The Scottish Government is working collaboratively with the UK Government to establish a monitoring and evaluation framework to cover the Investment Zones in Scotland.

The information and metrics included within the framework will be determined by the detailed proposals provided by the Regional Economic Partnerships in Glasgow City and North East Region. The proposals are currently in progress, but will focus on the overall policy goals including innovation and fair work, and will link to the outcomes set out in the Investment Zones Technical Document , published on 8 December 2023.

As noted in S6W-26045 on 18 March 2024, the SQUIRe regime is one of the toughest performance regimes in the UK. It is an operational matter for ScotRail to investigate and rectify areas where performance has not met the standards expected by the Scottish Government. By doing so the overall scoring for ScotRail should improve.

The scoring shows that the SQUIRe regime is operating as expected by highlighting areas where ScotRail is not performing as expected and where improvement is required.

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 officials discuss all aspects of the SQUIRe regime with ScotRail including performance and on-going issues.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales and Northern Ireland, have noted the petition PE1997: Introduce mandatory braille labelling for food products sold in Scotland and the interest in Scotland around progressing this issue under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework. Defra have indicated that the UK Government has no immediate plans to initiate a public consultation on policy proposals for the introduction of mandatory braille labelling on food products, citing several factors that need to be explored before policy development can be considered on a UK-wide basis. This includes how viable braille labelling would be on a wide range of packaging, as well as the relative effectiveness and associated costs alongside using alternative different digital technologies. FSS intend to initiate stakeholder engagement in this respect during the 2024-25 business year and will keep the other UK lead departments updated at Common Framework discussions.

The Scottish Government has welcomed the recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) that the 4 UK Nations should move towards implementing a programme of targeted lung screening for those between 55-74 with a history of smoking.

The Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG) was established to assess the specific challenges and opportunities for a Scottish programme. The SEAG met for the first time in August 2023. Further meetings are scheduled in the coming months as part of work to develop a business case.

The complexity of the challenge means a national screening programme is likely to take years rather than months to implement. Until the business case is complete, we cannot provide timings for implementation or specifics relating to implementation and annual running costs.

Lung cancer remains a national priority, which is why the Scottish Government has a dedicated chapter in our £114.5 million National Cancer Plan, and last December we redesigned lung cancer diagnostic services to help ensure patients receive faster access to treatment.

Under the Public Sector Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 Government bodies are required to publish details of information relating to: public relations; overseas travel; hospitality and entertainment; external consultancy; details of all items of expenditure over £25,000; remuneration; sustainable growth; efficiency; and shared services.

Transport Scotland has also followed the Scottish Government extension of these requirements to publish annual details of Electronic Procurement card transactions. Details can be found on the Transport Scotland website.

Disclosures for the financial years 2022-23 and 2021-22 - Electronic Purchasing Cards | Transport Scotland

Legislation and regulations relating to electricity and gas networks are reserved to the UK Government, with the Electricity System Operator (ESO) responsible for the strategic approach to transmission investment, working with Transmission Owners across Great Britain. Regulation of the electricity and gas networks including approval of investment on infrastructure is carried out by the independent energy regulator Ofgem. Ofgem conducts analysis on the impact of standing charges on consumer bills across Great Britain and sets the framework for investment in the electricity and gas networks through the RIIO price controls. The Scottish Government has no role in networks regulation, apart from our statutory consenting process, however we work closely with the networks companies to promote consideration of Scottish Government policies and ambitions in their business plans and wider activities.

Staffing levels are an operational matter for Scotrail, however the Scottish Government appreciates the importance of staff being visibly deployed appropriately in stations and across the network to enhance the passengers experience, including safety and control of antisocial behaviour.

The Scottish and UK Governments are collaborating with the Regional Economic Partnerships for the Glasgow City Region and the North East of Scotland, as they develop compelling and complementary propositions for Scotland’s two Investment Zones. The proposals are still in development, but once finalised they will provide detail of sector, geography, and chosen interventions. We expect to have more information when that process completes.

Under the SQUIRe regime, Transport Scotland audits and scores ScotRail under set Service Schedules which include station staff and station tickets offices along with other important aspects like cleanliness and CCTV.

In each Service Schedule there are many aspects in which a failure notice may be attributed including staff uniform or ability to retail all tickets. In order for a pass to be granted it requires ScotRail to meet all aspects of the Schedule.

It is therefore correct that should ScotRail fail to meet the demands of each Service Schedule aspect that a failure notice is served thus affecting the score of that Schedule.

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.