Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32614 on 14 January 2025. 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.

There is no direct link between infrastructure upgrades and passenger fares.

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

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

Officials continue to develop a public consultation on Section 8 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. However, it is important that any proposed secondary legislation is in line with the UK Government’s Parking Code of Practice, which sets standards for the private parking industry around parking charges and debt recovery fees. This Code of Practice was temporarily withdrawn in 2022 and an amended version has yet to be instated. Transport Scotland Officials are working closely with the Department for Transport, who have confirmed that further consultation will be required before it can be reinstated, but due to the change in the Westminster Government, they do not have a timescale for this to be undertaken.

This is a matter for Network Rail as the landowner. Transport Scotland would be engaged by Network Rail as a mandatory consultee under its license condition 17 obligations, when considering the disposal of railway land and/or rights in railway land.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

The information requested on how many NHS staff have been employed in chronic pain services in each NHS board in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board is not centrally available. This information is held by each board.

The Scottish Government’s international network offices do not have a role in developing policy on options for Scotland’s constitutional future. Nevertheless, it is the role of the Civil Service to support the elected government of the day in developing and implementing its policies. That is the case for work on independence as it is for the rest of the government’s work.

The Rail Cluster Builder is a specific example of Scottish Government supporting manufacturers to develop decarbonisation technologies. Funded by Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and Skills Development Scotland, the Rail Cluster Builder Phase 2 is a three-year project building on the momentum of Phase 1, giving opportunities for Scottish SMEs to bring new ideas, new thinking and learning from other industries across Scotland into the railway sector and helping to create innovative, green solutions that will support our net zero targets.

A key element of Phase 2 is ensuring that businesses have access to support to address the skills related challenges faced by organisations in the rail sector. Skills Development Scotland provide support to companies to identify their skills needs and how to develop their existing workforce in order to build capacity, grasp opportunities and increase competitiveness.