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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-07600

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme can currently be used to access the Starlink satellite service.

The terms and conditions of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) require that suppliers meet Ofcom's definition of 'affordable' broadband - set by Ofcom as no more than £46.10 per month, as per the terms and conditions of the UK's broadband Universal Service Obligation. As Starlink's satellite service currently costs £84 per month (set to rise to £94 per month from 9 May 2022), it does not meet this requirement and, therefore, Starlink is unable to register as a supplier for the R100 SBVS.

Question reference: S6W-07568

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is aware of any reported allegations that the Chinese Communist Party, through student groups on university campuses in Scotland, is seeking to deter certain events from taking place, and, if so, what action has been taken to address this.

Question reference: S6W-07597

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will extend the deadline for applications for the interim voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme for people who are experiencing delays under the R100 programme.

Question reference: S6W-07599

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Starlink satellite service as a means of providing superfast broadband to hard-to-reach properties across Scotland.

Officials advise that Starlink's base level satellite internet service offers speeds of between 50Mbps and 150Mbps, but that Starlink's beta commercial service is currently only available at a latitude below 55 degrees. This means it is unavailable to the vast majority of premises in Scotland at this time.

Starlink has indicated that they have plans to make their service available above 55 degrees latitude in financial year 2022-23 – however, there is no firm date for further availability of the service.

Question reference: S6W-07565

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any Chinese state influence or interference in universities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-07606

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07084 by Kate Forbes on 17 March 2022, how many requests for vouchers through the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme have been declined in each local authority area, also broken down by (a) interim and (b) main voucher scheme.

Question reference: S6W-07605

Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme in each local authority area, broken down by (a) interim and (b) main voucher scheme, and how these costs compare with its original proposed funding for each scheme.

Details of the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) costs as of 1 April 2022 are set out in the following tables.

The original estimated costs of the R100 SBVS interim voucher was £3.3 million and the main voucher was between £12.8 million and £18 million. The SBVS continues to accept applications for main vouchers.

R100 SBVS Interim Voucher

Local Authority	Requested (£)	Issued (£)	Installed (£)	Grand Total (£)
Aberdeen City			300	300
Aberdeenshire	17,600	23,743	40,779	82,122
Angus	6,557	1,151	5,503	13,211
Argyll and Bute	3,376	5,448	6,545	15,369
City of Edinburgh		800		800
Clackmannanshire		1,957	3,200	5,157
Dumfries and Galloway	1,564	6,364	45,616	53,544
East Ayrshire		400	6,800	7,200
East Lothian	400		1,012	1,412
East Renfrewshire	400	2,716	2,000	5,116
Falkirk		1,200	1,600	2,800
Fife	378	1,535	3,966	5,879
Highland	344	4,147	16,422	20,913
Inverclyde			400	400
Midlothian			4,212	4,212
Moray	8,400	2,341	10,607	21,347
North Ayrshire			3,971	3,971
North Lanarkshire		400	3,200	3,600
Orkney Islands	17,152	5,998	2,000	25,150
Perth and Kinross	22,666	18,645	31,364	72,675
Renfrewshire			2,783	2,783
Scottish Borders	400	9,200	65,856	75,456
Shetland Islands	13,200			13,200
South Ayrshire			1,200	1,200
South Lanarkshire		2,000	15,506	17,506
Stirling	6,800	6,800	42,800	56,400
West Dunbartonshire		400	800	1,200
West Lothian			386	386
Total	99,237	95,244	318,828	513,309

R100 SBVS Main Voucher

Local Authority	Requested (£)	Issued (£)	Installed (£)	Grand Total (£)
Aberdeen City		22,185	8,701	30,886
Aberdeenshire	16,969	474,180	447,194	938,342
Angus	4,615	298,586	317,967	621,168
Argyll and Bute	1,410	69,001	160,915	231,326
City of Edinburgh		38,656	61,220	99,876
Clackmannanshire		10,212	17,280	27,492
Dumfries and Galloway		128,304	39,732	168,036
Dundee City		60,261	1,481	61,742
East Ayrshire	400	11,680	10,970	23,050
East Dunbartonshire			1,865	1,865
East Lothian	380,123	73,214	9,387	462,723
East Renfrewshire		10,000	5,400	15,400
Falkirk		25,710	17,747	43,457
Fife	400	19,468	85,738	105,606
Glasgow City		17,962	18,462	36,424
Highland	2,716	502,085	497,024	1,001,824
Inverclyde	1,410	1,410	1,410	4,229
Midlothian		55,498	8,700	64,198
Moray	26,336	314,807	189,071	530,214
North Ayrshire			23,913	23,913
North Lanarkshire		64,172	29,085	93,257
Orkney Islands	9,898	227,202	23,297	260,397
Perth and Kinross	800	133,697	142,070	276,567
Renfrewshire		15,000	50,300	65,300
Scottish Borders		90,885	257,386	348,272
South Ayrshire		1,916	13,405	15,321
South Lanarkshire		10,735	63,720	74,454
Stirling	2,751	57,160	74,213	134,124
West Lothian			800	800
Total	447,826	2,733,983	2,578,454	5,760,263

Question reference: S6W-07601

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with Starlink satellite service regarding the pricing structure to ensure that the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme can be used to access this service.

As Starlink's satellite service currently costs £84 per month (set to rise to £94 per month from 9 May 2022), it does not meet the affordability requirement as set out in the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) terms and conditions and, therefore, Starlink is unable to register as a supplier. As paragraph 2.6 of the beneficiary terms and conditions for the R100 SBVS sets out, vouchers are for one-off installation and set-up costs only. Vouchers cannot be used to subsidise service charges.

Question reference: S6W-07598

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in (a) Perth and Kinross and (b) Fife are deemed to be eligible for the £5,000 main voucher portion of the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme that is available to people who will not receive broadband services under the R100 programme.

Question reference: S6W-07602

Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 April 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has done of any satellite services that can be procured for the purpose of providing broadband to properties that will not be served by the R100 programme and will be able to be purchased with a £5,000 main voucher under the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.