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The two projects funded by the Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund are either ongoing or yet to be deployed. It is therefore too early to fully measure the Fund’s success in relation to a number of its aims.

As a condition of grant funding, projects are required to submit a report to Scottish Ministers summarising the outcomes and performance of the project, as well as disseminating successful learning points from the project for benefit of the wider tidal energy sector.

The Fund fulfilled the Scottish Government’s commitment to review and relaunch the Saltire Prize. In the absence of a route to market as a result of the UK Government’s withdrawal of revenue support for the sector, the Fund provided a fair and competitive route for the Scottish Government to support the further deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters. The Fund is enabling two of Scotland’s leading tidal energy developers to innovate and take steps to reduce the levelized cost of energy for tidal stream energy, as well as stimulating Scottish supply chain activity.

Following a review of the Saltire Prize a decision was taken not to reinstate the Saltire Prize Medal as part of the refocused Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund.

The Saltire Tidal Energy Challenge Fund, which was launched on 10 February 2019 with total of up to £10 million available to help accelerate the commercial deployment of tidal energy in Scottish waters.

Following a process of evaluation and due diligence, two projects were supported under the Fund, with total funding of up to £4.945 million. Three further application for funds were received but were either withdrawn or not allocated funding. The Fund closed for applications on 6 December 2019 and no further funding will be distributed. The Scottish Government is considering the scope of future support for both the tidal stream and wave energy sectors in Scotland to ensure they can progress to commercialisation.

Orbital Marine Power were awarded up to £3.4 million for the Orbital O2 2MW Tidal Turbine Project. This award is equal to the total amount applied for to support a project with a total cost of approximately £13 million.

MeyGen Plc were awarded up to £1.545 million for the Subsea Hub Project. Total projects cost were approximately £2.6 million. The total amount applied for was reduced by the applicant during the application process, and the funding awarded was equal to the amount applied for to deploy the Subsea Hub as part of the wider MeyGen project.

With the agreement of Ministers, Disclosure Scotland invoked business continuity plans in March this year, and since then has been dealing with two separate application channels: business as usual, and coronavirus work. Applications in relation to recruitment solely for coronavirus work have been and continue to be prioritised.

The average processing time for all types of PVG applications is set out in the table below. For 2017, 2018, 2019 and January and February 2020, all applications were business as usual. From March 2020 the separate application channels are shown, with the figure for November being to the date the information was compiled.

The following table details how many vehicles have been in the Government Car Service (GCS) fleet in each of the last five years, broken down by Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV’s).

The Health and Justice Collaboration Board met on 29 January 2020.

In March 2020, the Health and Justice Collaboration Board was paused while resources were prioritised to focus on responding to COVID-19. Once pressures relating to the pandemic have eased, we will consider next steps for the Board including future meetings.

From 6pm on 20 November 2020, the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels (Scotland) Regulations 2020 restrict a person living in Scotland from leaving Scotland in order to travel to England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, unless they have a reasonable excuse.

Similarly, a person living in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland is restricted from entering or remaining in Scotland, unless they have a reasonable excuse.

The Regulations provide a non-exhaustive list of reasonable excuses. One example permits travel to attend a gathering which relates to a marriage ceremony or civil partnership registration.

This example permits people living in England, Northern Ireland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland to enter or remain in Scotland in order to attend such an event.

In Scotland, marriage ceremonies and civil partnership registrations can take place at all protection levels, subject to guidance on the numbers who should attend. Wedding receptions cannot currently take place in an area affected by Level 4 restrictions.

Restrictions and advice in place in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland may also affect whether an individual can or should travel to Scotland, including for a marriage or civil partnership. Restrictions and advice in place in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are not matters for the Scottish Government.

Successful and unsuccessful applications to the E-bike Loan Fund broken down by year, and month in 2020, is summarised in the following table.