Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has provided a significant increase in funding on Control Period 6 for Network Rail to deliver weather resilience improvements, including drainage. Network Rail is responsible for the delivery of these works, as overseen by the Office of Rail & Road (ORR). Enquiries should be addressed to these organisations.

The published Statement of Funds Available (SOFA) covers funding available towards Network Rail operations, maintenance and renewal activities in Scotland as well as enhancement projects. The funding available for Control Period 6 as per the SOFA includes allocation for the completion of projects which carry over from Control Period 5 as well as projects commencing in Control Period 6.

As per the Statement of Funds Available, the budget figure for Control Period 6 in Scotland is £4.85 billion. We are currently in the process of considering the basis on which the funding required for Control Period 7 will be determined and expect this to be reflected in a further SOFA publication to align with the commencement of Control Period 7 anticipated as April 2024.

Further information on the SOFA can be accessed via:- sofa-2019-24-25-jan-2018.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

CMAL conducted an open tender process for delivery of the new vessels intended to service the Islay routes. Under procurement law, direct award of vessels to any shipyard is only permitted under limited circumstances. We have to approach the issue of direct award with care. We are looking at future contracts from public agencies and whether any might be legally open to direct awards. No decision has yet been taken regarding the direct award of future vessels to publicly owned shipyards or any other shipyard in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Transport Scotland and CMAL fully understand the importance and significance of engaging with the relevant trade unions on ferry services and future vessel contracts. In relation to the Islay vessels project regular meetings were held with unions by Transport Scotland, CMAL and CalMac, from the outset of the project in January 2019. Similarly, these bodies have provided unions with progress updates on the development on the new Islay vessels, listening and taking action on their views when appropriate. A similar approach will be taken with all future projects.

Network Rail is responsible for maintaining and renewing the rail network across the UK including Scotland. While the Scottish Government fund Network Rail north of border, its operations are a reserved matter therefore any questions on employment issues would be for UK Ministers.

Our view remains that a fully devolved, public sector controlled and better integrated railway would deliver more for Scotland’s economy and communities. The UK government is more than aware of our position and, yet, the Williams-Shapps proposals not only ignore these requests, they add further complexity in terms of how GB/devolved operations will interface.

Despite these complexities, we are future proofing Scotland’s rail network through our Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 and our Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan. Our work to remove diesel services by 2035, through a mix of electrification and alternative powered trains, will create more skilled and sustainable jobs which can provide a significant contribution to our economy.

Further information on the decarbonisation action plan can be accessed via:- rail-services-decarbonisation-action-plan.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

There has been no reduction in Control Period 6 budget for rail infrastructure renewals and enhancements activities in Scotland.

Responsibility for delivery of rail infrastructure renewal works rests with Network Rail as overseen by the Office of Rail and Road. The Scottish Government is aware that there have been some delays in the delivery of some parts of this renewal programme in Control Period 6 to date. Enquiries concerning this should be addressed to Network Rail or the Office of Rail and Road.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers contract was awarded to provide recommendations for the National Care Service design authority programme management structure which will support the proposals for community health and social care outlined in the National Care Service consultation.

The contract was awarded on 2 September 2021 in accordance with the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Management Consultancy Framework 2 (RM6008) terms with the Contract Award Notice.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposals for the National Care Service to ensure a wide range of views are heard and understood. Co-design with people using services and delivering services is a foundational principle in the National Care Service programme. The scope of external involvement is for the setup of the Design Authority programme management structure which will support the introduction of a National Care Service pending the outcome of consultation responses.

Additional external expertise and specialisms are required to ensure safe and robust governance for programme development. Ensuring our design processes are robust, take account of the views of people, promote system clarity and improved outcomes for people is paramount. Having external expertise to support major transformation is essential to ensure robust design process.

The Framework represents a range of skills required for major transformation programme support including programme management and governance setup as opposed to social care delivery experience. The Framework was established specifically in recognition of the need for such services on an occasional basis and is available for use by all UK public bodies. It sought to address the understandable lack of such specialist internal resources due to the temporary nature of such a requirement. Calling off from the Framework provides access to a range of skill sets, and levels and areas of specialism drawn from a team of resources as opposed to reliance on single individuals.