Chamber and committees

Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including lines speed and capacity, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information.

Network Rail advises it is currently looking to understand the implications of the Prime Minister’s HS2 announcement made in October and how this might affect journey times in the medium to long term.

The Scottish Government is working with all public sector partners to understand the extent of, and risks associated with, RAAC across all public bodies. In respect of issues concerning RAAC outside of schools and housing, Scottish Government officials are working closely with the Scottish Heads of Property Services (SHOPS) which is co-ordinating an information gathering exercise on our behalf in respect of the prevalence of RAAC in the non school/non housing estate. Information is also sought on planned actions and mitigations. Scottish Government officials will continue to attend SHOPS meetings to support information sharing, help facilitate wider engagement with other sectors and ensure awareness of best industry practice in mitigating RAAC impacts.

Infrastructure on the UK rail network, including level crossings on the West Coast Mainline, is a matter for Network Rail, therefore Network Rail would be best placed to provide this information.

Network Rail advises that all level crossings fully meet the operational and safety requirements and regularly undergo the required risk assessment programme.

Scotland has one of the lowest levels of low pay, insecure work and low paid insecure work across all UK regions, however with 17% of workers in Scotland classed as being in insecure work (which is deeply connected to low pay), we are not complacent. Although employment law is reserved to the UK Government, we are committed to mainstreaming Fair Work throughout Scotland. Our Fair Work Action Plan aims to use the levers that we have control over to ensure that all parts of the Scottish Government set out collectively what we can do to discourage the use of precarious contracts. Our Fair Work First criteria have been applied to over £4bn of public sector funding since 2019 – driving fair work practices across the labour market. For public sector grants awarded on or after 1 July 2023 we have introduced a requirement to pay at least the real Living Wage to all employees, and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, within the bounds of what we can do within devolved competence.

On 6 November 2023, the Scottish Government announced its accreditation as a Living Hours employer, the first government in the UK to do so. The Living Hours scheme recognises that in addition to payment of the real Living Wage, number and frequency of work hours are critical to tackling in-work poverty. Criteria to accredit also includes providing a contract reflecting accurate hours worked, a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours a week (unless the worker requests otherwise), and at least 4 weeks’ notice of shifts and guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this period.

Per the latest available Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings real Living Wage data from the Office for National Statistics, Scotland remains the best performing of all four UK countries with the highest proportion of employees (18+) paid the Real Living Wage or more (91.0%). Ahead of Wales 88.2%, England 87.5%, NI 85.4%, and the UK 87.8%. The data is also recorded by Scottish Industry Sector in table 5.4, and Local Authority area in table 5.7. The full data tables can be accessed and downloaded from the following web page.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings-2022/

The models and approaches that could be considered for delivering a public interest test for land reform were originally set out by the Scottish Land Commission in their discussion paper, Legislative proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s concentration of land ownership (published February 2021).

Based on the Scottish Land Commission’s recommendations, we put forward our proposals for a Public Interest Test on land transfers in our consultation document, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation (published July 2022).

The consultation opened on 4 July 2022 and closed on 30 October 2022, asking a total of 51 questions. It also invited respondents to give us views on other ideas and proposals. Our proposals for the criteria which would determine the types of landholdings that would be in scope for the Public Interest Test, and how the Test would be applied, were set out in Parts 4 and 7.

Since the consultation we have commissioned analysis of the responses to it. The responses included a range of views on models for/approaches to a Public Interest Test. We have considered these carefully as we take forward development of our proposals. We have also engaged, and will continue to engage, with a range of internal and external stakeholders over the Test, along with the other measures proposed for the Bill.

The Scottish Government does not produce projections on the number of businesses in Scotland, overall or for individual sectors.

We established the Scottish Land Commission on 1 April 2017, after the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. Its remit is to review the effectiveness and impact of our laws and policies relating to land, and to make recommendations to Scottish Ministers on future land reform.

As part of the development of their discussion paper, Legislative Proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s Concentration of Land Ownership, (published February 2021), and their ongoing work on land reform, the SLC has published a series of reports reviewing international experience of interventions in land ownership, to inform fresh thinking for Scotland. They may be found here: International Experience - Governance & Ownership - Our work - Scottish Land Commission .

The proposals put forward in our consultation on the Bill were based on the Commission's discussion paper, which in turn were(where relevant) informed by the findings and lessons of these reports.

A Mortality Special Interest Group (SIG) currently exists with a remit to monitor and analyse mortality trends in Scotland. This is a collaborative group chaired by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and includes representation from key organisations including the Scottish Government, National Records of Scotland and representation from Directors of Public Health.

More information on the Mortality SIG can be found on the PHS website .

There are currently no plans for the Scottish Government to set up any further committees or groups on excess deaths.

As the member is aware, the British Transport Police (BTP) reports to the Department for Transport (DfT) through the British Transport Police Authority. Any expansion of the BTP’s remit would be a matter for the DfT.