Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution the Iain Findlay Path Fund has made in supporting local path improvements across Scotland. While this fund comes to an end in 2025- 26, we will continue to support the delivery of paths and other active travel infrastructure through our tiered Active Travel Infrastructure Fund. This model enables local authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Authorities to develop and deliver the infrastructure that best meets local and regional needs.

In addition to this there are a number of funds throughout Scotland that contribute to access and recreational use pathways, including the Forestry Grant Scheme, the Historic Environment Grants Programme, and funding managed through our National & Regional Park Authorities.

The Scottish Government has not made an estimate of the level of public funding required for a ferry service between Scotland and continental Europe. The costs of any such service are a commercial matter for ferry operators to consider. The Scottish Government is open to discussions with ferry operators and other stakeholders about proposals for new ferry services. However, the possibility of public support would depend on the strength of the business case, the availability of funding and compliance with subsidy control rules and other relevant regulations.

As set out within our NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan, we are committed to improving patient flow throughout the system, reducing delays for admission to and discharge from acute settings and bring down length of stay for patients. This is being done through, for example, optimising alternatives to hospital admission, ensuring discharge planning takes place from the point of admission, reducing delays to inpatient investigations and developing remote investigation services. The development and expansion of Hospital at Home and front door frailty services are playing a central role in supporting this shift in the balance of care and reduce hospital occupancy.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions regarding the Fair Work Convention in relation to the crewing of vessels on the prospective Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry service. As employment law is reserved, any new ferry service will be required to comply with UK employment laws, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023.

The Scottish Government has not had recent discussions with the UK Government regarding seafarers’ employment rights on the prospective Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry service.

The UK Government Employment Rights Bill received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025 and includes provisions to create a statutory framework for a mandatory seafarers charter and builds on the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 to extend protections beyond pay to include other employment rights. Transport Scotland officials liaised with their UK Government counterparts on this legislation.

The Scottish Government welcomed the additional proposals which aim to strengthen the Seafarers Wage Act by applying new duties in respect of remuneration and safe working.

The Scottish Government is aware of the issues with reliability of the fleet currently serving Fife routes and ScotRail is taking action within its available resources to make any necessary improvements to the existing fleet.

The ScotRail Fleet Improvement Plan continues to be in place, requiring ScotRail to make necessary improvements to the reliability of its existing diesel rolling stock within the available resources. ScotRail advises that it is investing nearly £900,000 in the rolling stock upgrades to remote monitoring, electrical systems, and heating systems, which investment includes trains serving Fife.

As set out in Rail Recharged: Scotland’s Fleet Transition Strategy, published in November 2025, ScotRail is currently progressing plans to replace its High-Speed Trains operating on Scotland’s intercity routes, alongside the procurement of a new Suburban fleet, which includes replacement fleet for Fife services. Work to deliver the electrification of the line is also underway.

Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs)manage their own budgets and make funding decisions based on regional and local needs.

The Scottish Government is clear that any care out with standard care areas should be avoided where possible and if required, all actions to mitigate the risks of this should be undertaken, and the length of time in which patients are in these areas should be as short as possible.

We accept that caring for patients in non-standard patient areas is sub-optimal and we are clear that no patient should be treated in a space not fit for clinical care.

Through our NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan we are investing £220 million to address high hospital occupancy, improve patient flow and improve the acute care experience for patients. Work has been underway over the last year to develop enhanced frailty services through the Healthcare Improvement Scotland - Frailty at the Front door standard. As a result, all NHS Health Boards have a frailty service which includes Multi-Disciplinary teams which support our front doors.

The large majority of roads in Scotland form part of the local road network, therefore, it is primarily Local Authorities who are responsible for ensuring inclusive access to their network. However, the Scottish Government remains committed to improving accessibility to enable everyone to be able to walk, wheel and cycle. This is both through the funding we provide and a suite of guidance and best practice documentation for those delivering infrastructure.

In April 2025, the Scottish Government published ‘Guidance on Inclusive Design for Town Centres and Busy Streets’, co-produced with disabled people, and other stakeholders, which highlights best practice for co-production and working with disabled people to design inclusive spaces. Most recently, Transport Scotland has also developed Equality Impact Assessment training for Local Authorities, which has been endorsed by the Mobility and Access Committee Scotland.

For the design and construction of new projects on the trunk roads, Transport Scotland produces ‘Cycling by Design’ and the ‘Roads for All’ guidance, which requires the use of inclusive design in the construction, operation and maintenance of road infrastructure and aims to create environments which can be used by everyone regardless of age or disability. Transport Scotland has also sought to highlight best practice and provide practical advice in addition to the requirement to undertake Equality Impact Assessments.

The Scottish Government continues to believe that delivery of local authority duties should be delegated at a local level where possible. The majority of funding provided to local government is made available through a block grant. £8.1 million is included in that block grant in relation to Land Access measures, allocated based on proportions of population and path lengths. However, the funding is not ring-fenced. It is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their budgets and allocate the total financial resources available on the basis of local priorities, once they have met their statutory obligations. The Scottish Government provided record block grant funding of over £15 billion to local authorities in 2025-26, an increase of £1 billion or 4.7 per cent in real terms compared to last year’s budget.

There are many other areas of government funding which deliver benefits for access including health, tourism, active travel and the natural environment.