Chamber and committees

Transport Scotland has no plans for voluntary redundancies or voluntary retirement schemes to be offered to ScotRail employees at the present time.

ScotRail’s (a) newest rolling stock are the seventy class 385 trains which were introduced in 2018-19 and (b) oldest rolling stock are the twenty-five Inter-city High Speed Trains which were introduced from the late 1970s and extensively re-engineered and refurbished in 2017-2020.

The Scottish Government recognises the sustainability advantages of re-engineering older rail vehicle structures, when appropriate, thus avoiding the energy expended in the production of new rail vehicles.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures from 2020-21 calculates that the average age of the 350 trains in the ScotRail fleet is 21.69 years.

Abellio ScotRail staff will transfer to the new operator, ScotRail Trains Limited on 1 April 2022. In accordance with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations, all employees will transfer on their current contractual terms and conditions, which in some cases may include car allowances and healthcare provisions. Non-contractual bonus schemes are not covered by TUPE. As new staff are recruited, previous terms and conditions covered by TUPE need not apply to new contracts.

I am pleased to inform Parliament that the Scottish Government has today laid its response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly.

The Assembly has been a truly historic process resulting in recommendations which are already guiding the future of our country. Our response has been a cross-Government effort and we have set out the actions that we are taking in response to each recommendation.

These actions include the roll-out of support for a new network of sharing libraries across Scotland, work with Scottish landowners to increase woodland creation and peatland restoration, and integrating emissions and emission reduction topics into education programmes across the country, ensuring people of all ages are supported to learn about and act on climate change.

We have been clear where action is already underway, and where we need to explore the feasibility of proposals or consult further. As we work towards net zero, we will ensure the Assembly's recommendations continue to guide decision-making. We will also take relevant recommendations to the UK Government to urge them to act in areas that would enable Scotland to reach its full emissions reduction potential.

As you will know, the Climate Assembly worked closely with the Children’s Parliament, ensuring that for the first time, children have directly been involved in such a process. The responses to their calls to action have been integrated into our main response. Additionally, we will respond directly to the Children’s Parliament.

I look forward to hearing the outcome of the eighth and final meeting of the Assembly and will make a statement to Parliament following this.

Scotland’s Climate Assembly, as representatives of our nation, told us what they want to see to meet net zero, and I am delighted to support this package of recommendations.

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s second thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

The thematic progress report showcases the significant steps partners have taken to implement Dame Elish Angiolini’s recommendations, as well as highlighting our commitment to consult next year on legislative proposals in advance of bringing forward primary legislation.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for the collaborative working and progress to date. As set out in the last report, this second report features updates from all partners, with tables to record progress against every recommendation grouped under the following themes:

• Rights & ethics
• Jurisdiction & powers
• Governance & accountability
• Transparency & accessibility
• Equality, diversity & inclusion
• Conduct & standards
• Training & HR
• Efficiency & effectiveness
• Audit & review

The report can be accessed here: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781802017168

The total number of electric vehicle charging points installed at each building on the core Scottish Government Estate is in the following table. Each charging point can charge 2 electric vehicles at the same time except the charging points at Bonnington, Atlantic Quay and Kirkwall which are single points.

The number of days spent at sea for the Marine Protection Vessels is as follows:

Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 is provided in the following table.

Table 1. Offences of Protection of livestock from dogs, by local authority, 2012-13 to November 2021.

We have always been clear from the outset, that the funding provided in 2021-22 would be for 1 year only.

This was funded from the Covid consequentials afforded to us by the UK Government. The scheme was designed to help public bodies, local authorities and communities prepare for the 2021 season and provided some seed funding to support rangers and temporary infrastructure. It was necessary given the challenges faced in 2020 with little international travel opportunities and a large desire for domestic countryside visits.

The fund was extremely successful. A list of successful awards can be found here: Better Places Green Recovery Fund - Successful Projects | NatureScot

Going forward however, we continue to focus on long term solutions. For example, to date our Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund is supporting projects across the country to the tune of £15m. This includes permanent infrastructure such as car parks, toilets and waste disposal facilities, each with a 10 year minimum life span. We plan to continue this fund into 2022-23.

The work of the Visitor Management Steering Group will also continue. For more information please see: https://www.visitscotland.org/about-us/what-we-do/working-in-partnership/visitor-management-plan .

The 2022-23 Scottish Budget was published 9 December and is available here: Scottish Budget 2022-23 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The Just Transition Fund will be drawn from the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Portfolio. Level 3 information detailing the budget line for the Fund is given on page 86.