Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10483 on 21 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10483 on 21 September. 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 Scottish Government remains committed to finding and implementing a solution to address the landslip risks at the Rest and be Thankful as quickly as possible. I fully recognise the impacts on the local community and businesses and I can assure the member that work is being progressed as a key priority.

Following the identification of a preferred route corridor for the long-term solution, Transport Scotland is currently progressing the design of route options within that corridor. This includes essential data gathering including environmental surveys and, earlier this year, a £1.8M ground investigation was undertaken.

New technical consultants have been appointed to take forward the next stages of design and assessment work, a contract expected to be worth approximately £25M.

I anticipate bringing forward proposals for the medium term solution by the end of this year and to announce a preferred route option for a long term solution by Spring 2023.

The contract to build two new vessels for the Islay routes was awarded to the Cemre shipyard by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited on 28 March 2022. Key activities at this stage relate to design work and procurement of major equipment, material, and service suppliers, all of which are reported to be progressing well and in line with agreed timelines and budgets. The scheduled delivery of the first of the two vessels is October 2024 and will enter service following sea trials and crew familiarisation. The second vessel will follow in early 2025.

The Scottish Government has no direct role in the provision of student accommodation. However, we are aware of the ongoing difficulties faced by students in accessing accommodation this academic year.

We are currently undertaking a review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) which will look at a number of issues, including affordability and supply and the findings from this report, along with findings from the New Deal for Tenants Report which considered similar issues in the private rented sector, will inform a student accommodation strategy for Scotland.

The purpose of the consultation document, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation, is to seek views on a range of proposals for land-related reforms, including specific measures that could be included in the next Land Reform Bill. As part of that, views are sought on criteria that could be used to classify landholdings as 'large-scale'.

The criteria put forward for consultation in the document are based on the principle of proportionality. They are:

a. A fixed threshold of 3000 hectares

b. Land that accounts for more than a fixed percentage of a data zone (or adjacent data zones) or local authority ward(s) designated as an Accessible Rural Area or Remote Rural Area, through our six-fold urban/rural classification scheme

c. Land that accounts for more than a specified minimum proportion of a permanently inhabited island.

Meeting one or more of these criteria would mean that a landholding would be considered 'large-scale'.

The proposal to set the fixed threshold at 3000 hectares reflects a suggestion made by the Scottish Land Commission that the 'aim should be to establish a threshold that would ensure that family farms and small businesses would not fall in scope, but that modest estates that could pose risks [of harm to the public interest] would.'

As set out in the consultation document, the proposed threshold of 3000 hectares has been informed by data held on land and property titles by the Registers of Scotland, and the Scottish Government's Integrated Administration and Control System (which records data on all businesses with agricultural and non-agricultural land in Scotland that receive public subsidies.) Based on this data we consider that setting the threshold of 3000 hectares would be proportionate, in that it would bring into the scope of measures proposed for the Bill a substantial proportion of land in Scotland, while affecting a very small proportion of landowners, few of whom would be considered 'family farms'.

The Scottish Government’s contract with First Marine International (FMI), a subsidiary of HaskoningDHV, sets out deliverables around timing and the quality of the work done on the report that the Scottish Government has commissioned. These are being used to determine performance and are linked to milestone payments to the supplier. The use of milestone payments is a common mechanism in Scottish Government contracts.

Any decisions around potential investment at the yard will be subject to value for money considerations and to subsidy control rules.

The Scottish Government supports research and development in a renewable energy system through a range of funds, ensuring Scotland will be at the forefront of new transition opportunities. Our Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray has offered £20 million to projects this year, ranging from testing and promoting emerging technologies such as electric vehicle battery recycling, offshore green hydrogen, and decommissioning, to innovative projects such as a digital innovation lab and a supply chain pathway and challenge fund.

This builds on support offered through our £75 million Energy Transition Fund (ETF) and £100 million Emerging Energy Transition Fund (EETF). The ETF supports four projects: the Energy Transition Zone, Global Underwater Hub, Net Zero Technology Transition Programme, and Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, which will all support the sector to make progress on energy transition. The first tranche of the EETF’s hydrogen investment programme was launched via the £10 million Hydrogen Innovation Scheme with a focus on innovation in green hydrogen, storage and distribution technology. To provide a coordinated vision for the sector, our upcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will set out the energy system’s role in delivering a just transition to net zero and climate resilience.

Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 provides that any interested party can make a complaint to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body has failed to discharge a statutory duty relating to education.

Following investigation of the complaint, Scottish Ministers may make an order declaring the responsible body to be in default of the duty and requiring them to discharge the duty by a specified date.

The complaint procedures do not provide an option for the complainant to consent to the publication of an unredacted version of the final decision they receive.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any Scotland-wide surveying or monitoring of rat populations over the last five years.