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All homes and businesses across Scotland should be able to access, as a minimum, a superfast broadband connection through commercially available or publicly subsidised terrestrial or non-terrestrial services. This includes fixed broadband services such as full fibre and fixed wireless products, as well as 4G mobile and satellite solutions. The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is available to support residents and business owners who cannot currently access, or are not in plans to receive, a fixed superfast broadband service. If there are issues pertaining to specific premises, please do highlight these to the R100 Team through our website at https://digitalconnectivity.campaign.gov.scot/.

When registering to deliver services through the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, suppliers are asked to provide evidence that they have already connected properties commercially. For Shetland, there are a number of registered suppliers who indicated that they were active in Shetland – Openreach, Converged Communication Solutions Ltd, Shetland Broadband LLP, Scotnet and BRDY. Shetland Broadband have already delivered connections using a fixed wireless solution, as have BRDY, using a satellite-based solution.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32136 on 18 December 2024. 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 Draft 2025-26 Budget invests in the long-term prosperity of Scotland’s people, places and businesses.

All valid claims under Part 1 of The Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973 submitted to Transport Scotland in respect of the Queensferry Crossing have been passed to the Valuation Office Agency to negotiate the level of compensation due with the claimants’ appointed agents. As soon as Transport Scotland receive the reports from the Valuation Office Agency, payments will be forthcoming as has already been done in a number of cases.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31641 on 5 December 2024. 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

Decisions on non-domestic rates for 2026-27 will be considered in the context of the Scottish Budget 2026-27.

The Scottish Budget 2025-26 announced a new 40% relief for hospitality premises, including grassroots music venues with a capacity of up to 1,500, which have a rateable value of up to £51,000, capped at £51,000 per business. Following the passage of the budget, the Scottish Government will update the MyGov website setting out the non-domestic rates reliefs available to provide information to applicants on this new relief.

We do not currently have an overarching mechanism to record where restoration is taking place across Scotland. Not all restoration projects require a marine license, and the patchwork of other consents and licenses needed by restoration projects does not provide a coherent overview of restoration activity in a centrally held database. The registration process for restoration projects we consulted on earlier this year was intended as a first step to improve our understanding in this regard. We will continue to explore the feasibility of such a process as part of the development of the restoration plan.

In March this year we consulted on legislative proposals to facilitate marine nature restoration. In the consultation document we set out concerns raised by community groups and restoration organisations with regards to the complexity of the regulatory environment for restoration projects. In response to these concerns we developed proposals to address one element of the complex issues, and while there was broadly support for the proposals, there was a lack of consensus on the detail of the scheme proposed. We will continue to listen carefully to restoration groups and coastal communities throughout the development of the marine and coastal restoration plan, and will identify actions to address barriers to restoration as part of the plan.

A broad range of organisations from across marine sectors, including restoration and community groups, were invited to attend an introductory meeting about the marine and coastal restoration plan on 4 December. Initial thinking on the plan and its development process was presented, and organisations have been asked to confirm whether they would like to take part in the advisory group. Based on this we anticipate membership will be finalised in the new year.