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The 2020-26 Northern Isles Ferry Services contract commenced on 30 June 2020. A non-commercially sensitive copy will be published on Transport Scotland’s website in Autumn 2020.

The Scottish Government have not conducted any discussions with the UK Government regarding the incident on 25 June 2020 involving the MV Arrow.

The MV Arrow, is owned by Seatruck and was on short term hire to substitute for the regular vessel MV Helliar on the Northern Isles ferry services, as she attended her 14 day dry dock for scheduled maintenance in Rosyth. The MV Arrow and her crew commenced freight services on 17 June 2020 and had operated successfully on the Northern Isles routes before.

The MV Arrow grounded on approach to Aberdeen Harbour on 25 June 2020. Aberdeen Harbour tugs were able to move the MV Arrow and she successfully berthed in Aberdeen Harbour where all freight disembarked.

Serco NorthLink Ferries (SNF) were not the ship operator therefore were under no regulatory obligation to inform external bodies. That obligation rests with Seatruck Ferries, as owners of the vessel, with the vessel operating under their ISM system. SNF did however make courtesy calls to the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Isle of Man Ship Registry (IOMSR) to ensure that they were aware of the issue at the time of the incident.

The implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 has been affected by the Covid 19 Pandemic. This has impacted particularly on the development of guidance and regulations and the related consultation processes. RTP section 122 came into force in March 2020. Officials will recommence work on other aspects of the Act as soon as it is appropriate and practicable, and Parliament will be kept updated accordingly.

The £10 million allocated to the Bus Priority Rapid Development Fund was repurposed from the 2020-21 budget for longer-term bus priority infrastructure projects, which were paused, due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Employment legislation, including statutory sick pay (SSP), is a reserved matter and we have made no formal assessment of the reported situation at Trump Turnberry.

The Scottish Government encourages all employers to apply Fair Work practices and a flexible approach to dealing with the impacts of COVID-19. Employers should look to pay their workers throughout this crisis to protect them from financial hardship, making use of Government support available.

The Cabinet Secretary for Economy wrote to the Chancellor on 26 May raising a number of concerns relating to the Job Retention Scheme and reiterating Scottish Ministers’ ask that the UK Government make Statutory Sick Pay more responsive; including extending SSP to all workers irrespective of earnings levels during the current situation, and to increase the rate to at least the living wage.

We recognise this is an extremely difficult time for businesses but ultimately, it is for employers to maintain jobs and pay their workers throughout this crisis. We have provided over £2.34 billion in business support to help businesses through this. We would expect the Trump Turnberry resort to have applied for all relevant sources of help and support, as other businesses have done.

We recognise that despite this package of support, businesses continue to find the situation extremely challenging and, while we encourage businesses to retain their staff as much as possible, businesses are no doubt having to make difficult decisions to ensure their viability.

We are committed to supporting the tourism and hospitality sector bounce back from this crisis.

At this stage we have little local data. The tourism and hospitality sector has been shaken across Scotland and it is unfortunate to hear the Turnberry resort is considering these proposals.

We recognise however that this is a business decision and at this time, many businesses are having to make difficult decisions like this. We also recognise that it does not make it any easier for the employees affected however.

Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) is the Scottish Government’s initiative dedicated to helping individuals and employers with the advice and support they need when faced with redundancy. PACE advice and support will be available to all affected employees should this decision be implemented.

Further to the answer to S5W-29020 on 21 May 2020 and S5W-29558 on 9 June 2020 the updated report will be finalised when a full assessment of the impact of lockdown has been made. If the transition out of lockdown continues as planned it is anticipated the report will be provided by the end of July.

As an open and transparent government we will keep Parliament updated and proactively release the report thereafter.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government has produced a suite of guidance documents which are reviewed in line with the regular three-weekly review of the lockdown requirements and will be read alongside the legal restrictions and prohibitions contained in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The guidance will be updated in line with the reviews, to take account of changing circumstances and to be as helpful as possible. Consideration is currently being given to what specific advice could best assist people who are providing guide support.

The suite of Scottish Government Covid-19 guidance can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/#health,careandsocialwork

I refer back to my answer of 2 June: at all times it has been permitted for people to go out to help anyone at risk who needs support, this includes providing guide support.

Scottish Government has used at risk , rather than vulnerable to reflect that a lot of people do not consider themselves vulnerable but may, due to a range of circumstances, which may or may not be medical, find themselves at greater risk than the wider population. This may include those who require a guide from another household as is set out in my response to question S5W-29704 on 17 June 2020.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx