Chamber and committees

As part of Transport Scotland’s 4 weekly performance meeting with ScotRail, the Delay Repay compensation scheme is discussed including, for example, the key incidents resulting in Delay Repay claims, the total number and value of claims, and the amount repaid.

The Scottish Government is committed to working as a key partner in the Texas Instruments Taskforce. Close partnership working with all partners is essential to ensuring successful outcomes. Through our enterprise agency, Scottish Enterprise, we are working with the company at a local and corporate level to identify potential investment opportunities; to support development opportunities; and also developing a potential project with the company to reduce energy consumption. Through our skills agency, Skills Development Scotland, we will support individuals affected by the proposals to close the plant as part of the PACE response and to date 250 individuals have attended PACE events.

I attended the meeting of the Texas Instruments Taskforce on 5 September and was very struck by the positive tone of the meeting with everyone working together to secure the best possible future for the site and am aware of a number of interested parties that are exploring potential to acquire the site and Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International stand ready to support any investment in the plant. I was not able to attend the meeting on 7 November, due to a prior commitment, but was represented by senior officials.

The estimated cost of a new small ferry is approximately £10m - £12m per vessel and for a new major ferry the estimated cost is approximately £45m - £50m per vessel. These reflect the prices of recently procured vessels.

The Scottish Ferry Services: Ferries Plan (2013-2022) sets out the indicative programme of vessel replacement. The Ferries Plan stated that projects would be taken forward when resources were available and funding prioritised according to need.

Since the publication of the Ferries Plan the following vessels have been delivered into the Clyde and Hebrides fleet;

• MV Hallaig - August 2013 - £11.750m

• MV Lochinvar - May 2014 - £11.750m

• MV Loch Seaforth - November 2014 - £42m

• MV Catriona - September 2016 - £12.3m

In addition, two large vessels are currently under construction by Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd in Port Glasgow for delivery in 2018.

Building on the Ferries Plan, a Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan (VRDP) 2014 was published in October 2015 which considered historical and projected customer demand and the on-going provision of capacity to meet that demand. The VRDP indicates future priorities with additional vessels to replace vessels reaching the end of their working life. An updated VRDP is due to be published shortly.

As part of the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), ScotRail are undertaking a comprehensive review of timetables on the Borders, Far North, Argyle, and North Clyde routes.

ScotRail have not advised of any planned increases to journey times as part of PIP.

In December 2016 there will be some refinements to North Clyde & Argyle Line timetables. This takes cognisance of recent performance and forms part of the normal timetable development process.

The ScotRail Franchise Agreement protects the current journey times through the “Journey Time Metric” which incentivises ScotRail to protect and improve journey times across Scotland.

The Scottish Government set out initial proposals in the consultation "The integration of the British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland" https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/police-division/transport-police and will address key issues in the Bill and accompanying documents when they are introduced.

The legislation, recently amended by the Scotland Act 2016, enables bids to be made by the private and the public sector for the provision of Scottish rail passenger services. The Scottish Government is legally bound to properly assess all valid bids received.

I have had discussions with trade unions and other key stakeholders on plans to ensure that a public sector body can bid for future Scottish rail franchises. These discussions will continue as the work progresses.

Regular meetings take place between Scottish Government officials and the Rail Delivery Group. These include four-weekly meetings to discuss regulatory issues relating to the Office of Rail and Road’s 2018 Periodic Review progress - the last of these meetings was on 10 October 2016. The Scottish Government has representation on a number of Rail Delivery Group working groups and also meets with the Rail Delivery Group executive team as appropriate. These engagements cover a broad range of regulatory, rail passenger, and rail freight related topics.

Details of the Rail Delivery Group’s Board and Members are available on the Rail Delivery Group’s website: http://www.raildeliverygroup.com

Officials are currently determining the steps required to ensure a public sector body can bid for future Scottish rail franchises. The Scottish Government will not be providing a running commentary on the progress of this work but will provide updates where appropriate.