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The costs to repair the damage to the pontoons at Lochmaddy harbour are a matter for discussion between the harbour operator and CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL). No indicative costs are as yet known, however any such funding for repair will likely be an insurance matter for CFL.

We take the protection of bats seriously. Defra recently published a study looking at the number of bat deaths attributable to wind turbines which has increased understanding of this issue. Currently Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are working on joint agency guidance on the assessment of the impacts of bats from wind turbines. I understand this will be published by soon.

The Scottish Government's Technology Enabled Care, or TEC, Programme was set up in 2014 to significantly extend the number of people directly benefiting from technology enabled care and support in Scotland, which includes telehealth and telecare.

Funding from the TEC Programme drives activity within Health boards, Integration Authorities and other delivery partners who remain responsibly for promotion locally. A report of the first year of funding, covering 2015-16, shows that already close to 25,000 additional people have benefited from the Programme. This report will be published later in October.

The Scottish Government will also publish this month our National Action Plan for Technology Enabled Care, setting out a range of actions to further promote telehealth and telecare as part of service redesign.

The Digital Participation Programme has been in place since 2012. The 2016 programme consists of a Digital Participation budget commitment of £1.9 million to raise the levels of digital participation. Public Library Improvement Funding of £450k has been provided to promote activity within libraries. Additionally, through the Digital Scotland Business Excellence Partnership, we have supported the delivery of the ICT and Digital Technologies Skills Investment Plan with funding of £8.5 million.

The overall impact of our investment so far is that of the four parts of the UK, Scotland has the highest level of basic digital skills. Since measurement began in 2007, the percentage of people in Scotland using the internet has steadily increased; 82% of citizens now have access to the social, cultural and economic benefits the internet can bring.

Extending Digital Participation is an on-going programme which is innovative and responsive to advances in technology. It offers choice to citizens, delivering options from basic digital skills through to employer recognised qualifications.

This approach ensures that in addition to being consumers, citizens have the opportunity to become digital makers. The programme therefore moves beyond ensuring basic digital skills to supporting extracurricular coding clubs, promoting the benefits of being on line and in some instances the provision of Wifi and supported learning in libraries and other community hubs to reduce the barriers to getting on line.

The Scottish Government does not hold detailed records on breaks in broadband service provision across Scotland. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, is responsible for monitoring the quality of service delivered across the telecoms industry.

The Scottish Government’s support for community broadband projects is delivered through Community Broadband Scotland (CBS). CBS currently has 14 projects underway and in build; and a further 49 projects either about to enter the procurement or consultation phase. CBS is working with these communities to refine their plans and, in some cases, to determine whether they still want to progress a community owned or managed project. If so, funding will be made available to help deliver that aspiration, where a sustainable business case exists.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring superfast broadband access for 100 per cent of premises across Scotland. Commercial investment will play a key role in delivering this target. We would anticipate that public sector funding will be focused primarily on extending superfast connectivity to rural areas, with commercial roll-out covering urban areas.

Precise investment priorities will be determined once an Open Market Review (OMR) has been completed and the findings analysed. It is not possible, at this stage, to specify a precise date; though we expect the OMR to begin in the coming months.

The Scottish Government is committed to extending superfast broadband access to 100 per cent of premises across Scotland by 2021.

The Scottish Government has regular dialogue with broadband providers on a range of issues, including speeds. I most recently met with BT on 6 September 2016 at which broadband speed issues were discussed. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has a key role in overseeing the quality of service, and speeds, delivered by broadband providers. I recently met Sharon White, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, where broadband speeds, and wider quality of service issues, were discussed.

The Better Broadband Scheme is a UK Government initiative. Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds the scheme; sets the eligibility criteria for vouchers; and approves suppliers to be part of the voucher scheme. All financial transactions are undertaken by BDUK. The Scottish Government’s role is to process applications in Scotland, assess these against BDUK’s eligibility criteria, and issue voucher codes. The Scottish Government has not allocated any funding to the scheme and is not sighted on how much funding remains available. The UK Government has not allocated a specific amount of funding to Scotland.

To date, the Scottish Government has approved 169 voucher applications. These vouchers do not have a specific fixed value but are capped at £350. As financial transactions are undertaken by BDUK, we are unable to confirm the amounts ultimately awarded to each applicant.

The Scottish Government has deemed 40 applications ineligible as these did not meet the criteria set by BDUK. Detailed reasons are set out in the following table:

35 applications are currently pending a decision.