– in the Scottish Parliament at on 11 March 2021.
Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party
8. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its infrastructure investment plan. (S5O-05113)
Michael Matheson
Scottish National Party
Our new five-year infrastructure investment plan, which was published on 4 February 2021, includes a pipeline of projects and programmes worth £26 billion. The first report on the progress of the pipeline of projects and programmes will be published in autumn 2021, and the first full annual progress report of the plan will be published in spring 2022.
Annabelle Ewing
Scottish National Party
I welcome the Scottish Government’s ambitious plans for the next five years. At this stage, can the Cabinet secretary provide detail on what sort of projects might be planned for the kingdom of Fife? That is a matter of particular interest to my constituents.
Michael Matheson
Scottish National Party
Within the kingdom of Fife, a number of very specific projects are being taken forward, which are part of the new infrastructure investment plan. For example, the Levenmouth rail scheme is a £70 million project to reconnect from Thornton junction through to Leven. In the coming weeks, work is due to commence on a £32 million elective orthopaedic centre at the Victoria hospital, which will provide a stand-alone, all-encompassing elective orthopaedic services facility. There is the replacement for Inverkeithing high school, as well as the replacements for Woodmill and St Columba’s high schools, which will form part of a new community campus, as part of the £2 billion learning estate investment programme. We are also investing £98 million in the new-build Fife College campus at Dunfermline, which is presently at the planning stage.
Fife will also benefit from the focus on data-driven businesses, through the University of Edinburgh and the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and south-east Scotland city region deal, including the hosting of the University of St Andrews Eden campus, alongside the academic provision that we have made for the hydrogen accelerator.
In addition to those projects, the new infrastructure investment plan outlines a number of national programmes, including £3.4 billion for affordable housing, our £600 million reaching 100 per cent—R100—broadband programme and £550 million for active travel, all of which will benefit the good people of the kingdom of Fife.
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
That concludes portfolio Question Time. I apologise to those members who made late bids for supplementary questions; time did not allow them to be asked.
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