 I remind members that Covid-related measures are in place and that face covering should be worn while moving around the chamber and around the Holyrood campus. The next item of business is a statement by John Sweeney on response to Storm Arwin. The Deputy First Minister will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interruptions or interventions. I call on Mr Sweeney for around 10 minutes, Deputy First Minister. I am grateful for the opportunity to update Parliament on the response to and continued recovery the major impacts of storm ar cages. On Friday the Met Office took the serious step of issuing a red weather warning of danger to life classification of a weather incident at this level happens rarely and is an indication of the magnitude of the challenge that has been faced storm ar cages has caused widespread an extensive damage with impacts that have been greater than initially anticipated, this has created significant challenges a'r dryddiol i gymunedol a'r sylwedd yr unrhyw gwaith deunydd. Rwy'n gweithio i erbyn i chi gael i allanodd a'r yn ôl yn ddod i'r unrhyw gwaith, a'r hunain ffordd i'r kaithlain oherwydd cymdeithasol yn dda i gyfnoddau'n meddwl iawn y bydd hyn yn cael ei ddechrau i ar ôl. Siw ffordd i'r penigleddption o'i dda i theith iawn, gynnal hyn o ran hynog wedi gynnal i'r penigledd iawn o'r gweithwyr iawn ysgrifenni, yn y rhan fydd i tegoifiedig i lew. However, on this occasion, the storm tracked down the North Sea, bringing very strong north-to-northeasterly winds across eastern coastal areas. Naturally, our infrastructure is designed to handle incidents from the prevailing wind direction. That storm arwyn gave rise to very strong winds from an unusual direction exacerbated the severity of the incidents. Met Office records identify a few occasions in the 1970s and 1980s when widespread strong north-to-northeasterly winds have been recorded across eastern Scotland, but those only gave gusts to around 60 to 70 miles per hour compared with the damaging gusts of around 80 to 90 miles per hour experienced during storm arwyn. To give a sense of the scale of this event, storm arwyn has been a more significant event than the beast from the east in 2018, requiring a complexity of response that we have not seen for a number of years. It has affected almost all of Scotland with the most widespread impacts being felt in the north-east to Freeson Galloway and the Borders. In the north-east, that has been compounded by heavy snow and a sharp drop in temperatures. Amber warnings were issued in the days leading up to Friday's storm, but the Met Office escalated that to a red warning on Friday at 10.30am. The Scottish Government Resilience Committee met on Friday to be assured of preparations with information from local resilience partnerships, power and utility companies. Throughout the duration of the storm and its aftermath, the Scottish Government has been working closely with resilience partners and responders on the ground and with Scottish and southern energy networks and Scottish power to ensure that all is being done to respond to the impacts of this storm. Throughout this, the safety and welfare of people affected has been and remains at the forefront of these discussions. I am very aware that the impacts of this are still being felt across areas of Scotland and the recovery will take time. Our priority right now is to get power restored to homes and to provide support to those affected. The peak of the disruption saw 79,500 Scottish power customers and 126,000 Scottish and southern energy networks' customers affected. Both Scottish power and Scottish and southern energy networks have worked tirelessly on network repairs and have restored supplies to 184,500 people as of 8pm yesterday. However, I am acutely aware that this will be of little comfort to the customers who continue to be of supply. As of 11.45 this morning, I am informed that 16,763 customers continue to be without power. Those individuals are located in the borders to Freeson Galloway, Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Murray, Angus and Perthshire. I do not underestimate the impact that this is having on people and their wellbeing and how serious the situation is. I encourage anyone still affected by the impacts of Storm Arwyn to get in touch with their local authority to get help, advice and welfare support if they have not already been able to access that. Scottish and southern energy networks have deployed more than 500 engineers and support staff to repair widespread and extensive damage to its network and support customers. Scottish power, similarly, are deploying significant resources and both companies are drawing additional mutual aid and resources from across the United Kingdom. Given the severity of the storm across the United Kingdom, the additional resources and mutual aid that can normally be called upon by the power companies has been available later in the incident than would normally be the case. In many areas, damage caused by fallen trees and other debris has been severe. That is hampering access with specialist equipment being required. The power companies are also encountering much more significant damage to the network, which is therefore involving much more complex and resource intensive solutions to be able to reconnect supply to particular areas. I want to pay tribute to the staff from Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy Networks who have worked in very difficult and often precarious conditions to make as much progress as possible in the restoration of power supplies. Three multi-agency resilience partnerships are co-ordinating the response activity in the north, east and west, working closely with the power companies. Support is being prioritised for care homes and the most vulnerable in the community, including