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Telecoms is entirely reserved to the United Kingdom Government, which means that the Scottish Government does not have the powers to intervene in commercial matters. Therefore, in the absence of further action by the UK Government, it is ultimately up to suppliers themselves to decide how and where they choose to stimulate demand for connections and/or services. However, we do work closely with communications providers and encourage new entrants into Scotland’s fibre infrastructure market – for example, by extending non-domestic rates relief to fifteen years for newly laid and lit fibre, ten years more than the UK Government currently offers.

The value of the purchase order for the main engines and shaft alternators for vessels 801 and 802 totalled 5,270,000. The agreement for this scope of work was put in place prior to the yard coming into public ownership by Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited on 14 January 2016.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06655 on 14 March 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

COVID-19 has reduced the number of flights to/from Scotland and resulted in a sharp decrease in aviation emissions. As we work with the aviation sector to restore and grow the connectivity which is essential to Scotland’s economy, we are committed to doing so without restoring previous levels of emissions.

In the short term, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) have the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of aviation. Longer term hydrogen/electric aircraft could play an important role, and we remain committed to working to decarbonise all scheduled flights within Scotland by 2040.

Regarding the implications for Heathrow expansion, it is for the UK Government to respond to the Climate Change Committee recommendations for airports in England. The Scottish Government has been clear that the expansion of the UK’s only global hub airport should deliver economic benefits for all the nations of the UK, which is why the memorandum of understanding remains in place.

As answered PQ S6W-06126, in recognition of the anxiety the pause is causing, I have asked for work to explore options that will accelerate the restart of self-referrals for women aged 71 and over. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic. As part of these considerations our goal is to restart the option to self-refer by the end of September 2022, with a number of factors still to be worked through. The restart will be done in a phased way without unduly impacting appointment times for the eligible screening population for whom there are clear screening benefits. Every effort continues to be made to increase capacity in the screening programme, including through deploying additional mobile units and offering weekend and evening appointments.

Regardless of their age, women should remain symptom aware and report any symptoms to their GP immediately for these to be investigated.

I have responsibility for Ferguson Marine and the vessels under construction there. I meet with the yards management on a fortnightly basis to drive faster progress, as well as receiving detailed monthly reports. Our last meeting was on 14 March 2022.

I am aware that the Minister for Transport visited the yard on 16 March 2022 for a tour and an introductory meeting with the new CEO.

These assessments will be undertaken as part of work on the Scottish Government's Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP). Community needs assessments establish the level of transport connectivity required by each island and remote mainland community within scope of ICP and will update assessments undertaken for the Ferries Plan 2013-2022. Market assessments consider whether the required level of transport connectivity can be provided without government intervention.

The exact timescales for these assessments is still to be determined. We aim to make significant progress with these assessments during 2022 and conclude any outstanding work during 2023. Priority is currently being given to assessments required to support the business cases for live vessel and port investment projects.

Transport Scotland has not yet invited tenders for work on any of these assessments. It is expected that the work will be undertaken utilising both internal staff resource and external consultancy.

Hospitality businesses, like all other businesses, may seek advice on SME funding sources from the Business Gateway ( https://www.bgateway.com/ ) who have a network of offices across Scotland and will tailor the advice dependant on the particular business needs and location. This could include advice on possible grant support in areas such as Research and Development to help bring new ideas to market, on technical and commercial feasibility studies, or on knowledge transfer partnerships with educational institutions. Hospitality businesses can also search the ‘FindBusinessSupport’ portal ( https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ ) which lists all the main sources of advice, training and funding – including the loans and equity funds under the Scottish Growth Scheme - for businesses in any sector.

The Scottish Government criminal proceedings database does not hold information on the specific type of powered transporters involved in charges prosecuted in Scottish Courts.

Please note: The Criminal Proceedings database is not a live system and the latest available information is for 2019-20 financial year. Information for 2020-21 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2020-21 Statistical Bulletin. This is planned to be published later in 2022.

The dates of all Scottish Government Official and National Statistics publications are pre-announced, and the up to date list of future publications can be found at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs

The Scottish Government committed in our most recent Programme for Government to launch a public consultation on legal services regulation reform, to consider what changes may be required to the statutory framework to protect consumer interests and promote a flourishing legal sector.

Delivering on that commitment, the consultation was published in 1 October 2021 and closed on 24 December 2021. The proposals consulted were developed collaboratively with stakeholders representing the legal sector and the consumer view.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the responses to the consultation, and a consultation analysis report will be published later this year.