Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies continually analyse inward investment data, including data from the Department of International Trade.

We also engage with existing and potential investors to understand and respond to their needs and priorities.

Licensed providers, also known as retailers, are responsible for billing and collecting charges from non-domestic properties across Scotland. The £15 million additional revenue was calculated on an all-Scotland basis based on data held by Scottish Assessors Valuation Roll on 1 April 2013. It has been broken down by local authority area in the following table:

Local Authority	Predicted Revenue (£ millions)
Aberdeen City	0.8
Aberdeenshire	0.2
Angus	0.2
Argyll and Bute	0.1
Clackmannanshire	0.1
Dumfries and Galloway	0.2
Dundee City	0.7
East Ayrshire	0.1
East Dunbartonshire	0.1
East Lothian	0.1
East Renfrewshire	0.1
Edinburgh, City of	2.9
Eilean Siar	0.0
Falkirk	0.3
Fife	1.2
Glasgow City	3.5
Highland	0.4
Inverclyde	0.1
Midlothian	0.2
Moray	0.1
North Ayrshire	0.2
North Lanarkshire	0.9
Orkney Islands	0.0
Perth and Kinross	0.2
Renfrewshire	0.6
Scottish Borders	0.0
Shetland Islands	0.0
South Ayrshire	0.3
South Lanarkshire	0.6
Stirling	0.3
West Dunbartonshire	0.1
West Lothian	0.9
Total	15.6

Source: Scottish Assessors Valuation Roll, 1st April 2013

On 26 May 2016, ministers were informed that Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) were looking specifically at the recent weather impacts on the delivery of the project as part of their six monthly programme review.

On 1 June 2016, FCBC ratified their revised programme at a meeting of the FCBC Board showing the Queensferry Crossing opening by May 2017.

On 1 June 2016, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work met with Sally Cox, Chair of the FCBC Board and Michael Martin Project Director for FCBC to discuss the emerging programme. Transport Scotland officials were asked to rigorously assess the programme when it was received to ensure everything possible that could be done was being done to meet the December 2016 opening to traffic target.

On 2 June 2016, Transport Scotland received written confirmation of FCBC’s revised programme showing opening by May 2017. Detailed scrutiny and challenge of this programme was subsequently undertaken on 6 June 2016 by Transport Scotland Directors, Transport Scotland Project team and independent advisors. Following this review, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work made a statement to Parliament on 8 June 2016 announcing the new date for opening to traffic.

<>Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors (FCBC) have advised that the construction of the foundations of the Queensferry Crossing have not contributed to the revised opening date for the bridge. FCBC have confirmed that weather alone caused this revised opening date.

Inclement weather affects construction activities in different ways ranging from the need to alter a method of work to completely cancelling a piece of work. Consequently, it is not possible to quantify how many construction days were lost on construction of the Queensferry Crossing as a result of inclement weather conditions. However, the contractor estimates that approximately 20% of the project programme has been impacted by weather in the period 2011 to 2015 which is in line with the allowances made in their programme.

 

 

I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.

As part of the £54.1 million package of support announced by the First Minister in January 2016, £4.8 million will be awarded to Healthcare Improvement Scotland to establish a mental health access improvement support team. This team will provide support to boards to improve access to psychological therapies for all ages, including for children and adolescents.

The improvement programme will be delivered by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, with support from NHS education for Scotland to enhance the supply and training of workforce (£24.6 million Scottish Government funding).

The Scottish Government has invested £16.3 million over a six year period to increase the number of psychologists working in specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) with a further £3.5 million committed in 2016.

Scottish Government officials, Health Improvement Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland met with NHS territorial boards, including NHS Forth valley, to discuss current performance and provide information on the mental health improvement programme in May 2016. The improvement programme will work in collaboration with NHS Boards to deliver sustained improvements in access to child and adolescent mental health services and psychological therapies services.

Health Improvement Scotland met individually with NHS Forth Valley on 20 May 2016 to discuss the tailored support which they will provide to the board through the improvement programme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00533 on 8 June 2016. 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 contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors’, has advised Transport Scotland that due to adverse weather conditions in April and May 2016 exceeding expectations and resulting in an increase in days lost to weather, they are unable to achieve the target opening date of December 2016 – which is six months ahead of the contractual completion date. The contractors remain on schedule to complete the project ahead of the contractual completion date. The contractors have taken additional steps to mitigate on-going weather impacts and have provided a revised timetable for completion to Transport Scotland and Scottish Ministers. Subject to the agreement of the Parliamentary Bureau, it would be my intention to provide a statement to Parliament on 8 June 2016.