Seòmar agus comataidhean

The use of hydrogen for the provision of domestic heat using the gas network will be demonstrated over the next few years in Scotland as part of the SGN H100 Fife ‘neighbourhood trial’ and in the UK as part of the larger village and town trials. The H100 Fife project is currently under construction, with aims to fit 100% hydrogen boilers into 300 homes in Leven. The project is scheduled to go live in 2024, and operate until March 2027. The Scottish Government has provided £6.9m grant funding to the project.

In the following table, data on all restriction of liberty orders imposed since April 2013 is provided, covering two contractual periods of the current electronic monitoring service provider (G4S Monitoring Technologies & Services). The data set out shows “status at order end”, either: completed, revoked or expired.

Compliance with a restriction of liberty order is reported back by the monitoring provider to a court, and the court then determines what actions they wish to take in relation to that order, which may include continuing or revoking that order. A restriction of liberty order can be revoked by the issuing court for a number of reasons including: on appeal, on breach of a concurrent order, because a new offence had been committed or a breach of restriction of the liberty order has occurred. The outcome of a revoked order could include actions such as imposition of a further court order or imposition of custody. A breakdown of reasons for restriction of liberty orders being revoked or outcome of revocation, by issuing court, is not held.

The category of “expired” orders, includes orders where the outcome of any court consideration may not yet be known at the point the order ends. It will also include orders that were not being actively monitored at order end. Active monitoring could cease for reasons including: absence of the monitored person without consent, householder consent to monitor at that address being withdrawn or as the individual is otherwise absent for example they are already in custody or are in hospital.

The information extracted does not provide for the differentiation between a closure of the road in both directions or when the road is only closed in one direction and each incident has been recorded as a ‘road closure.’

The length of closures (in hours / minutes) of the A9 between Inverness and Scrabster due to an accident between 2018 and 2023 (to date), month by month are detailed in the following table:

Scotland’s Forestry Strategy has committed to increasing forest and woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032. To achieve this the Forestry Strategy Implementation Plan and Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan both commit to increasing woodland creation to 18,000 hectares a year in 2024-25.

This commitment to increase forestry cover is an important part of Scotland’s response to the climate emergency and the international Paris Agreement, which set out Scotland’s ambition to reach net zero by 2045. The commitment sits within the range of scenarios described by the Climate Change Committee. It also contributes to Scottish Government’s pledge to plant 165,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 as part of the international Bonn Challenge.

The following table shows the annual budget allocated to achieve the commitments on increasing tree cover, together with net spend (millions):

SEPA determine how resources are allocated to meeting their statutory obligations through an Annual Operating Plan published each year in agreement with the Scottish Government.

Over the last 12 months SEPA have continued to implement Scotland’s national water scarcity plan which sets out how water resources will be managed prior to and during periods of prolonged dry weather. SEPA also produced regular water scarcity reports during the summer months.

SEPA and the Scottish Government are working closely with stakeholders to assist businesses in their planning for managing future seasonal water shortages. This includes launching a communications campaign on 2 May to raise awareness and work over the past 12 months alongside the Farm Advisory Service to ensure businesses have the information they need to prepare for water scarcity.

Information on the (a) longest, (b) average and (c) median waiting time for answered webchats in 2023 to date is provided in the following table.

Closures of the A9 between Inverness and Scrabster due to an accident between 2018 and 2023 (to date), month by month are detailed in the following table:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17864 on 23 May 2023. 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-17864 on 23 May 2023. 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 Ministerial Population Taskforce has committed to publishing the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan in Autumn 2023, which will include a place-based focus on a mixture of rural, island, and select urban locations across Scotland which are experiencing depopulation.

The Scottish Government is committed to taking a genuine partnership approach to the development of the Action Plan, and will continue to engage closely with local authorities, COSLA, agencies and local communities throughout summer 2023, prior to its publication.