those with medical needs with a range of actions that has been taken in the most affected areas. The Scottish Borders Council opened drop-in centres and key locations to provide free meals and hot drinks to residents in surrounding areas that remain without power. In Forth Valley, a resilience partnership care for people group has been established especially to deal with the communities and vulnerable persons within them. Aberdeenshire Council confirmed all 170 schools that will be closed on Monday and today, and all schools have been checked for storm damage, access routes and to confirm if power heating and water supplies are operational. The priority is to ensure that buildings are safe before pupils and staff are welcomed back. The severe impacts in that area also meant that vaccination clinics in Aberdeenshire were cancelled on Monday with planned reopening today. The council has also set up rest centres and, in other areas, hotels, pubs and halls are being opened to provide food and warmth. Local partnerships and community groups have been going door-to-door on providing hot food and assistance packages. While many people are making arrangements to stay with friends and families who have power, those without power are being offered accommodation in hotels. The British Red Cross is utilising community volunteers across the north area, supporting energy and council partners, providing door-to-door welfare checks on vulnerable people and care homes, and distributing blankets, food and essential supplies and information to vulnerable and prioritised individuals. In Dumfries and Galloway, the care for people arrangements through the council's care at home teams, social work teams and its care call service have continued to make care visits throughout this period. That has helped to identify those who may be in need of additional support and will continue to be closely monitored. There were a small number of primary school closures yesterday in the area, however, all except one that is expected to reopen today. Our transport network was also seriously affected by the storm. On Friday, Police Scotland issued do-not-travel warnings, and by Saturday, many trunk roads and railway lines were closed. However, I am pleased to report that all trunk roads were cleared by Saturday evening, and there are no remaining storm-related rail issues. There have been many wider impacts on the storm, with 10,000 properties having experienced water supply issues, and Scottish water is working at pace to restore water supplies and is providing all those affected with alternative supplies of drinking water. Around 1,500 properties are still without a water supply, mainly across the de-side area, with work being hampered by the loss of power and difficulty in accessing some sites due to on-going weather conditions or blocked access routes. Telecoms providers have experienced significant infrastructure damage, and my officials have met them through the national emergency alert for telecoms protocol to seek assurances on power resilience provisions that they have in place to restore mobile telecoms in affected areas. Actions being taken include mobile generation deployment to affected cell locations. While the position is improving, we continue to focus on this as a key issue. I would want to assure Parliament and members of the public that the focus of the Scottish Government, local resilience partnerships and the power and utility companies is on restoring services to those affected as quickly as possible and to taking the practical steps to help anyone who has been adversely affected. My expectation is that most of the remaining customers who are off supply will be restored today, but I regret that, for some of the more complex cases, supply is unlikely to be restored until later in the week. In the aftermath of this incident, we will review the preparations for and response to Storm Arwin to ensure that we take all the learning from this exceptional storm. We have strong and robust arrangements in place to manage and address weather-related resilience issues at a national, regional and local level, but I will want to ensure that our arrangements continue to evolve and strengthen for the future. In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who have been working in very difficult conditions and for prolonged periods to restore utility supplies and support affected communities and households. That includes voluntary organisations, local businesses and community groups of volunteers who are contributing significantly to neighbourhood wellbeing and resilience. We have been monitoring progress to address Storm Arwin's impacts closely, engaging with a range of organisations to ensure that the public are regularly updated in what has been a rapidly changing situation. We will continue to do so with our resilience partnerships, remaining active to ensure that every possible resource is deployed and that the worst effects of the significant storm are addressed. The Deputy First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for this item before we have to move to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members who want to ask a question would press the request-to-speak buttons at place and are in the chat function if they are joining us online. I call on Liam Kerr. I thank the Deputy First Minister for the advanced side of his statement. However, the 15,000 homes in Scotland still without power, more than 13,000 of which are in the north-east, are astounded by the Government's appalling lack of planning here. Given what we saw in Storm Frank and then the beast from the east and given weather reports were warning people of the impending catastrophe days before this one hit, why was there such a monumental failure of planning by this Government? Secondly, the press