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The Northern Isles Ferry Services contract awarded in June 2020 was reviewed before contract initiation to ensure lifeline ferry services were supported throughout the Covid pandemic.

The CEO of Ferguson Marine is preparing an update, for the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, on the delivery timetable and budget for vessels 801 and 802 which will be submitted before the end of March 2022.

This information is not held centrally.

The engines for vessels 801 & 802 are fit for purpose.

Following a meeting of the Food Sector Resilience Group, a short-life Food Security and Supply Taskforce is being established by the Scottish Government jointly with key food and drink industry leaders.

The taskforce will monitor, identify and respond to any potential disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from the impact of the war in Ukraine. It will also seek to recommend any short, medium and longer term actions that can be taken to mitigate impacts, resolve supply issues and strengthen food security and supply in Scotland. This will include actions to be taken by business and Government.

The taskforce will draw on technical and scientific knowledge and expertise from across a range of sectors, agencies and organisations. It will also consider any future structures and policy measures needed to monitor, address and strengthen food security and supply in Scotland.

Crucially, the Taskforce will support the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to use all powers it has available to support people in Ukraine.

Membership will be drawn from relevant sector organisations and the Food Security and Supply Taskforce will be co-chaired by myself and Chief Executive of Scotland Food and Drink, James Withers. It is intended for the Taskforce to meet frequently in the coming weeks.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government. Following the severe disruption caused by recent storms across Scotland the Scottish Government has fed in to independent reviews undertaken by BEIS and Ofgem.

Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) is clear that new, and alterations to existing buildings, infrastructure and spaces should be designed to be adaptable to future impacts of climate change. The draft acknowledges risks from climate change including those from extreme weather. Furthermore it supports in principle development proposals for enabling works for transmission and distribution infrastructure and energy storage including battery storage.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of children on foster home waiting lists.

Recruitment and retention of voluntary and retained on-call firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06745 on 10 March 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
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The value of the purchase order for the main engines and shaft alternators for vessels 801 and 802 totalled 5,270,000. The agreement for this scope of work was put in place prior to the yard coming into public ownership by Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited on 14 January 2016.