Chamber and committees

The current Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract is due to expire in September 2024. Work is underway to consider the appropriate approach to future contracts and tendering. No decisions on the form of tender or timescales have been taken as yet.

Under current legislation, a public sector operator could bid to run rail services in Scotland in any future franchise competition.

The Scottish Government has, on a number of occasions, requested the further devolution of rail powers, which has been denied. This includes through our engagement with the UK Rail Review. Further devolution would enable us to consider the widest range of options possible for delivering rail services.

We were not consulted on the detailed proposals within the Williams-Shapps Plan prior to its publication, and we are currently seeking clarity from the UK Government in a range of areas.

Transport Scotland has recently attended a meeting with Glasgow City Council on 26 May to discuss the maintenance and financing of the repairs for the Clyde Tunnel. My officials are willing to continue to engage with the Council on this matter in order to aid them in trying to find a solution, however maintenance of the local road network is the responsibility of local authorities.

The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Glasgow City Council will receive a total funding package of almost £1.5 billion in 2021-22 to support local services, which includes an extra £29.8 million to support vital day to day services, equivalent to an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 2020-21.

To date, the council has been allocated an additional £221.7 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the local government settlement - over and above their regular grant payments.

Asylum is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament, and the Scottish Government does not hold data on individuals seeking asylum who are living in Scotland. The latest Home Office quarterly statistics recorded 3,904 people in section 95 asylum support in Scotland as at 31 March 2021, including 122 who were receiving subsistence only. There is no geographical breakdown in the statistics of the number of people in receipt of section 98 or section 4 support. Home Office data is available on the UK Government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets .

Under the Emergency Measures Agreements (EMAs) in place, (a) Abellio ScotRail and (b) Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited are not entitled to indemnification in the event of industrial action although the net difference between revenue and costs in any EMA period pass through to Scottish Ministers.

To the extent that industrial action increases the net cost to the Scottish Government it increases the need for further efficiencies and cost reductions given that funding, in the context of Covid, is severely constrained.

We will work with all key stakeholders, including the trade unions, to ensure the most efficient and best value arrangement to deliver our key lifeline ferry services. An independent review analysing the existing governance structure is already underway and our consultants will be engaging with stakeholders shortly. The provisional outcomes of the review will be published around the end of the year when further engagement on potential options will take place.

In Scotland we are continuing to work under the interim Subsidy Control regime and provisions held within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Draft legislation was laid in the UK Parliament on 30 June 2021. We will now take time to consider the draft legislation and reflect any new options that may be available for procurement of ferry services and/or impact on ferry fares policy.

The Prior Information Notice (PIN) referred to confirmed Ministers’ intention for Scotrail services to be delivered through a wholly owned company of the Scottish Ministers in terms of the Operator of Last Resort following expiry of the current ScotRail Franchise Agreement.

It is intended that Operator of Last Resort arrangements will provide a period of stability for passengers and staff while we assess the scale and pace of recovery from Covid 19 and future rail reform.

As the PIN was published on 31 March 2021, almost 2 months ahead of the UK Government’s delayed White Paper on Rail, there was considerable uncertainty around reform at the time. Accordingly, through the PIN, Ministers reserved the right to put OLR arrangements in place as appropriate, up to the maximum period of 10 years. It also indicated the envisaged direct award at that point was for a period of 3-5 years with any optional additional period(s) exercisable at the sole discretion of Ministers.

Although the White Paper has now been published, we are pressing the UK Government for further clarity on how their proposals, and timescales for implementation of future rail reform, will impact our aspirations for Scotland’s railways. This will help inform future decisions about the duration of the OLR arrangements, subject to the 10 year maximum referred to in the PIN.

The organisational structure for ScotRail Trains Limited is currently being reviewed however the vast majority of Abellio ScotRail staff will transfer over.

The Scottish Government has been reviewing the restrictions and guidance in place regularly.

Following the most recent review, the First Minister announced on 13 July that all remaining parts of Scotland would move to protection level 0 of the updated Strategic Framework with effect from 19 July.

This decision means that under our published guidance up to 200 people can now attend a marriage ceremony or wedding reception subject to the capacity of the couple’s chosen venue with the appropriate physical distancing in place.

In addition, we have amended the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Local Levels) (Restrictions and Requirements) Regulations 2020 to reduce the required physical distance between households indoors to 1 metre in all public venues.

The First Minister’s statement summarises the evidence and data supporting these decisions. Information about strategy and evidence is published at Coronavirus in Scotland (see Scottish Government strategy and evidence). We have also published a report on the outcomes of the recent physical distancing review and information about the current state of the epidemic .