and journal rails today that, quote, the Scottish Government remains quiet, aside from a few cursory social media posts offering sympathy, but not assistance. It seems that leaders have forgotten those affected. Thankfully, businesses such as pubs, hotels and community centres have stepped up, but the five arms in Brimar say that the response from the Scottish Government has been pretty shambolic at getting the emergency services, the army and power company employees deployed. So what steps is the Government taking now to proactively and productively co-ordinate the response and swift resolution? Finally, the cost of clear-up and presumably implementing the lessons learned that Deputy First Minister referred to will be astronomical. Last night, the UK Government pledged help, saying that we are on standby to provide further assistance to the Scottish Government. Deputy First Minister, what financial help will be made available to our underfunded local authorities to help, and will the Scottish Government be taking the UK Government up on the offer of assistance? I do not think that Liam Kerr characterises the gravity of the situation in any way appropriately. The Government does not run the power companies. I have no operational control over the power companies, but I think that the power companies have worked extraordinarily hard to reconnect 184,500 people who have been disconnected by a storm of incredible ferocity. Mr Kerr represents the north-east of Scotland. I assume that he has looked around about him to see the scale of the damage that has been done to the infrastructure. I have looked around it in my constituency in Perthshire. I have seen with my own eyes the impact of the storm, and that unfortunately takes time to clear up which is what the power companies are focused on doing, which is exactly what I have been discussing with them at every stage since the storm emerged on Friday. In relation to the resources on the ground, we work closely with local resilience partnerships, which are fundamentally led by local authorities. That is the principle of our resilience operation that is in place. Mr Kerr will again be familiar with the work of Aberdeenshire Council, which is in operational leadership at local level to take forward the emergency response. I am certainly profoundly grateful to the various voluntary organisations, pubs, hotels and cafes that have just made themselves available to help people. That is the type of community spirit that is really welcome in our society, and it helps to assist members of the public who face jeopardy in addition to the public servants who are going round door to door making sure that vulnerable people are supported. In relation to the financial question, the Minister for Public Finance has activated the bellwins scheme in Scotland, so the Scottish Government immediately has made clear that, should the terms of the scheme be required, they are available to local authorities. I will look with care at what the United Kingdom Government is offering financially. Forgive my skepticism, but I will look in great detail at the terms of the press statement that Mr Kerr cites. The United Kingdom Government is awful good at words on those questions, but not very good at following up with substance as a consequence. Thank you to the Deputy First Minister for advance sight of his statement. I will begin by sending my condolences to those who have sadly lost a loved one during storm Ireland and extending my sympathies to everyone who is affected by the storm impact. All those on the front line of the response are hugely grateful to them. There is, however, a growing frustration from the thousands of people across the country, including many in my own South Scotland region in Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders, who still have no power and in some cases no water supply and no idea when they will be reconnected due to a lack of information or, in some cases, misinformation. The Deputy First Minister said that his expectation is that most remaining customers with no power will be restored today, but some will not until later this week. Can he elaborate on how many he anticipates will have to wait beyond today and when will the 1,500 properties still, without water supply, be reconnected? I also ask that the Deputy First Minister, given the problems with telecommunications in some areas, is the Scottish Government confident that all vulnerable residents have been contacted directly to ensure that they will be in? Simply asking people to contact their council is not an option for many people. I am grateful to Mr Smith for the points that he makes. In relation to the steps to reconnect individuals, I assure Mr Smith that the power companies are moving as fast as they possibly can do. Although, in one of the calls that I was involved in yesterday, one of the individuals that I was in discussions with from the Scottish Power Energy Network was down in Mr Smith's area in the Eaglesfield area and was citing to me the specific complexity of the difficulties because of multiple interruptions to the power supply that were affecting a limited number of properties. I cite that to give an example to Parliament that the issues that are being wrestled with are of a greater degree of complexity because of the damage that has been caused, which makes it difficult to give a prediction on the numbers involved. Although the power companies are working as fast as they possibly can do to restore supplies, I will get regular updates in the course of today about the progress that has been made. On water supply, much of this depends upon the ability to get power supply to installations, and that addresses the water supply issue, so the issues of electricity connection are really at the heart of that issue. On the question of contacting