Chamber and committees

The trains which run to Milngavie and Westerton, as well as Dalmuir, also run to Balloch and Helensburgh Central in the west of their route. At the other end of their routes, they serve Springburn, Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Edinburgh. The service is collectively designated as the ‘North Electrics’ route.

Since the start of the current financial year, that is, from 1 April 2016-7 January 2017, about 85.6 percent of the ‘North Electrics’ trains met the ‘public performance measure’ (that is, arrivals within five minutes of the timetabled time, excluding trains which failed to stop at any point in the journey at which they should have stopped). This can be compared with PPM over the same period for the franchise as a whole, sitting at about 89.7 percent.

Transport Scotland does not hold data on delays and cancellations for the specific routes and trains in the question itself. The trains referenced in this query run within the Suburban West sector, and the number of gross cancellations and part-cancellations on this sector over the current financial year has been as follows:

Number of cancellations: (full) (part)

Cancellations 3,951 4,120 To 10 Dec 2016 – most

up-to-date data held

This is 8,071 full- and part-cancellations in total, or 2.2 percent of the 367,223 trains planned to run in the Suburban West sector during this time.

[Data as-reported by ScotRail to Transport Scotland]

The design and construction of network infrastructure to transport electricity within Scotland is the responsibility of the network owners Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and Scottish Power Energy Networks in conjunction with the GB-wide system operator National Grid. Regulatory oversight of networks costs and protection of consumers’ interests is the responsibility of Ofgem.

Engineering and routeing proposals are developed in accordance with the network companies’ licence obligations to develop and maintain an efficient, co-ordinated and economical network. Proposals may include overhead lines, undergrounding or subsea cables. The Scottish Planning Policy states that consideration should be given to underground grid connections where possible.

The Scottish Government requires that applications by the Network owners have taken account of relevant national and local planning policies and that environmental impacts have been fully considered.

The Scottish Planning Policy states that consideration should be given to underground grid connections where possible.

The Government is currently considering options for setting up an independent group to provide advice on rural support beyond 2020, as referred to in the motion adopted by Parliament on 19 January, and will make an announcement in due course. As I explained at the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee meeting on 25 January 2017, I am having regular discussions with a wide range of key stakeholders, and am happy to meet with you to discuss this matter further.

ScotRail conforms to the national PIDD (Passenger Information During Disruption ) programme, an industry-wide standard for Network Rail and Train Operating Companies to comply with agreed principles for dealing with disruption. This is a licence condition set by the Office of Rail and Road. This programme is designed to ensure passengers get the information they need when services are disrupted, at the right time, and through appropriate channels.

When disruption to services is anticipated in advance, such as extreme weather forecasts, ScotRail can impose “Emergency timetables” which allow the cancellation or reduction of services. This must be done by 10pm the evening before the anticipated disruption.

Along with the ScotRail website, use of social media as a platform keeping passengers informed via ScotRail’s twitter account now attracts over 151,000 followers. ScotRail’s Journey Companion “App” allows passengers to search for real time live service information, with over 520,000 downloads of the app since commencement of the ScotRail Franchise (1 April 2015).

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is contained within the ScotRail Franchise Agreement to monitor how well the franchisee deals with disruption, as reported via the twice yearly National Rail Passenger Surveys (undertaken by Transport Focus).

The Small Business Bonus Scheme and other business rates reliefs funded by the Scottish Government mean that around two in every five Aberdeen City and Shire businesses will pay nothing in 2017-18.

The 2017-18 Draft Budget proposes no nationwide transitional relief scheme, as this would benefit large utilities at the expense of smaller businesses; however local authorities can now apply additional rates reductions following the Community Empowerment Act. Ministers continue to engage with businesses in the area ahead of final decisions in the context of the Budget Bill.

We are supporting business by not insisting on a revenue-neutral revaluation which would have meant a higher poundage for Scotland. The poundage will decrease by 3.7% in 2017-18.

There is no proposed increase in business rates revenue. We are supporting business by not insisting on a revenue-neutral revaluation which would have meant a higher poundage for Scotland. The poundage will decrease by 3.7% in 2017-18.

There are no plans to delay the 2017 revaluation, in light of which we are reducing the business rates poundage by 3.7% for 2017-18.

Network Rail and ScotRail are jointly responsible for the measurement, monitoring and publication of the public performance measure on ScotRail routes, using recognised industry systems. Together, they are responsible for improving performance to meet the contractual and regulatory targets. The ScotRail Franchise Agreement (Schedule 7.1) sets out the Public Performance Measure (PPM) targets across the entire ScotRail network, and defined sectors.