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Costs of any contracts between ScotRail Trains Ltd. and Abellio will not be fully known until contract negotiations are concluded, and thereafter will depend upon the extent of use of the support services covered by those contracts.

The North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund (NEERSF) launched in August 2021. Projects will continue to September 2022 and following this, we will provide a report on the full period.

The first interim performance reporting from the delivery partnership was received in December 2021. These reports covered progress from 7th October to 30th November, when delivery remained in early stages. In that initial two month period 490 individuals and over 40 businesses were supported.

The Scottish Government recognises the vital importance of 4G for remote rural and island communities. Mobile telephony is however, as with wider Telecommunications policy, a Reserved subject area and the responsibility of the UK Government. The installation of alternative power supplies at mobile sites is a decision made by each operator.

The Scottish Government work closely with the UK government and operators to ensure that increasing resilience of the telecoms network in Scotland is a priority.

The Scottish Government has issued a letter to the Scottish Law Commission on 10 January 2022, commissioning a Law Reform Project to provide a draft Bill that would implement the recommendations of the Scottish Parliamentary Group on Tenement Maintenance.

Officials did not have any meetings with operators of overseas deposit return schemes (DRS) in the time period specified.

Evidence from other international schemes has played an important role in our decision-making regarding Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and operators of other schemes provided advice to Zero Waste Scotland during the policy-design process. During our review of the implementation date for DRS, Deloitte LLP has provided expertise and independent assurance relating to the process of establishing a scheme administrator, including drawing on its experience as an advisor to other operators and the wider global DRS network.

There is no distinction between objectives and deliverables of the £500 million Just Transition Fund for year one, and the £20 million allocation for year one.

Detailed policy design work and implementation planning, supplemented by a programme of engagement, is underway ahead of the new financial year. This will inform the objectives and deliverables of the Just Transition Fund. Further updates will be shared as this engagement develops. We will work collaboratively, continuing to engage and co-design this Fund with partners in region throughout the lifetime of this ten-year £500 million commitment to the North East and Moray.

The Scottish Government is currently working closely with Building Digital UK (BDUK) to develop our understanding of what Project Gigabit means for Scotland. To date, Project Gigabit has primarily focussed on England with the procurement approach developed for the supplier market there. We want to be sure that any approach works in a Scottish context and is tailored to extend future-proofed digital connectivity across the country.

We hope to publish a Gigabit Open Market Review in the coming weeks which will inform any future gigabit procurement strategy for Scotland. We want to ensure that Scotland receives a fair share of Project Gigabit funding and support – a share commensurate with the scale of the challenge we face.

I refer the member to the question S6W-05691 on 9 February 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 have received a response from Chloe Smith, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, to my letter of 5 January 2022 on the delivery of the roll-out of the extension of Scottish Child Payment to 6-15 year olds. That response confirms the Department for Work and Pensions’ commitment to “an agreed approach to the provision of the data which supports [the Scottish Government’s] proposed delivery timeline”.

That timeline is that the extension of Scottish Child Payment to 6-15 year olds will begin from the end of 2022.

The strong preference of the Scottish Government has consistently been to extend the existing interfaces, which are currently in place to support delivery of the Scottish Child Payment for under 6s, but the DWP’s position is that we should build to align with their new strategic solution. This carries a higher degree of risk to our delivery timeline, as the DWP’s new strategic solution is still in the design phase, but we have an agreed joint plan in place to monitor and track that risk.

Our officials continue to work closely to ensure the implementation of the required technical approach and Ministers will meet in due course to review progress.

Once the new standard comes into force, the Scottish Government will collect data on fire alarms in Scottish homes in future iterations of the Scottish House Condition Survey. Following the Scottish Government’s mass media awareness campaign in 2021, we know there are high levels of awareness and home-owners will have taken steps to fit the necessary alarms.

Information on the number of homes that have interlinked fire alarms is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey. This standard has already applied to private rented homes and new build homes for over a decade. Social landlords also have a programme of works underway to ensure their tenants have the necessary alarms fitted.