vulnerable customers, the power companies and local authorities regularly are in dialogue about the existence and extent of vulnerability within communities. They have established lists of individuals to be contacted. I am assured by local resilience partnerships and by the power companies that they have been undertaking that contacting. Obviously, I am conscious that so many individuals in society now are dependent on mobile telephony networks, and there can be significant interruptions to them because of the loss of power supply. I have had that assurance about vulnerable customers, but I reiterate the point that, if anybody is in need of assistance, I urge them to contact their local resilience partnership to secure that. I am conscious that there are an understandably large number of colleagues who want to get in and ask a question on that, given the impact that it has had on many parts of the country and constituents' interests, only to be seen to be raised during this. I would be keen for as succinct questions as possible and, similarly, Deputy First Minister, as succinct answers as you can manage. I call Gillian Martin to be followed by Douglas Lameston. I have never seen such damage from high winds in my area before, and we are all aware of some of the volumes of people who are still without power. I would like to ask how we are ensuring that there are sufficient resources to ensure that those in outlying areas have been checked on, not just for those on vulnerability lists, but I am hearing from families with newborn babies who are very concerned about older people who live alone and might be missed. Many people cannot get information, as the Deputy First Minister has exposed gaps in the digital world about communications. I ask for a little more detail on what resilience review work is going to be undertaken as a result of what has happened to us this week that has exposed some of those gaps. As I indicated in my statement, as we do in all of those incidents, we will consider the lessons that we can learn from the handling of that particular incident. Gillian Martin acknowledges a storm of the greatest ferocity that we have had to wrestle with. The damage has been significant, and we need to identify if there are other steps that we need to take to make networks and individuals and households more resilient as a consequence. That discussion will start once we have got to the point where we have secured the resolution of the issues and we can properly and fully learn the lessons in concert with our resilience partnerships and with the power companies, who are critical to the discussion. Douglas Lumson, to be followed by Karen Adam. Deputy First Minister, thousands without power, water and heat roads blocked and communities cut off, but the same communities faced a wall of silence from the Scottish Government and the First Minister. Engineers, as you said, did a fantastic job but were frankly overwhelmed and needed more help. Did the Scottish Government even ask the UK Government for emergency assistance, or did the Government take its eye off the ball yet again? I come back to my response to Liam Kerr, whereby the responsibility for the running of, for the operations of the power companies are the power companies themselves. I think that it would be folly for me to interfere in the sophisticated technological work of power companies in restoring supply. If Mr Lumson wants to know have I had discussions with power companies, yes, I have on multiple occasions. If Mr Lumson does not know this because he is continuing to shout at me, he might want to stay silent for a moment while I explain the position. The power companies have access to mutual aid supplies across other power networks in the United Kingdom, but the point that I made in my statement is that other parts of the United Kingdom were under severe strain as well. Some of those resources have now become available, but only once power has been replied in those original network areas. Let us take Scottish and Southern Energy, for example, a company that Mr Lumson should be familiar with if he is familiar with the North of Scotland. It has an operation in the south of England, but it took a hammering as well. Once it recovered the damage in the south of England, it was able to relocate staff to come further north. That is the type of mutual aid arrangements that operate within the electricity market. I think that it would be folly for me to intervene and interfere in what the power companies are doing to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. I encourage members to ask their question and then allow the minister to answer. Karen Adam is to be followed by Claire Baker. First, I want to thank all those who have put forward a tremendous effort to support local communities over the past five days and to note that many of my constituency are still without power and water. I have been in touch with vulnerable constituents, some, for example, who require power for medical equipment and running water to sterilise baby bottles. They have been offered reimbursement for takeaways in hotels but cannot meet the upfront costs. Once again, those who are living hand to mouth are suffering the most in an emergency. Can the Deputy First Minister outline what alternative measures the Scottish Government is considering in order to help people in these vulnerable circumstances? Fundamentally, the needs of individuals have to be addressed in these circumstances by the dialogue that goes on at local level with individual resilience partnerships to try to find the means of addressing the individual circumstances that people will face. Karen Adam has put to me an absolutely legitimate set of scenarios but they are distinctive and different circumstances that have to be addressed. The most appropriate mechanism