Chamber and committees

We absolutely need industry to play its part, but we know that that does not happen voluntarily, so we need legislation.

Colleagues have mentioned France; we know that California is also a really good example of where, through legislation, there are now requirements on households and businesses to separate green waste and food waste, to donate edible waste to food recovery groups and to recycle the rest. More can be done at stage 2 on that.

Time is short. Others, including Bob Doris, have talked about the international impact of what we are doing. We got really good evidence from the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund. I will not repeat its points because it has provided a good briefing.

We know that there is a big issue with clothing and textiles, and with food waste being exported. As Ben Macpherson said, there are economic benefits, but this is also about the social imperative. We know that where the environment is exploited, people are often exploited, too. Fashion Revolution Scotland influenced me heavily. It came together because of the disaster in Rana Plaza that killed thousands of garment workers. People are working in the most awful exploitative conditions and are losing their lives and their health so that people like us in the global north can buy cheap clothes that we might wear only once then throw away.

We can do a lot through lodging amendments to the bill and through the strategy. However, as others have said, we need co-operation and collaboration, and we need certainty around funding, which means costed plans. I hope that we can, if we put all those things together, work towards a more circular Scotland.

Thank you, Mr Wilson. That was helpful. I am encouraged to hear that there has been perhaps not formal consultation but wide engagement. You also mentioned a number of key stakeholders including unions, whose involvement is important.

Given what you have said, I have a wider question. Obviously, there are the provisions in this bill—which is not a Scottish Government bill—but, more generally, concerns have been raised about the impact of automated vehicles on workers. Jim Wilson gave the good example of self-scanning checkouts in supermarkets. I am sure that we have all had our ups and downs with those.

I believe that, in Scotland, there was a trial involving self-driving buses in 2023, and concerns were raised about what such a move might mean for workers not just from a safety perspective but for future workforce planning. Cabinet secretary, could you speak to the issue of workforce planning? We know that there is a shortage of bus drivers, but have you picked up on any other particular issues? On Mr Wilson’s point about the importance of collaboration and discussion with the Department for Transport, are you satisfied that there is good dialogue with the UK Government on these matters?

Good morning to our panel. On the back of Mark Ruskell’s question, I was reading a media comment by Mike Robinson, who is the chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, on the issue of value and affordability. On behalf of the coalition, he said:

“Reverting to expensive tickets would be a hugely retrograde decision and would be bad news for workers, passengers and the climate.”

When you are taking the temperature of the travelling public, are you picking up on that desire to do the right thing by the climate and the environment in addition to having more affordable train travel?

I want to pick up on the issue of accessibility before I move on to a question about the safety of women and girls, in particular. Bob Doris asked about accessibility, and Robert Samson talked about rolling stock procurement and future opportunities. I remind the committee that I am a patron of Disability Equality Scotland.

Even at this quite early stage, is there positive engagement with disability organisations and disabled people about their experiences? You have talked not just about reliability but about perceptions about reliability. Obviously, the point about passenger assistance is key. I would like a brief answer to that question before I move on to other matters.

Good morning to the panel. First, congratulations to Alex Hynes on his new appointment as director general of rail services at the Department for Transport, moving from Scotland’s Railway to Britain’s railways, in four weeks’ time. Can you advise the committee who will take over from you on 15 April?

Your role is MD of both Network Rail Scotland and ScotRail. Will that arrangement continue?

I think that it is just for two years, so you might be back in front of us.

I want to speak about the impact of weather events. You mentioned earlier that, even during the pilot scheme for the abolition of peak fares, there have been 10 named storms. I will not ask you to name them all, but extreme weather events are having an increasing impact on Scottish rail services. How is that issue being addressed in the short term and how will it be addressed in the coming years? Maybe Liam Sumpter could add to the answer. What impact might the challenges around control period 7 cuts to investment have on any of the actions that we are about to hear about from Alex Hynes?

Thank you. Yes, I am keen to hear from Liam Sumpter. Alex Hynes mentioned resilience. Some routes will be more challenging than others because of drainage issues and other factors. Liam, could you expand on that briefly?

That is helpful. You have given lots of examples. Communication to the public that CCTV is monitored in real time is important.

Do you have any up-to-date views on women and girls having experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment? Is that getting worse or better, or is it staying the same? Do you recognise that visible staffing must be part of the solution?

I think that Mark Ruskell wants to come in on this theme, too. I want to pick up on another point about staffing. I understand that around two thirds of ScotRail stations are unstaffed—that is higher than the UK average of around 45 per cent—and that over half the Scottish network is operated via driver-only operation. Although there is always a second person rostered on services, there is no guarantee that a second person will be on board all services. There are currently proposals by ScotRail to extend driver-only operation to the Barrhead and East Kilbride lines—I am not sure about other areas. There appears to be a bit of a difference between Scotland and the rest of the UK on that. Can you speak about that? Do you have a view on it?