Seòmar agus comataidhean

We communicated the action to reclaim surplus Covid reserves to be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities on 12 September 2022. We will continue to work with IJBs to understand their financial forecasts and further detail will be communicated later in the financial year. The detail will follow at an IJB level and the process and timetable will follow through further communications.

Despite the area of telecommunications being wholly reserved to the UK Parliament under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Government has already stepped in and taken the lead in addressing poor broadband coverage, given its economic importance to Scotland.

Through initiatives such as the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) and Reaching 100% (R100) programmes, we have connected almost one million properties to faster broadband right across Scotland.

Our R100 programme ensures that all homes and businesses can access a superfast broadband connection delivered through the £600 million R100 contracts, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme or commercial coverage.

No request for financial assistance has been made to the Scottish Government. In the normal course of business, Scottish Enterprise has provided information about its services to both an interested party and the Administrators.

As noted in my response of 3 November 2022, for survivor privacy reasons, given the small number of applications which have been determined in which NHS Scotland Boards are named, we cannot provide a further breakdown to the level of individual organisation as this would not be appropriate at this time.

NHS Scotland Boards contribution to Scotland’s Redress Scheme is a collective contribution on behalf of all 22 NHS Boards and NHS Scotland Boards have committed to pay an agreed proportion of all relevant cases. This is noted on Scotland’s Redress Scheme: contributor list, which also details NHS Scotland Boards joining Scotland’s Redress Scheme on 23 May 2022.

There are agreed financial arrangements in place between Scottish Government and NHS Scotland Boards to ensure NHS budgets are adjusted accordingly to account for any relevant Redress Payments.

Scotland stands with the rest of the UK, Europe and the world in condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is a nation with a rich cultural heritage, and it is of vital importance that this is protected for future generations – which includes working closely with artists and cultural organisations. That is why I recently took part in the Edinburgh International Culture Summit’s Cultural Leadership Dialogue, which brought together political and cultural leaders from countries who share a strong interest in supporting Ukrainian cultural colleagues and institutions affected by the invasion of their country, to consider practical steps for action. The Scottish Government also provided £75,000 to support the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, comprised of more than 70 displaced Ukrainian musicians, to play a free concert at the Edinburgh International Festival, with special invites extended to the Ukrainian community in Scotland and organisations leading efforts in the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees.

No Scottish Government guarantees were in place.

We have sought information both on the substance of the UK Government’s policy and on its proposed approach to discussing a possible model for Scotland: we await clarity on both fronts.

The Scottish Government is not aware of any investigation other than that by the Serious Fraud Office.

Budgets have been realigned to take into account the updated plan agreed between the Scottish Government and our R100 delivery partner, Openreach, following on from the 19 August announcement that coverage through the R100 North contract has been extended. This plan will see Openreach align the delivery of the R100 contracts alongside the commercial work that they carry out on a day-to-day basis. This does mean that some properties will receive access earlier than planned, while some properties will receive access later than planned. The £16 million referenced in the Emergency Budget Review is still expected to be spent as part of the overall R100 contracts.

Our address checker at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com remains the best way to track the most up-to-date connectivity status of individual properties, including the most recent plans and timescales for R100 contract build for eligible properties.

A potential buyer did contact Scottish Government but this did not include any request for financial assistance.