is for that dialogue to take place between individuals and the local resilience partnerships. Those partnerships should be active at local level, making sure that individuals facing difficulties are able to receive the support that they require. Certainly, in our reflections on the incident, we will be working to identify how individuals can be most effectively supported should we have to face interruptions of supply of the length that we are having to face in these highly unusual circumstances. I have to note that the Deputy First Minister did not mention the Stirling Council in the statement. I have been contacted by constituents who felt that Stirling's response at the weekend was inadequate and that it was abandoned in freezing temperatures. There were no rest centres and no access to generators. I know that people could not operate oxygen tanks. People had an extremely difficult weekend. On Friday at the Scottish Government resilience meeting, was he satisfied and confident that the plans that local resilience partnerships had in place were going to meet the impact of the expected anticipated storm? At the resilience committee meeting on Friday, we heard directly from the three strategic resilience partnerships—the regional resilience partnerships—all of whom had been in dialogue with local resilience partnerships to ensure that the capacity was stood up to be available to assist individuals in the event of storm damage being apparent. Obviously, the red weather warning was a very clear indication that was going to be the case. All of that information and assurance were sought on Friday that all resilience partnerships would be ready to provide those particular examples. If Clare Baker would like to supply me with the information and the experience of members of the public that I have contacted her, that would be helpful for us to seek the assurance that appropriate measures and mechanisms were taken by individual local resilience partnerships to be ready for the challenges that came. The Deputy First Minister has outlined what action has taken place across Scotland, including in recent Galloway and the Scottish Borders, and I thank all staff and leadership for their efforts. As more weather events are predicted, can the Deputy First Minister provide further info on what work is under way to identify the most vulnerable and how the Government can help to assist and support the local resilience partnerships? As part of the resilience planning, we expect local resilience partnerships to establish very clearly those who will face vulnerability. That knowledge is amassed through a lot of the work that goes on within local communities. Indeed, I saw that when I was in the Anin area looking at some of the impacts of flooding and many of the community-based organisations that I met there were focused on ensuring that they provided adequate support to all the individuals who faced any degree of vulnerability. That knowledge is built up as part of the preparation of the resilience arrangements. It is crucial that that is able to be followed through and activated when an incident arises. Obviously, there is a power-related matter and a linkage very closely with the circumstances involving power companies who have knowledge of the various issues of vulnerability that will exist in different parts of the community. Storm Arwin has highlighted our expectation and reliance on technology and online information, but when the power has gone and the batteries have run out and lessons learned, how can the Scottish Government improve methods of communication in times of emergency, especially given the predicted increase in frequency and intensity of wild-weather events due to the climate emergency? That is a significant issue, because we are now, as householders and as citizens, all immensely more dependent on the use of mobile telephony, digital connectivity and it is all entirely power-dependent. Therefore, the means of ensuring that we have adequate contact mechanisms in place in times of difficulty of this magnitude are just exacerbated by the issues that Dabusius Wishart properly puts to me. That will be one of the issues that we will reflect on closely in the resilience exercise, because it highlights the significant dependence on electricity power supplies that have been exacerbated by this incident. In my constituency in East Lothian, over 3,000 trees were blown over at John Muir country park in Dunbar alone. We have seen the impact of wildlife impact reported elsewhere. Can I ask the Deputy First Minister what consideration has been given to addressing the effects on nature and the environment as we look to recover from the impacts of Storm Arwin? There is obviously a very significant impact in the John Muir country park to which Mr McClennan mentions. Forestry Land Scotland is looking at these issues very actively and I have provided guidance to individuals to avoid being in the forest areas while the situation is properly assessed. We must consider the impacts of the incident on our natural environment. A very careful exercise has to be undertaken to remedy those issues, particularly in the circumstances that Mr McClennan raises with me. I thank those who work tirelessly to reconnect communities at the weekend and continue to do that work. My own community in the Stirling area had no electricity for the best part of four days, despite the fact that over the weekend we were told that we would get a reconnection through the online app within about four hours. Does the Deputy First Minister recognise that it is very difficult—almost impossible—for householders to plan ahead when they are met with rolling deadlines that cannot be met? How does he think that communication generally can be improved, particularly around people's rights? We were told at the weekend that utility companies would pay for free pizza for people but the information that people could be eligible for up to £700 worth of compensation has not really got out there. I think that it is important that the quality of communication that is available to householders is at the highest level possible. The power companies have shared with me the volume of contact that they have had with individuals. They have had a colossal number of contacts from members of the public. It is important that individuals pursue their rights in relation to the interruption of supply, but it is equally important that the power companies have quality and reliable information available for individuals as to when incidents are likely to be resolved as a consequence of the type of outage that we have experienced. Alexander Burnett joins us remotely to be followed by John Mason. