Seòmar agus comataidhean

Access to the scheme in 2021 will initially be through pilot projects as set out in our ‘First Steps’ document.

We are currently considering options for pilots. These pilots will test out how to successfully rollout a programme of free bikes to school age children who cannot afford them, including what the eligibility criteria should be for children to access the scheme.

I can confirm that construction cost for this project is currently estimated to be £18m, which is well within the 2014 construction cost estimate of £26m.

Construction cost updates for the project are published on the Scottish Government website every 6 months via the Major Capital Projects update.

The Scottish Government is not aware of the capacity of vessels owned by Pentland Ferries, the MV Pentalina or MV Alfred as a result of physical distancing requirements and mitigations.

The Scottish Government has not entered into any dialogue with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) regarding the existence or functioning of an on-board safety committee on the MV Pentalina. Any such discussion would be between the vessel’s owner, Pentland Ferries and the MCA.

Further to question S6W-00829, the Scottish Government has not taken any advice from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) or other regulatory authorities on the safety of the MV Pentalina to operate on routes on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network.

Further to question S6W-00824, the constrained passenger and vehicle carrying capacity with 1 metre mitigations in place for the vessels listed, are detailed in the following table.

I am pleased to announce our second update to the Covid-19 Vaccines Deployment Plan will be published later today.

The Plan reflects on our progress since March 2021 and explains how our COVID-19 vaccination programme is designed to be inclusive and that no-one is left behind, in order to protect individuals and the wider population of Scotland. The Plan also looks ahead to operationalising recent advice from the JCVI on vaccination of those under 18 years old, and the potential COVID-19 booster vaccination programme this autumn.

We continue to monitor the vaccination programme and will keep under review if and when a further update to the COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan is required.

The British and Irish Lions rugby match was a flagship event approved by the Scottish Government through an events gateway process. Flagship events are internationally significant events which maintain Scotland’s longer-term profile as a host of major events, with an eye to recovery from the pandemic, and with appropriate Covid-19 mitigations in place.

Decisions about the sale of alcohol was a matter for the Local Authority and was discussed at the City of Edinburgh Council Event Planning & Operations Group Meetings which had Police Scotland in attendance.

We are grateful that the majority of supporters followed the mitigation measures put in place around physical distancing which included extensive messaging around Covid protocols in advance of the match and on the day itself. This included signage (and hand hygiene) at all bars, public address announcements and an additional 150 stewards employed to manage this, however, we are aware that a small number of fans did not always comply. For those reasons, Scottish Rugby took the decision to close the bars earlier than scheduled to avoid a half-time surge. The safety of spectators and employees is, and will always remain, paramount.

The Scottish Government and event organisers will use the knowledge learnt from this to support the wider restart of events across Scotland.

The construction of the A92/A96 Haudagain Improvement project is progressing well and is anticipated to be complete in winter 2021 as confirmed in the Infrastructure Investment Plan update published in December 2020.

This date is subject to any unforeseen circumstances such as the effects of exceptional weather.