Chamber and committees

The physical deployment phase of the R100 contracts and voucher scheme have not yet commenced, although survey work has been progressed and we are keen to proceed with physical build in a manner that is consistent with the Routemap as we emerge into a new normal following the COVID-19 pandemic. We are engaging with BT and Openreach on planning for physical build, to minimise the disruption to the programme.

As I informed Parliament on 9 January, the R100 contracts will deliver an exceptional outcome, particularly in the South of Scotland – including Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire. The planned contract build, alongside commercial coverage, will reach well over 99% of eligible premises, leaving only around 200 properties across the whole region that will require a voucher solution to deliver a superfast connection. All the R100 new build in the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency, as across the South of Scotland as a whole, will be in the form of full fibre connectivity (FTTP) with connection speeds of up to one gigabit per second, which is the current gold standard.

This will build on progress to date as a result of Scotland’s £400 million Digital Scotland Superfast broadband (DSSB) programme which has over achieved against deployment targets. Ofcom’s latest update to their Connected Nations report for spring 2020 indicates that 90% of premises in the constituency of Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire are now able to access speeds of 10Mbps and above, with 83% currently able to access speeds of 30Mbps and above. This compares with just 78% of premises in Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency that could access speeds of 10Mbps or better in May 2017, i.e. an increase of 12% over this period, while superfast access has increased by 13%.

Independent broadband analysis site, thinkbroadband, states that 87.8% of premises in the Scottish Borders local authority area are now able to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps and above. This is an increase from just 20.8% in 2014, when DSSB deployment began, reflecting the underlying failure of the UK-wide market to deliver for Scotland’s rural communities.

The Scottish Government has received copies of UK Hospitality's draft protocols. We welcome the work that has been done across the tourism and hospitality sector to develop guidance for safe workplaces once restrictions are lifted. We are working in partnership with UK Hospitality and other stakeholders on the issue of guidance through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group and will be publishing Scottish Government guidance for the sector soon to assist stakeholders to finalise comprehensive and compliant guidance.

The Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund (CTHEHF) provides support, not available elsewhere in the UK, for small creative, tourism and hospitality companies who have experienced at least 50% loss of current or projected revenue as a result of COVID-19 and are experiencing hardship. Due to significant demand we increased the fund from £20m to £30m. The fund is administered by our enterprise agencies, which are currently progressing applications. The fund is now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area. The performance data are compiled by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of all three agencies. As applications are still being processed the fund’s performance data are incomplete. I have asked the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to write to you this month as soon as the data you have requested can be reported.

Once all applications have been appraised and funding distributed, the intention is to publish information relating to the demand for CTHEHF and our other business support funds, including volume and value of applications.

Our targeted support funds to the creative, tourism and hospitality sector, along with support to SMEs who are vulnerable but vital to their local economies, and the newly self-employed have resulted in awards totalling £104m as of 2 June; that is grant offers to over 2500 businesses and 4160 self-employed people to date.

Our commitment to address market failure in the GB-wide telecommunications market and ensure, through our £600 million R100 programme, that all premises in Scotland can access superfast broadband services will be delivered via three strands of activity: the three R100 contracts; a new, Scotland-wide Scottish Government voucher scheme; and through continued commercial build.

The new, Scottish Government funded voucher scheme forms a key part of the R100 programme to complement the R100 contracts – it is not a separate entity, although funding for the voucher programme is additional to that committed to the three R100 contracts.

As I informed Parliament during my statement of 9 January, any property which we identify, through the online checker that will not benefit from superfast broadband access by the end of 2021, will be eligible for a voucher to help deliver a superfast connection by the end of 2021. We are on track to deliver an online checker this summer, which will provide information at the premises level, and are currently working through the details of the voucher scheme itself. I will keep Parliament up to date on progress in due course.

Progress on work for the R100 contracts covering Central and South Scotland has been maintained – despite COVID-related lockdown measures being introduced. This is, in large part, due to much of the work undertaken to date being desk based, with a limited amount of outdoor survey work being possible while remaining consistent with Scottish Government guidance on social distancing. We are continuing to monitor impacts of the pandemic and how this could affect timescales, as we move into the physical deployment phase, although significant work has been undertaken, in partnership with the industry and trade unions, to develop guidance on safe working practices in the context of the need to prevent transmission of the coronavirus.

As members may be aware, the award of the contract for the North lot of the R100 procurement remains subject to a legal challenge from Gigaclear Ltd. Until this challenge is resolved, we are unable to award this contract.

The Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund (CTHEHF) provides support for small creative, tourism and hospitality companies who have experienced at least 50% loss of current or projected revenue as a result of COVID-19 and are experiencing hardship. Due to significant demand we have increased the fund from £20m to £30m. The fund is administered by our enterprise agencies, which are currently progressing applications. The fund is now closed.

Each enterprise agency administers the fund in its respective area so no guidance was issued to Local Authorities.

Prior to launch of CTHEHF, the Scottish Government provided guidance on the purpose and eligibility criteria to the enterprise agencies. This covered, for instance, which sectors were included within the fund rather than detailed guidance on allocating funding to sporting businesses. Each application is assessed by trained assessors with awards made based on need.

Scottish Ministers recognise the exceptionally difficult circumstances being experienced by the tourism sector as a result of COVID-19, and the challenges these have created. We have significant and ongoing engagement with key stakeholders from the tourism sector including through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group and the Scottish Tourism Alliance, which have been key in identifying and addressing many of the challenges faced by businesses, employees and the self-employed in Scottish tourism.

We have put in place a substantial package worth over £2.3 billion for businesses in Scotland, with particular focus on the tourism and hospitality. This includes the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund, and the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund.

While official data on the financial impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector are not yet available for Scotland, the Scottish Government has published an experimental Monthly Business Turnover Index. These provide an early indicator of business activity using the survey data held by the Scottish Government. The index for March 2020 was published on 13 May, and indicates a considerable proportion of companies in Scotland’s Accommodation and Food Services sector has reported lower turnover in real terms than 12 months ago. This publication is available at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/monthly-business-turnover-index-march-2020/

The ONS has published initial UK-level data on the impact of COVID-19 by industry through its Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey (BICS). BICS includes data on responding firms’ trading status, and impacts on their recent turnover, for sectors including the Accommodation & Food Service sector.

Data from ONS’s BICS is available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/
output/datasets/businessimpactofcovid19surveybicsresults

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the tourism and hospitality industry on safe re-opening of the sector through the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group. The timing of lifting of restrictions will be guided by the science and health evidence, but we continue to work with stakeholders in line with the Route-map to ensure a phased and safe return of Scotland’s tourism industry when it is safe to do so.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29387 on 8 June 2020. 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 COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented public health and economic crisis which has required a government response like no other in modern peace time. The Scottish Government’s focus is to help and support our Tourism and Hospitality industry through these difficult times and to see it come back strong when it is safe to do so. Previous events, while posing deep challenges, prove that Scotland’s tourism industry is resilient and will recover in time.