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I echo the gratitude that my parliamentary colleagues expressed for those who are working to restore power and those who are assisting those affected. Thousands of people across my constituency have been and still remain impacted by the storm. I spoke to care homes across Aberdeenshire West who were scrambling for generators over weekend with major concerns for their most vulnerable residents. The red weather warning was issued on Friday morning and the storm was on the radar before then. So can I ask what resiliency planning have the Scottish Government done to protect our care homes? How will it commit to doing it better next time? The priority has been attached to ensuring that power supplies were able to be sustained for care homes and for those individuals with vulnerabilities. In my discussions with the local resilience partnership in Aberdeenshire, I have been assured that steps are taken to make sure that power supplies were assured to those organisations and institutions. Obviously, in a number of cases in Mr Burnett's constituency, there were some strategic faults in the electricity network that once remedied resolved the situation for a significant proportion of his constituency, but there was an indication of the magnitude and severity of the incident that such widespread effects had arisen as a consequence. We will ensure that the issues about emergency supply—many of those ventures have emergency supplies available to them—are reassessed as part of the work of local resilience partnerships to guarantee that we have resilience in all those circumstances. I can tell the chamber that we are already over time. I intend to call all three remaining speakers, but the questions will have to be brief and the responses as brief as possible. When transport and communications are so damaged, it makes us realise that local communities are so important. Can the Government say anything about how they can empower local communities for such incidents in the future? There are numerous examples of the ventures that local communities bring forward. I think that there are a number of examples of local organisations and resilience forums. We have generated a number of those through flood prevention activity, which provides practical and tangible assistance to individuals. There is a whole network of those available around the country, and the Government's community empowerment agenda is designed to support and encourage the development of similar ventures. Cree Coyd, to be followed by Rachel Hamilton. Does the Deputy First Minister accept and recognise that, at this time of year, every day's trading counts for our struggling small businesses? Will he therefore look at a targeted package of support for those businesses that suffer significant loss of income due to destruction or damage inflicted by Storm Arwin? I have put on record the fact that we have opened the bellwind scheme. Obviously, the Government remains open to consideration of any other issues that are relevant. If Mr Coyd has any particular issues to raise with the Government in that respect, they can be looked at by the French Secretary. First of all, I record my thanks to everyone who has been dealing with this catastrophe. 2,000 of my constituents are still without power in the Ettrick Valley, the Kale Water Valley and Berwickshire. Can I ask what the Scottish Government can do for the following? Provide generators because there aren't enough to go around. Support energy companies by working out a way of supplying extra additional linesmen and engineers, and also supplying essential support to the Scottish Board of Council who are going through significant financial resource to supply hot food to residents without power. Obviously, I think that I have gone through the issue about the power companies. The power companies have a mutual aid arrangement around the network. We cannot send any old individual up on the electricity pole to reconnect the electricity supply, it just defies belief that we are getting suggestions like that. On relation to the financial issues, we have activated the bellwind scheme. If local authorities are incurring expenditure that merits the classification of the scheme, the financial support is available to them to enable that to be the case. Certainly, I can assure Rachael Hamilton that the local resilience partnership in the Borders has been actively involved in discussions with the power networks, with the East of Scotland resilience partnership, to ensure that all the issues that need to be addressed have been addressed as quickly as possible. I come back to my core point. This has been extensive damage that is taking a prolonged period to resolve because of the intensity of the damage that has been created. Thank you for colleagues' co-operation in allowing all the questions to be taken and responded to. There will be a brief pause now before we move to the next item of business.