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During the development of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 (“the Act”) the possibility of exempting “silent” or “low noise” fireworks from the provisions which aim to address the noise and disturbance associated with fireworks was considered. However engagement with a range of stakeholders, including industry experts, has confirmed that at present there is no recognised standard or specification for identifying, and therefore distinguishing, such fireworks. It is therefore not possible to exempt “low noise” fireworks from provisions within the Act at this time.

The Act does, however, include a regulation making power to enable this to be amended in future should such standards or specifications make this possible. We are continuing to engage with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the results of noise level testing undertaken on common firework products. This will improve our understanding of whether any common firework products can be considered as low noise fireworks, as well as the scope to move towards such recognised standards or specifications.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred or prejudice, it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The Cross-Party Report on Tackling Islamophobia shines a light on the impact of anti-Muslim hatred in Scotland and we are considering its findings as we develop a new hate crime strategy for Scotland.

I established the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group to provide collective cross-sectoral strategic leadership in the development of a new strategy. It will set out our priorities for tackling hatred and prejudice in Scotland and support implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Members of the group include justice and public sector agencies, as well as Age Scotland, Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS), Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO), Equality and Human Rights Commission (Observer), Equality Network, Glasgow Disability Alliance, Interfaith Scotland, RespectMe, Scottish Human Rights Commission (Observer) and YouthLink Scotland.

Importantly, the strategy will be informed by communities with lived experience of hate crime – including religious and racially motivated hate crime – and members of our Strategic Partnership Group are actively engaging with communities, to understand their experiences.

We are absolutely committed to tackling all forms of hate crime, including those experienced by Sikhs, Hindus and other South Asians.

As the member knows, in accordance with the requirements of UK Railway legislation – namely, the Railways Act 1993, and the Scottish Ministers’ Franchising Policy Statement, consideration is being given to the successor arrangement for the continued provision of Caledonian Sleeper services. It is our firm intention, should it be required, that all current jobs and post holders will transfer, should they wish to.

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.

This would be an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and is subject to the formal administration process.

I am extremely disappointed that there has been a further delay to the introduction of the new booking ticketing and reservations system.

I have been assured by CalMac that the new system should now be operational in early 2023.

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

The £1.4 million Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund was developed acknowledging islands are uniquely exposed to the current cost crisis.

In line with due process, the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Settlement Distribution Group will make recommendations on the allocation mechanism for the funding at their next meeting on 15 November. COSLA Leaders will be asked to give their final sign-off on 25 November.

As soon as possible after that date we will be in a position to share further information about allocation of the Fund. However, we can share that we will allow as much flexibility to Local Authorities as possible and support them to complement existing or new measures where appropriate. Any criteria and reporting processes required will be very light touch to minimise the impact on the workloads of Local Authorities colleagues.

We are committed to tackling hatred and prejudice in all its forms and recognise the value of having robust data and evidence on hate crime in Scotland. We want to see disaggregated data published on a regular and sustainable basis – including data about hate crimes against Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 makes provision requiring disaggregated information about police recorded hate crime and convictions data to be published annually. We are working with justice partners to ensure these provisions can be implemented effectively.

In the meantime, a further Scottish Government study into the characteristics of hate crimes recorded by police in 2020-21 will be published later this winter. This report will include the nature of hate crimes recorded by the police, including characteristics of both victims and perpetrators.

We encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime to report it to Police Scotland by dialling 101 in non-emergencies, or 999 in emergencies.