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 As I announced to Parliament on 9 January, it is expected that the majority of build for both the £83 million Central lot and £133 million South lot will be complete by the end of 2023, with timescales for the North lot (of £384 million in value) dependent on the length and outcome of the current legal proceedings.

As I made clear in my statement and the subsequent responses I gave to Members’ questions, on its own, the main procurement contracts would be insufficient to deliver our commitment of 100% superfast broadband access by the end of 2021. This is why, - we will provide additional support to ensure that everyone can access, as a minimum, superfast broadband services by the end of 2021 if they are either not included in the list of premises specified in the successful bid or, where included on the target list of premises, the R100 roll-out in their area will not reach them in that timescale.

To deliver against this, I confirmed to Parliament that any properties which are not targeted through the contracts, or will benefit through delivery after 2021, will be eligible for our new Scotland-wide, demand-led voucher scheme that will be launched later this year to distribute grants to eligible customers. This new voucher scheme will be funded by the Scottish Government and will be targeted at allowing people and businesses to obtain superfast broadband from other sources and across a range of technologies, thereby ensuring access for all premises within the agreed timescale.

My statement to Parliament on Thursday 9 January set out the details which are currently available for the roll-out of the contracts for lots 2 and 3 of R100.

In the case of the South lot, covering the entirety of Dumfries and Galloway, some 26,000 premises across the local authority areas within the lot area were identified for the contract and I am pleased to say that the successful bid from BT will deliver a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) solution for 99.2% of those premises, with a residual of in the region of 200 premises requiring an alternative solution through our aligned intervention; delivered through grant funding via a voucher to ensure a service of at least superfast speeds can be accessed.

As I explained in the Chamber, BT is currently updating its own modelling to reflect changes in commercial delivery and ,once this is complete and detailed survey work has been undertaken, I have committed to share specific details of the roll-out plans, down to premises level, and this information will ultimately be made available to the public through a proposed on-line checker.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-26787 on 9 January 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at .

The Scottish Government is advised on these matters by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI has already evaluated and recommended moving from Zostavax to Shingrix in the current Shingles Vaccination Programme, providing that it could be secured at a cost effective and affordable price. The Scottish Government is working with colleagues in Public Health England (PHE), who procure the vaccine on behalf of the UK Health Departments, to take forward this recommendation. However, PHE have advised the availability of the Shingrix vaccine is expected to delay implementation of the JCVI recommendation, and in the meantime, the vaccine Zostavax will continue to be used for the programme.

The vaccination is not a treatment for shingles, however, protects against the disease.

We take our responsibilities on biodiversity very seriously and Scotland was the first country in the world to report against the full suite of Aichi targets. Our reports also contribute to those submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by the UK Government. The CBD is using reports received in 2018 to assess progress in meeting the 2020 targets. We intend continuing to report on progress in 2019 and 2020 which Scottish Natural Heritage will publish in due course.

The Scottish Government, through Transport Scotland, has introduced a series of speed management measures in Springholm over recent years. These include the erection of vehicle activated speed limit reminder signs and speed indicator devices. It has also made significant investment on the A75 at Springholm with the introduction of a trial of innovative technology comprising two sets of reverse speed discrimination traffic signals through the village to manage driver behaviour. There are no plans to introduce traffic islands on the A75 at Springholm. Continual monitoring of speeds through the village has indicated that the speed management measures are continuing to show positive results in relation to speed reduction compared to prior to the measures being installed.

The Scottish Government published the evaluation of the A9 HGV speed limit pilot, following three full years of operation, on the Transport Scotland website in July 2018. The percentage of accidents involving HGVs on the sections of the A9 which were subject to the pilot fell and the wider performance of the A9 improved substantially when compared to the baseline period. While there are no current plans to increase the HGV speed limit on the A75 this will be re-examined once evidence becomes available. As such, the forthcoming Department For Transport 3-year evaluation of HGV speed increase in England and Wales will be critical to understanding the impact of the HGV speed limit change on driver behaviour, vehicle speeds, the economy, the environment and road safety.

I refer the member to my answer to the question S5W-26560 on 11 December 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at

Statutory requirements for public notification of applications, consultation, the publication of additional information and the making of representations to which the member refers are given by the Electricity (Applications For Consent) Regulations 1990 ("the 1990 Regulations"), and the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 ("the 2017 Regulations"). Under these regulations, the legal responsibility for the publication of applications and informing the public of the procedures for making representations rests with the developer, not the Scottish Government. The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 require that an application website is maintained by the developer.

While not required by the regulations referred to above, the Scottish Government Energy Consents website has been established to provide increased transparency and facilitate public participation which goes beyond the requirements of the regulations. While there is no legal requirement for an auditor, we welcome all feedback on the effectiveness of the website from any source.

During a consultation process relating to an application under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, we endeavour to publish substantive information received from the applicant or consultees in a timeframe which allows members of the public an opportunity to make representations prior to the decision. Confidential information in relation to the breeding locations of protected species is not published where it could place individuals or the wider population at risk. Personal information is redacted where necessary in order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations.

Statutory timescales for responses from consultees are set out in the 1990 Regulations and the 2017 Regulations. The Scottish Government may publish updates on the Energy Consents website during a consultation where it is appropriate to do so and depending on the circumstances of each case. The Scottish Government replies to all queries from members of the public requesting updates on applications. We aim to respond by the deadlines required by the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.