Chamber and committees

The total funding was for stock and rabbit fencing under the Rural Priorities Scheme applications required under the Scottish Rural Development Programme, in each year from 2007 to 2013:

The amounts above show the value of the commitments contained on Rural Priorities contracts.

The total funding was for stock and rabbit fencing under the Land Managers Options applications required under the Scottish Rural Development Programme, in each year from 2007 to 2013.

The responsibility for the maintenance of electric vehicle charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network rests with the charge point host. We do not hold historic information on charge points that are out of order. However, as part of a new system, we receive snapshots of the status of the network. As of 6 December 2016, 93 per cent of the charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network were operating, and of the around 150 rapid charge points, 95 per cent were operating.

We are working closely with partners to improve the reliability of the network, in areas such as communications, and we have recently appointed a new Operator for the ChargePlace Scotland network to improve the network further. They will also be undertaking a full audit and branding exercise of the network.

The Scottish Government is committed to the ChargePlace Scotland network which now comprises over 1,200 charging bays (equating to over 600 charge points) across Scotland. Usage has doubled from August 2015 to August 2016.

I refer the member to Appendix 1 to Schedule 7.1, Appendix 2 to Schedule 7.1 and Appendix 3 to Schedule 7.1 of the ScotRail Franchise Agreement.

http://www.transport.gov.scot/rail/scotrail-franchise/public-register

I refer the member to the recently published Performance Improvement Plan on the ScotRail website. In the rural area the actions include signalling equipment performance, track renewals, fleet improvements and detailed operational planning reviews.

The Scottish Government has put in place a process to monitor the delivery of ScotRail's Performance Improvement Plan. This includes challenge to ScotRail on the progress made towards delivering the initiatives, assurance reviews and an analysis of progress reports provided.

Since September, the overall performance for the Borders Railway (as measured by the moving annual average PPM) has steadily improved, with latest figures showing an increase of 0.4% (now up to 85.8% PPM moving annual average).

Borders Railway specific performance improvement plan initiatives are currently underway with the plan to further bolster performance.

The Profit Threshold at which Abellio ScotRail Limited is required to pay back 50% of its profits is thirty million pounds.

The concept of a profit cap was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2008, a UK first for Rail Franchises, and was tightened considerably - by £9 million when the new Abellio franchise was let.

Abellio ScotRail’s financial information is commercially sensitive and can only be publicly released by Abellio ScotRail Ltd.

I refer the member to the following table, which sets out the relevant Performance Levels. Schedule 7.1 (Paragraph 3.2 – Consequences for Poor Performance) sets out the consequences of the Franchisee failing to equal or exceed these Levels.

{http://www.transport.gov.scot/rail/scotrail-franchise/public-register}

The Scottish Government has put in place a process to monitor the delivery of ScotRail's Performance Improvement Plan. This includes challenge to ScotRail on the progress made towards delivering the initiatives, assurance reviews and an analysis of progress reports provided.

The Performance Improvement Plan is set out into three key themes - Infrastructure, Fleet and Operations - with actions identified for these themes across all regions of Scotland. The plan contains the completion date for each of the actions and is not based on prioritising services.

ScotRail have accelerated £8m this year and committed an additional £8m post April 2017 to deliver the initiatives contained in the Performance Improvement Plan, along with £14m to improve Class 158 train reliability and upgrades to on-train facilities, at no additional cost to the Scottish Government.

Transport Scotland is responsible for preventing snow and ice endangering the safe passage of pedestrians and vehicles on trunk roads in Scotland. Significant planning is undertaken in advance of winter to ensure that the trunk road operating companies are prepared and to share lessons learned from previous years. The trunk road Operating Companies each have a Winter Service Plan, which is available online at:

http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/winter-service-ready-winter-and-severe-weather

The delivery and resilience of current winter communication procedures across Scotland were tested during one-day events on 18 and 20 October 2016, the principle being to share best practice. This involved representatives from our Operating Companies, Transport Scotland, Traffic Scotland, Police Scotland, local authorities and Transport Scotland’s Performance Audit Group (PAG).

Local authorities are responsible for winter service operations on local roads.

The ScotRail Alliance has confirmed that winter plans have been introduced and that they have access to sufficient stocks of salt. As in previous years, The Alliance will be running a series of winter roadshow events, commencing on 5 December 2016, at key stations to engage with the public.

Contingency plans are available in the event of stations not being treated when required, as required in their Franchise Agreement.

Further information is available online at: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/winter .