Chamber and committees

There are no plans at this time to upgrade the station. Ardrossan Harbour Station will be considered within the wider Ardrossan Harbour Masterplan project. Engagement with partners is ongoing on the aspirations of improving the connectivity between the Ferry Hub and Rail Station.

The Ardrossan Harbour Masterplan project will deliver a package of improvements at Ardrossan. The proposals by Peel Ports and North Ayrshire Council include significant marine and landside infrastructure upgrades at Ardrossan Harbour including aspirations to improve connectivity with public and active travel modes and strengthen links to Ardrossan town.

The Scottish Government is investing significantly in the ScotRail fleet and electrification projects which will deliver important user benefits such as improved journey times, lower emissions, and reduced maintenance costs across the rail network in Scotland.

The Scottish Government's Programme for Government 2017-18 also indicated that we would develop new proposals to continue the reinvigoration of the Scottish rail network, including potentially introducing hybrid electric trains. The scope of the hybrid trains project will now be extended to consider hydrogen technology.

The work is in its early stages and will proceed in a way that ensures the safety of the network and yields viable results.

I shall provide an update to MSPs once substantive progress has been made.

Network Rail has confirmed it currently anticipates the redevelopment of Glasgow Queen Street Station, part of the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), being delivered within the original estimate of £120 million.

Scottish Ministers announced in March 2018 a further £80 million investment in the North Hanover Street car park site at the station. This investment, which is separate from EGIP, will deliver extensive retail, food and beverage opportunities resulting in an enhanced economic return. The development deck which will also be delivered will unlock wider development opportunities in the area, delivering substantial benefits for Glasgow.

The latest output schedule from Hitachi shows that they plan to deliver all 70 class 385 trains to Scotland by next April. This will allow ScotRail to introduce the full fleet by the May 2019 timetable change date across various central belt routes.

The next tranche of trains to be accepted will support further driver training and the next service introduction milestone will see another three pairs introduced onto the Edinburgh/Glasgow (E-G) via Falkirk High route during September. As more new Hitachi trains enter passenger service across the central belt this in turn will allow more class 380 trains to be transferred back to Inverclyde services.

The Scottish Government currently has three projects underway which involve railway line electrification; the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), Shotts Electrification and Stirling Dunblane Alloa Electrification. On completion of each project, Network Rail will confirm the Final Costs which will include the specific spend against the works associated with railway line electrification.

The Scottish Government is currently determining the scope of projects to be undertaken in Control Period 6 (March 2019 – 2024) and therefore it is not possible to provide a cost estimate for future electrification projects up to 2021 at this time.

At the end of July 2018, the Department for Transport (DfT) formally launched the Inclusive Transport Strategy and invited Transport Scotland to nominate stations to be considered for future Control Period 6 Access for All funding.

Transport Scotland is currently working to identify which stations will be submitted for nomination. It is expected that the DfT will conclude the selection process early in 2019 and a list of the stations that have successfully secured funding will then be confirmed and advertised.

No banknote, including Bank of England notes or notes issued by the Scottish banks, qualifies for the term 'legal tender' in Scotland. However, the term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. Bank notes, including those issued by the Bank of England, continue to be accepted as a form of payment across Scotland.

Our approach to setting our public sector pay policy reflects the value the Scottish Government places on its public sector workforce and underpins our drive to create a more successful country focussing on business growth, jobs and fair work. Leading by example we have taken positive steps to address years of austerity by being the first UK government to lift the 1% pay cap. We have taken in to account cost of living and affordability to deliver a pay policy for 2018-19. A policy which balances the need for fairness and consistency across all public sector workforces with the flexibility for individual bodies to address local pay issues, working to advance earnings growth, particularly for those on lower incomes.

The pay policy set the framework for pay negotiations on public sector pay increases for both staff pay and senior appointments within the Scottish Government and its Associated Departments, Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and Public Corporations in Scotland over the period 2018-19, a combined workforce of 37,500. The pay policy provides a guaranteed increase for lower paid staff and a cap for the highest earners but allows individual employers the flexibility to apply variable increases to address local pay issues such as pay inequalities and/or recruitment and retention. Details of the 2018-19 pay policy and who it applies to are detailed on the public sector pay webpages: www.gov.scot/publicsectorpay

Since opening to traffic in September 2017, the Queensferry Crossing has been open each day, with the exception of Thursday 30 November 2017 to 6 December 2017 when defects identified to the surfacing adjacent to the joints of the Queensferry Crossing meant that some snagging works were necessary prior to increasing the speed limit to 70mph. The Queensferry Crossing remained open during these works and traffic southbound was diverted over the Forth Road Bridge.

The Scottish Government is working with NFU Scotland to support SEPA to disseminate information to farmers, crofters and land managers on how to avoid problems and minimise impact resulting from water extraction and irrigation practice.

We will continue to monitor the situation on a weekly basis and discuss the position when the Agricultural Weather Advisory Panel next meets on 8 August. The Panel was established by the Scottish Government in December 2017 to act as a taskforce for rapidly sharing information, best practice and encouraging co-operation across industry to help farmers and crofters respond effectively to challenging weather conditions, both in the short term and in building longer term resilience.

To date, the Agricultural Weather Advisory Panel has progressed a number of actions. For example, it has extended the scope of support under the Scottish Government’s Farm Advisory Service to include: specialist advice for farmers and crofters through the National Advice Line; face to face advice on feed budgeting; and delivery of a number of one-to-many resilience workshop events. In addition, the Farm Advisory Service has issued a number of technical advice notes and updates on how to better cope with weather events, including advice on responding to prolonged dry periods. We have welcomed the campaign being conducted by NFU Scotland and others to encourage farm businesses to plan now for their autumn and winter feed needs.