Chamber and committees

High Speed Trains (HSTs) meet the stringent safety requirements necessary to operate on the GB rail network.

The independent railway safety regulator confirms these trains remain safe to run, which was also confirmed by the Scottish Carmont Steering Group

Replacing the HSTs is recognised as a priority and work is underway now to identify the optimum replacement option.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Of the 355 wards in Scotland, 162 had a population over 15,500 as at 30 June 2021. The following table shows the number of electoral wards with a population over 15,500, by local authority.

Number of electoral wards with a population over 15,500, by local authority, as at 30 June 2021

At 30 September 2023 there were 254 directly employed staff within the Aberdeen City Council area.

The Scottish Government publishes employment figures on a quarterly basis. This data, along with a time series back to 2012 and full explanatory notes, can be found here: Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Housing Market Review, a quarterly publication which collates a range of previously published statistics, was suspended in January 2024 due to a number of competing work priorities, which included analytical work related to the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act as well as other legislative commitments.

The next edition of the Review is due to be published in April 2024, and will include analysis of data released in both Q4 2023 and Q1 2024.

Of the grants delivered within the Empowering Communities Programme there has been one organisation that dissolved in 2020-21 during the period of their grant award and one that entered into dissolution process in the final year of their grant award period in 2021-22.

The Scottish Government will explore proposals relating to inshore fishing activity as part of a broad package of management measures for inshore fisheries improvement that we will consult on in late 2024.

Our co-management Fisheries Management and Conservation (FMAC) and Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) networks will help shape our consultation proposals, enabling policy that balances our economic and environmental responsibilities. Wider stakeholder engagement on the development of fisheries management measures is ongoing and will continue during the consultation.

For both inshore and offshore MPA consultations, over and above our normal stakeholder engagement, we are using an innovative consultation approach to allow respondents to use a map-based interface to receive information and comment on a site-by-site basis, allowing those affected to understand more clearly the proposals that affect them. The consultation on fisheries management measures for offshore marine protected areas (MPAs) is currently being prepared and will be launched in the coming months, and the exact date for the inshore MPAs and priority marine features will be announced in due course.

On 29 Jan 2024 I wrote to the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee to confirm the Scottish Government’s intention to progress legislation to prohibit the sale and supply of single-use vapes, with a view of a ban coming into force at the earliest opportunity. This builds upon the research commissioned by the Scottish Government into the environmental impact of single-use vapes that was published in June 2023.

The Community Bus fund was launched on 22 September 2023, with the £0.75 million resource funding available to local transport authorities for pathfinder style projects aimed at supporting them to complete initial feasibility and preparatory work required to consider the bus powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including franchising, formal partnerships and local authority run bus services. Projects are still in progress, therefore the Scottish Government will not have information on how the resource funding was spent until the end of the financial year 2023-24.

From the bids received, 10 projects are being taken forward in 2023-24 pending compliance with Fair Work First requirements. These include projects to review local bus networks to develop local transport/bus strategies, and projects to complete options appraisals with a view to developing business cases. The majority of local authorities are still in the early stages of exploring the options within the Transport Act 2019, with most projects aimed at commencing work to determine which option, if any, is most appropriate for their areas. A full evaluation will be carried out following the completion of projects throughout 2024.

This information is not available in this format, as it would be dependent on the depend on the number and type of traffic, on any one particular sailing.

Coalfields Regeneration Trust’s (CRT’s) grant for 2023-24 has been agreed following the principles of the Scottish Government’s latest grant management guidance which ensures adherence to the Scottish Public Finance Manual instructions. These state that contracts that include services to distribute grant funds must be awarded through genuine and effective competition. In light of that, the previous historical arrangement with CRT has been reviewed and the Scottish Government can no longer provide a proportion of the grant for CRT to use as a budget to then operate a small grant fund.

The Scottish Government’s procurement rules exist to ensure funds are spent in a way that delivers the most benefit to society. The Scottish Government is discussing with CRT other ways in which they can best support community organisations where these meet the regeneration outcomes and conditions of its existing grant award.