Chamber and committees

Our Programme for Government published in September 2023 committed to the introduction of a Housing Bill this parliamentary year. This Bill will deliver our New Deal for Tenants including the introduction of long-term rent controls for the Private Rented Sector; creating new tenants’ rights; and introducing new duties aimed at the prevention of homelessness.

Further to the answer to question S6W-24362 on 22 January 2024 the Scottish Government continues to engage with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) on the implications of the budget decision. SPT was the only regional transport partnership which received direct general capital support budget allocation, in previous budgets funded through the Local Government Finance settlement Regional Transport Partnerships line.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland and confirmed that the Scottish Government Capital Block Grant is forecast to contract by almost 10% in real terms over 5 years (2023-24 to 2027-28). This required very difficult decisions across all portfolios.

Scottish Government was not able to undertake consultation with SPT in advance of publication, and I recognise the disappointment in this, however, you will appreciate the detail of the draft Scottish Budget cannot be discussed out with Government, until Parliament is informed when the Deputy First Minister makes her statement.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

All buildings within the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme are due to be on a Single Building Assessment pathway by Summer 2024, as set out in the First Minister's policy priority mandate letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice.

CalMac Ferries Limited are unable to provide the information requested as the data is not held in this format. CalMac do not measure vessels outage in days, as many technical issues are resolved in a number of hours.

I have provided reference to a previous Parliamentary Question S6W-15774 on 29 March 2023 with accompanying Bib number 64075, showing all weather related cancellation per vessel for the last 10 years. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24748 on 2 February 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Transport Scotland audits ScotRail under the Service Quality Inspection Regime (SQUIRe). The SQUIRe inspectors undertake sample inspections, including checking cleanliness of the trains and stations.

The SQUIRE regime is one of the toughest performance regimes in the UK with many of the target levels set at 90% or higher. ScotRail is required to address any issues identified during inspections as quickly as possible. This regime makes it possible for ScotRail to achieve one of the highest independent passenger satisfaction survey results amongst UK train operators.

We know that safety of passengers and staff alike is a number one priority for ScotRail.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

CalMac Ferries Limited are unable to provide the information requested as the data is not held in this format. In each of the last 5 years during CY03 – CY07 the total number of cancellations amounted to 40,130. Of this number 6,302 were due to technical issues and 24,789 were due to weather. As answered in S6W-24402, on 19 January 2024, Information from May 2023 will be available in the future, once CalMac Ferries Ltd have completed their audit and validation of this data. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

There is no record of funding being provided by the Scottish Government to 'Northwood Charitable Trust' since 2019.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

There is no record of funding being provided by the Scottish Government to “Perceton Mission Trust Dreghorn” since 2019.