Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01690 on
‎ 16 August 2021. 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

ScotRail led maintenance, overhaul and repair works are carried out in Scotland at their own maintenance depots in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.

Where specialist repairs are required ScotRail utilise local facilities such as Brodie Engineering in Kilmarnock and Assenta Rail in Hamilton, however ScotRail engage with the wider market to ensure a value for money procurement exercise is conducted.

Train owners may engage with the wider UK market and decide on where their heavy maintenance contracts are awarded but ScotRail does not decide this. The following train owner led workstreams have been sent out of Scotland over the last 2 years. As these works have not been led by ScotRail, the commercial value of these works is unable to be confirmed:-

• Class 156 Refurbishment. 15 units at Landore, Wales.
• Class 170 C6 Overhaul. 17 units at Crewe.
  

The Scottish Government agreed with CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) that the crew of the MV Arrow, though not covered by CFL terms and conditions or collective bargaining agreements, should receive the National Living Wage for the duration of the charter .

Arran ferry services were not impacted by the fire at Troon rail station. Rail connections between Glasgow and Ardrossan were maintained throughout the period of closure at Troon and temporary bus replacement links were put in place for passengers making journeys to and from the south.

Following repairs undertaken by Network Rail, the Glasgow Central to Ayr services were re-instated on Monday 26th July from platform two, with Northbound services to Glasgow set to call at the station from Friday 30 July when platform one reopens.

In preparation for the temporary move of the Ardrossan-Brodick/Campbeltown ferry services to Troon for a period of up to 21 months; CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL) will as part of service continuity planning engage with Transport Scotland and ScotRail to take cognisance of integrated travel with other modes for onward travel connections.

As of 20 July 2021, the First Minister had 3 meetings arranged in the run up to COP26 (31 October 2021), and the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport had 15 meetings planned. It is not currently possible to specify the exact number of meetings all ministers have arranged to take place in the lead up to and during the course of COP26. This is because the number of meetings is continuously rising, as an increasing volume of requests for ministerial involvement are received. Scottish Ministers are committed to maximising the opportunities of COP26, before, during and after the conference.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01623 on
‎ 16 August 2021. 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

The publication of the Housing Statistics for Scotland 2020: Key Trends Summary and associated Excel web tables had been initially planned for September 2020, however was subsequently delayed due to the impacts of COVID-19 on data provision and staff resourcing.

The Housing Statistics team are in the process of collecting, processing and quality assuring data returns from local authorities, covering annual data for both the delayed 2020 Key Trends publication along with more recent annual data covering the 2021 publication period. We are intending to publish a Key Trends Summary and Excel web tables containing both the 2020 and 2021 figures. The statistics will be released as soon as they are considered ready, under the guidance of the Chief Statistician. At this stage we anticipate this will be between October and December 2021.

Once there is more certainty around a publication date this will be pre-announced no later than 4 weeks in advance, in line with the Statistics Code of Practice, on the Scottish Government website: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Sufficient funding was available to carry out the electrification of the routes referred to. The works at Milngavie were not included in Network Rail’s delivery plans for Control Period 6 therefore no funding was previously allocated to carry out these works.

The Scottish Government were not part of the negotiations regarding the time charter agreement of the MV Arrow. These were undertaken between CalMac Ferries Ltd and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

The proportion of Home Energy Scotland loan offers that have expired during the Covid-19 pandemic compared to the previous three years is: