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The Belgian Minister of Climate, Environment, Sustainable Development and the Green Deal and I held a positive meeting in May last year, in which we spoke about the circular economy, wellbeing economy and climate governance policy matters.

The subject of Scottish independence was not an agenda item in discussions, however Scottish ministers will always be polite enough during international meetings to answer any questions put to them about the Scottish Government's stated policies, including a legal, constitutionally sound referendum, as set out in our Programme for Government.

Financial support for travel to hospital is available for patients and authorised escorts, in line with eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

We continue to work with Boards to build on the significant innovation seen throughout the pandemic, in order to limit the need for travel where possible and clinically appropriate. For example, through increased use of digital and technological solutions such as Near Me to improve flexibility of care.

Where travel is necessary, Boards are expected to support patients to identify and access support available, taking account individual circumstances and ensuring patient care is at the centre of all decisions.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations report for 2022 – published on 15th December – indicates that over 99% of all properties across Scotland can access a reliable broadband connection, with less than 1% unable to access broadband of at least 2 Megabits per second (Mbps).

Ofcom figures also show that gigabit-capable broadband access across Scotland has increased substantially in recent years from just 10% at the start of 2020 to 62% in September 2022. This is, in large part, a direct result of the policies we have put in place to improve Scotland’s digital connectivity, despite telecommunications being reserved to Westminster. The Scottish Government’s investment in the R100 programme is also now delivering full-fibre, gigabit-capable connections at pace in some of our most rural communities.

In the south of Scotland, the additional £36 million investment we announced in August 2022 will extend full-fibre broadband access to a further 2,637 properties across Scotland – including 1,149 properties through the R100 South contract on top of the 20,740 properties already within contract build plans.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 for properties not within R100 contract or commercial build plans – remains available. We are seeking to drive demand in a number of ways – sharing case studies and updates online; working with public sector partners, including local authorities, to raise awareness of the scheme locally; and liaising with suppliers registered to the scheme to encourage them to proactively identify opportunities for voucher-funded projects.

We also continue to urge the UK Government to ensure that their investment in Project Gigabit is targeted at the hardest-to-reach properties in Scotland, thus extending gigabit coverage even further into rural Scotland and eliminating the need for some of those properties to require a voucher at all.

The Scottish Government has invested in digital technologies within the cultural sector through direct funding, programmes and sponsorship of public bodies such as Creative Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland. Therefore, what follows is not an exhaustive list.

Digital technologies are vital to all businesses in realising their ambitions and supporting the growth of the Scottish economy. Through our Digital Development Grant and Digital Development Loan, £7.1 million of funding went directly to over 500 businesses that recorded themselves to be within the Culture sector over the last five years.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government launched the Creative Digital Initiative (CDI), a £1 million digital support programme for creative and cultural businesses. It was developed in partnership with Creative Scotland, the Enterprise agencies and Skills Development Scotland. CDI supported creative and cultural businesses to develop their digital capabilities, improve their digital skills in and enhance their creative opportunities as they responded to the challenges imposed by COVID-19.

During Covid-19, the Museums and Galleries Scotland Digital Resilience Fund supported adoption of digital technologies within the culture sector and was administered by Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS). This funding provided much needed support for the sector to support the purchase of equipment necessary to enable work from home and provision of digital access to museum collections and activity. It paid out £110,806 to 67 museums in 2020.

Digital and digital engagement is also a key area of work for Creative Scotland. An overview of projects funded with a focus on digital activity is compiled in their Annual Reviews. Creative Scotland is currently finalising the review for 2021-22 and it is due to be published shortly.

In 2020-21, Creative Scotland funded 188 projects with a focus on digital activity, with a total award of £5.2 million. This is an increase on 2019-20 – when 21 projects with a focus on digital activity were funded, to a total of £847,993.

In 2018-19, Creative Scotland funded 36 projects with a focus on digital activity, with a total of £935,471.

In 2017/18, Creative Scotland made 40 awards through our Open and Targeted Funding programmes to the value of £1.2 million, with one third of those focussed on work with children and young people using digital tools creatively.

These awards are a mix of both Scottish Government Grant in Aid funding and The National Lottery.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government delivers support for the historic environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland. As Historic Environment Scotland’s spending on digital technology for the historic environment is an operational matter for them, I would invite the member to write to HES Chief Executives Office at chiefexecutive@hes.scot to request the information.

SEPA has informed Scottish Government officials they have no plans to conduct any monitoring or investigations at Arecleoch and Glen App wind farms.

As noted in my answer to question S6W-14975 on 2 March, Scottish Power Renewables have advised the Scottish Government that all spills on the sites have been of a minor nature and therefore have not required a notification to be sent to SEPA.

Local planning authorities are responsible for monitoring compliance with any conditions and other environmental commitments, or mitigations as identified as part of the Environment Impact Assessment. All cases are considered under their own granted consent.

The rules and regulations that govern the resilience of the GB electricity grid are a matter reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government has no responsibility in relation to the operational management of wind farm sites.

At the meeting on 15 February 2023, Scottish Government officials were given reassurances by Scottish Power Renewables that they are taking forward work on alternatives to the use of diesel generators.

Scottish Government officials continue to seek regular updates from Scottish Power Renewables on this work as it progresses.

Information regarding employment in the creative industries is publicly available on the Scottish Government’s website and can be found at Growth Sector Statistics Database . The relevant data is included in Table 2.5.

The employment data in the Growth Sector Statistics Database does not provide coverage of businesses and self-employed workers operating under the VAT threshold, which are of particular significance to creative and cultural employment, given that many work freelance or in small businesses. As part of ongoing work to develop our approach to measuring the size and performance of the sector within the National Performance Framework, we are currently undertaking work to improve our estimates of employment in the sector to include additional cultural, heritage and creative activities and to allow for better coverage of freelancers.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on future employment growth in this area.

I recognise that apprenticeships are vital to ensuring that the electrical sector has the skills it requires.

SDS is responsible for managing the apprenticeship programme in response to industry demand and in line with Ministerial expectations. They will continue to ensure that apprenticeships can support the sectors we need to grow our economy and deliver our just transition to net zero.

It is standard practice for SDS to review changing demand for apprenticeship starts in-year, and they adjust the number of starts allocated to respond as appropriate within their budget.

‎SDS undertook a reallocation process for MA starts in December 2022 and were able to allocate several hundred starts to training providers, with an extra 116 places allocated to the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT). They then allocated a further 87 places in February 2023, bringing the total number of places allocated to SECTT during 2022-23 to 865.