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.

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.

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.

The Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group published the final elements of its National Action Plan on 26 May on the VisitScotland website, VisitScotland.org. The Scottish Government continues to work with all members of the Group, including VisitScotland, the enterprise agencies, CoSLA and the Scottish Tourism Alliance, to deliver the Action Plan to ensure a safe and strong recovery for Scottish tourism as soon as it is possible to do so.

Scotland's bed and breakfast businesses have been eligible to apply for all appropriate funding schemes that the Scottish Government has made available to the sector, including non-domestic rates relief, business grants and the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Hardship Fund, where they meet the criteria to do so.

The Scottish Government recognises that the bed and breakfast sector, along with all of Scotland's tourism accommodation providers, has been severely impacted by COVID-19. It continues to work closely with the Scottish Tourism Alliance and other industry bodies, including those representing the bed and breakfast sector, to monitor the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on Scotland's tourism industry, both through data insights and through written and verbal communications and to work to address these.

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 Scottish Government appreciates the devastating impact that COVID-19 has had on Scotland's tourism and hospitality businesses and has worked hard to put in place a significant package of support for the sector. We have also listened closely where it has become apparent that needs are not being met - the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Hardship Fund is a specific example of this. We will continue to work with the Scottish Tourism Alliance, and other sector representatives, to ensure that Scottish tourism is supported towards recovery. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Tourism has written to the UK Minister for Tourism on thse issues, and on and will continue to press the UK Government to do the same.