for the used EV loan). EST can recycle loan repayments to fund further loans in order to maximise the value and impact of the scheme.

The Scottish Government provides annual funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST) who are an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency, EST then deliver the Used Electric Vehicle Loan on behalf of Scottish Minister.

Since the used electric loan scheme launched in September 2020 we have (i) received 3,885 applications and (ii) approved and paid 2,207 claims. Information on the value of loans paid each month is detailed in the following table:

As outlined in response to question S6W-24754 on 6 February 2024, Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report from December 2023 report states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”

The R100 contracts will continue to deliver gigabit-capable connections across Scotland and are expected to conclude in 2028. The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme also remains available to those beyond the reach of commercial and R100 contract build, offering up to £5,000 with which to secure, as a minimum, a superfast broadband connection.

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 .

Every home and business across Scotland, including on Orkney, should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit satellites.

As outlined in response to question S6W-24707 on 6 February 2024 every home and business across Scotland should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

The superfast broadband figure quoted in Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations Report published on 19 th December 2023 relates to the availability of fixed line broadband only, which currently stands at 95% across Scotland.

The same Ofcom 2023 report also states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently… delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”

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 .

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) has to date provided over £62 million to support the roll out of several heat networks across Scotland. The SHNF also offers funding to specifically support the extension of heat networks. All projects are encouraged to use our funding to establish heat networks that are futureproofed and have capacity for expansion. SHNF is currently supporting the extension of the Torry Heat Network. Phase 1 of the project received grant funding from the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) and will complete this year. Phase 2 will see the network increase its connections by 587 homes and various non-domestic buildings. In addition, West Dunbartonshire Council also received LCITP grant support to deliver the Queen’s Quay heat network which has been constructed with the intention to extend to further buildings in the area.

Although projects funded through LCITP and SHNF have the potential for expansion, many projects are currently in the early stages of multi-year construction programmes and any future expansion is dependent on the heat network owners.

We are also resourcing all local authorities to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies, and these identify many heat network opportunities across Scotland. This is the vital first step in the expansion of heat networks, and we will work with our partners in local government to undertake further economic analysis to provide a clear pipeline of commercial heat network projects.

In order to obtain accurate data from projects funded through Scotland’s Heat Network Fund and the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme we need to gather information for a reasonable time period post commissioning of the project to ensure accurate data is collated. As we do not have a full data set, we are unable to provide a reliable figure at this time.

In addition, due to heat supply agreements currently being developed by a number of projects, Scottish Government is unable to provide accurate estimates of heat supply for pre-capital projects as figures supplied by projects are estimates only and could change in the future.

The Scottish Government aims to publish our new palliative and end of life care strategy for consultation in spring 2024.

Data covering the period 2020-23 is available via the published National Statistics on the Scottish Prison Population.

Over this period, under 18s were held on remand in the following establishments: HMP YOI Cornton Vale, HMP YOI Grampian, HMP YOI Polmont, HMP YOI Stirling, HMP Edinburgh and HMP Inverness.

Section 20 of the 1989 Act permits SPS to hold young offenders (YOs) in a prison whilst arrangements are made to transfer them to a young offenders institution (YOI). A direction made under section 20A(2) of the 1989 Act may also allow a prisoner under 18 years to be detained in a prison but only for a “temporary purpose?. There is no definition of “temporary purpose? in the 1989 Act but an example would be for a young person to attend court.

The following table provides the number of individuals spending any time in each establishment or group of establishments in the course of each year covered by the National Statistics.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS does not record this information.