Seòmar agus comataidhean

Since opening to traffic in September 2017, the Queensferry Crossing has been open each day, with the exception of Thursday 30 November 2017 to 6 December 2017 when defects identified to the surfacing adjacent to the joints of the Queensferry Crossing meant that some snagging works were necessary prior to increasing the speed limit to 70mph. The Queensferry Crossing remained open during these works and traffic southbound was diverted over the Forth Road Bridge.

The Scottish Government is working with NFU Scotland to support SEPA to disseminate information to farmers, crofters and land managers on how to avoid problems and minimise impact resulting from water extraction and irrigation practice.

We will continue to monitor the situation on a weekly basis and discuss the position when the Agricultural Weather Advisory Panel next meets on 8 August. The Panel was established by the Scottish Government in December 2017 to act as a taskforce for rapidly sharing information, best practice and encouraging co-operation across industry to help farmers and crofters respond effectively to challenging weather conditions, both in the short term and in building longer term resilience.

To date, the Agricultural Weather Advisory Panel has progressed a number of actions. For example, it has extended the scope of support under the Scottish Government’s Farm Advisory Service to include: specialist advice for farmers and crofters through the National Advice Line; face to face advice on feed budgeting; and delivery of a number of one-to-many resilience workshop events. In addition, the Farm Advisory Service has issued a number of technical advice notes and updates on how to better cope with weather events, including advice on responding to prolonged dry periods. We have welcomed the campaign being conducted by NFU Scotland and others to encourage farm businesses to plan now for their autumn and winter feed needs.

We are supportive of HIAL’s planned Remote Towers and Centralised Air Passenger Surveillance air traffic management solution which is essential to ensure that air services in the Highlands and Islands can continue to operate in the future in a safe and efficient way. The HIAL Board has taken the decision in principle to locate the Remote Towers Control Centre at Inverness based upon a robust Locations Options Appraisal by the leading consultants EKOS Ltd.

There are currently 11 major sized vessels, 4 medium sized vessels and 16 minor sized vessels within the CalMac fleet, a total of 31 vessels.

The estimated cost of replacing the entire CalMac fleet at today’s prices would be around £800m.

The Scottish Government is committed to making local taxation more progressive whilst improving the financial accountability of local government and is always open to further dialogue on options for reform.

However, Scottish Ministers have been clear that they will not consider requests to explore a Tourist Tax unless the tourism and hospitality industry are involved from the outset and their long-term interests and the sustainability of tourism are fully recognised.

The Scottish Government is watching the development of Hyperloop, which is still in the early concept stage, with interest. In the meantime the Government continues to invest in developing the transport network using existing technologies to meet current and future demand.

The latest UK wide figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles has grown reflecting the increased emphasis on the development of these vehicles by the automotive sector.

The Scottish Government is supporting this transition by providing interest free loans for Scottish residents to fund the cost of new electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Funding for this scheme is increasing this year.

The number of offences recorded by the Police in Scotland that specifically relate to animal cruelty, between 2012-13 and 2016-17 are shown below. The National Statistics for 2017-18 will be published in September this year.

The only elements of social security spending in Scotland which were funded by the Scottish Government during this period were Scottish Welfare Fund awards and Discretionary Housing Payments. The Scottish Government began funding these benefits in 2013-14. All other elements of social security spending were within the competence of, and were funded by the UK Government. The following table shows the amounts spent by the Scottish Government, by financial year:

With the exception of Scottish Welfare Fund awards and Discretionary Housing Payments, all elements of social security spending, during this period, were within the competence of the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the overall number of social security claims made to the UK Government each year. Statistics are published separately for each benefit by the Scottish Government or UK Government.