Chamber and committees

This information is available from the Office of Rail and Road statistics portal, published on its website. The Member may wish to access the following link, which will provide the information requested: Passenger rail usage | ORR Data Portal

Scottish Government officials, supported by Zero Waste Scotland, are in regular contact with representatives of public agencies as well as private sector businesses to help ensure readiness for the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.

This engagement will continue, in order to ensure the effective implementation of the ban as part of our progress towards achieving our net zero ambitions.

The project is being delivered by Amey through the Network Management Contract as emergency works. As design and construction are progressing concurrently, there are few mechanisms to penalise later than expected completion under the terms of this contract.

Transport Scotland has an experienced Project Board in place to oversee the governance of the project. The Project Board provide financial oversight and evaluate performance. They also monitor project progress and decision making with scrutiny of Amey and the internal project team. Gateway reviews have also been undertaken, in consultation with Scottish Government’s Internal Audit and Assurance team, to ensure successful project delivery.

Transport Scotland also has the Performance Audit Group (PAG) who ensure value for money through auditing, monitoring and reporting on the financial, technical and performance aspects of this project. In addition, further support is provided by Turner and Townsend, who apply expert scrutiny of the programme and project risks.

Zero Waste Scotland undertook an options appraisal in 2024/25 to assess the impact of introducing kerbside collections for plastic film and flexibles in terms of recycling tonnage, carbon impacts and costs. This will be published later in 2025.

At a national level, the analysis projected that collecting film and flexibles loose with other plastics as part of existing collections would lead to a saving of £680k per annum due to reduced disposal costs, as recycling films and flexibles is cheaper than current costs for disposal. Alternatively, the options appraisal projected that if plastic film and flexible packaging is collected within a bag (to aid segregation at a material recovery facility), this would result in additional costs of £1.4million per annum nationally due to the cost to local authorities to purchase and provide bags to households. These estimates do not include costs related to modifications that may be required at waste transfer stations to segregate these materials.

The cost to local authorities for introducing household collections for recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging will vary between authorities, based on the approach they take to collecting these materials, existing service set-up, contractual arrangements and the reprocessor gate fee they are able to negotiate.

The procurement process for the replacement Intercity rail fleet is ongoing. Releasing any details related to the live procurement would substantially harm economic interests of ScotRail, thus affecting the Scottish Government’s ability to secure a good value for public purse.

Information on the procurement of a replacement Intercity fleet has been published on the Public Contracts website and can be found here: View Notice - Public Contracts Scotland

Investment of such scale is approved by the Investment Decision Making Board comprised of Directors and Chief Executive of Transport Scotland. The aforementioned senior officials have been involved in the project at various stages, as required.

A swift yet satisfactory conclusion is essential to minimise impacts on Scottish Water customers, both in the near term and for the future. The Scottish Government continues to urge all parties to continue negotiations in good faith to find a solution which is within the spirit of the Government’s public sector pay policy; is affordable to Scottish Water; and represents a fair offer to Scottish Water’s employees. It is for Scottish Water and the Joint Trade Unions to agree a settlement which is fair and affordable.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The ESOL for Work Project was funded to help Glasgow English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Forum support 1240 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) jobseekers and employees to improve their English language skills through high quality ESOL for Employability courses (144 learners achieving SQA qualifications), ESOL classes in the workplace and/or in partnership with community organisations with an employability focus (106 learners) and a support service to signpost learners to other opportunities (990 learners)

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• Improved language skills and job readiness for BME jobseekers and ESOL learners through the provision of accessible SQA accredited ESOL for Employability courses
• Increased opportunities for BME employees and jobseekers to access tailored, accessible ESOL provision at workplaces &/or community projects
• Reduce barriers to employment, educational opportunities and participation in public life for BME communities through ESOL provision

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The "Music – A Language for Social Change" project was funded to support Limelight music to work to address discrimination, social isolation and limited life choices experienced by individuals with impairments. These challenges would be met through: continued development of musicians with impairments & provision of employment opportunities; provision of recreational music programmes for individuals with impairments experiencing social isolation; and facilitating the self-representation and self-determination of individuals with impairments.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• Increase in employment, training & educational opportunities for individuals with impairments.
• Reduce social isolation experienced by young people and adults with impairments
• Improve self-representation of individuals with impairments

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:

• Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.
• People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.
• People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.
• Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communities

The Professional Online Training in Specialist Interpreting and Working with Deaf People project was funded to support Queen Margaret University to improve access to public services and remove barriers to participation experienced by Deaf people. The intention was to develop online modules at postgraduate level for two key audiences: (a) BSL/English interpreters wishing to advance their practice in specialist areas of interpreting; (b) professionals working with Deaf people in diverse settings, who require a deeper understanding than is currently available through generic BSL awareness sessions.

The specific outcomes to be achieved were:

• Improved competence of BSL/English interpreters working with Deaf BSL users in specialist domains of work (eg healthcare, mental health, legal, education, the arts)
• Improved competence in professionals working with Deaf BSL users ensuring that the needs of this population are better understood and addressed

The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf