Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government vehicle fleet, broken down by vehicle and fuel type, is provided in the following table.

The Scottish Government does not own any personalised or special vehicle number plates, therefore there are no associated costs.

The Scottish Government currently own 10 Tesla’s. We do not have any leased vehicles.

Changes to legislation came into force in November 2021 which allow for local authorities to put experimental projects on the ground with 7 days’ notice and a minimum 6 month consultation period which begins on the day the project is put in place. There is also a streamlined process to follow if the authority then wish to make the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) a permanent Traffic Road Order (TRO).

No full review of this process has been undertaken since 2021 but officials have had a number of discussions with local authorities to provide further information on the change in process and to assist in putting the new measures in place. No concerns regarding the new procedures have been raised during these discussions.

Local authorities can use Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs) as set out in The Local Authorities' Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. As with all other Traffic Regulation Orders, local authorities are under no obligation to inform the Scottish Government when they use these measures and as such, we do not hold an accurate record of how many have been deployed during this time period.

Details of Traffic Regulation Orders published by local authorities, including ETROs, can be found on Tell Me Scotland's website at: Public Information Notices for Scotland | Tellmescotland.

Other than Brussels, Scottish Government international network offices outside the UK are based in the corresponding British Embassy or High Commission. Scottish Government staff in these locations regularly engage with their UK Government counterparts, sharing information to ensure opportunities for collaboration are maximised and to avoid any risk of duplication. All our offices prepare business plans setting out priorities and activity for the year. Where possible we seek to collaborate around key Scottish events in the diplomatic calendar including Burns Night and St Andrew’s Day. Similarly, our teams based in Scotland regularly engage with the FCDO’s devolution unit and with various operational teams and governance structures to ensure a good flow of information.

An individual business case, including socio-economic analysis, is prepared for each route being considered for decarbonisation. These business cases include technical and economic examinations of the case for of different types of rail traction including bi-mode diesel-electric, battery-electric and hydrogen.

Transport Scotland is working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings, who is responsible for overseeing ScotRail, to ensure that ScotRail services are delivered efficiently. This includes discussions on the regular monitoring of ScotRail financial performance and delivery.

Caledonian Sleeper services are funded through a combination of passenger revenue and Scottish Government subsidy. This was true when operated by Serco and remains true under public ownership. There are no plans to change that funding model.

Details of decarbonisation of the Scottish rail network will be outlined in the refreshed Decarbonisation Action Plan.