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It is not for Scottish Government to determine whether or not criminality has occurred. This would be a matter for Police Scotland to consider.

The Scottish Government and its agencies are considering what further internal investigations are required. Once completed this work will be shared with Audit Scotland.

All parties will cooperate fully with any further investigation by Audit Scotland.

Scottish Ministers were not party to the procurement process and would not have indicated support for any specific bid.

No discussions have taken place with Police Scotland.

CMAL will only accept the vessels if they are fit for purpose. There are penalties and also the ability to reject the vessels regarding deadweight, speed and fuel consumption.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11247. On 27 October 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 understand that the delivery of Harland and Wolff's contract with the developers of the Neart na Gaoithe (NNG) offshore wind farm for eight turbine jackets has now been reduced to four turbine jackets due to supply chain issues with component parts.

Whilst the number of jackets has been reduced by 50%, I understand that this will only reduce the contract value by around 10%-15%.

Due to commercial confidentiality the exact job number linked to the NNG are not available but as part of H&W overall Scotland project, it is forecast that a total of 1,042 jobs are expected to be created by H&W Methil over a 5-year period – 614 at Methil and 428 at Arnish.

The Scottish Government recognises the seriousness of the allegations and we are carefully considering them.

In line with the Ministerial Code, we cannot comment on whether specific legal advice has been taken on this matter.

Yes. As previously stated during the long COVID debate on 19 th May 2022 we committed to allocate “ funding of £3 million to health boards across 2022-23 to bolster the support that they are already providing to people with long COVID ”. This was confirmed in the Programme for Government 2022-23, published in September 2022, which stated that “ we will invest £3 million this year through the long COVID Support Fund to assist those living with long-term effects of infection .”

In 2015, the Scottish Government was one of the first governments to develop and adopt a National Marine Plan, which sets out the strategic framework and policies for the sustainable development of our marine resources out to 200 nautical miles.

Since 2015, there have been significant changes in Scotland – including our commitment to becoming a net zero nation by 2045, the impacts of EU exit and increased understanding of the impacts of climate change and human activity on the marine environment. The most recent statutory review of the National Marine Plan, published in 2021, suggested that while the current plan is effective, the urgent need to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, amongst other more recent factors, such as energy security, has become a core driver for a new plan.

Acknowledging the findings of this review, we have decided that now is the time to develop a new National Marine Plan. The National Marine Plan 2 (“NMP2”) will take account of the aspirations and framing set out in the recently published Blue Economy Vision, among other long-term commitments outlined in the Programme for Government and Bute House Agreement.

Developing our second National Marine Plan will be a considerable undertaking, comparable to the efforts required to develop its terrestrial equivalent, National Planning Framework 4. It will involve extensive consultation with stakeholders and a series of technical assessments, which we estimate will take in the region of three years to complete.

There will be significant choices to make as we proceed through the planning process. We want all sectors and communities to be part of developing this National Marine Plan 2, building shared objectives for the future of Scotland’s seas. In the spirit of this commitment, today we have published a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for the development of National Marine Plan 2, which includes our statutory Statement of Public Participation. These resources outline when and how we intend to engage with the people of Scotland throughout the process and will be updated on a regular basis.

These documents and further information are available at:

• https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804358641
• National marine planning - Marine planning - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Marine planning - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)