Chamber and committees

The legal use of electric scooters and decisions around their introduction is broadly a reserved matter for the UK Government. The UK Government has stated its intention to bring forward a new regulatory framework for vehicles such as electric scooters.

Enabling the use of electric scooters through such a regulatory framework would also require amendments to devolved legislation, therefore the Scottish Government are monitoring developments in this area and will continue to engage with the Department for Transport on this matter. The timescales for this regulatory framework are unclear and it may take a number of years for such a new framework to be in effect, as such the Scottish Government has not yet given detailed consideration to measures to be implemented that ensure safety of people with sight loss.

No e-scooter trials are taking place in Scotland, and recent extensions to the trials do not enable onboarding of new areas. We do not anticipate that this is likely to change therefore no preparations for a Scottish trial are taking place.

Peak times on East Kilbride to Glasgow route currently see 4 services per hour. ScotRail advises that off peak services, which see 2 trains per hour are meeting the current passenger demand. With this in mind, there are no current plans to extend the 4 trains per hour service to off peak travel. However ScotRail keeps services under continued review to ensure the passenger demand is met.

The electrification of the of the branch line from Springburn to St Rollox works does not form part of current suite of rail enhancement projects funded by Transport Scotland. The member may wish to contact Network Rail directly to enquire if the current owner of the site has made any enquiries or proposals to fund such works.

As previously confirmed in the response to S6W-28174 on‎ 27 June 2024, information regarding the number of abandoned vehicles reported to local authorities is not centrally held.

Management information is available from Police Scotland on the number of police recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles. This is provided below, split by the local authority within which the incident occurred.

It should be noted that not all abandoned vehicles will relate to cars and an incident may relate to more than one abandoned vehicle. This information was consistently recorded across all police divisions from the calendar year of 2019 onwards and therefore the figures provided below relate to the period 1 January 2019 to 18 June 2024. As such the 2024 figures relate to only a partial year.

Recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles, 1 January 2019 to 18 June 2024.

As previously stated in the responses to S6W-28174 on 27 June 2024 and S6W-28267 on 10 July 2024, information is not held centrally on the number of abandoned vehicles in local authority areas, but management information is available from Police Scotland on police-recorded incidents of abandoned vehicles.

Any assessment of abandoned vehicles specifically regarding non-compliance with Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards is a matter for local authorities.

Financial support is available for the disposal of eligible non-compliant vehicles for lower income households and smaller businesses through the LEZ Support Fund. Households and smaller businesses are encouraged to visit the Energy Saving Trust website to apply.

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 .

I recently met with Housing Convenors across Scotland to discuss the challenges that have contributed to longer turnaround times for empty council properties, delays in reconnecting energy supplies was one of the key issues raised.

Although energy is a reserved matter, Scottish Ministers imminently intend to send a joint letter with COSLA to individual energy suppliers on the impacts delays in reconnecting utilities is having on void turnaround times. This will be followed by official level engagement with energy suppliers over the summer.

The declaration of a housing emergency asks all partners to play their part, therefore, I hope organisations in the energy sector heed this call to action and respond quickly and satisfactorily to the concerns local authorities have raised.

We will continue to work with local authorities and registered social landlords to help reduce turnaround times for empty homes and voids and will support efforts at a national level where we can to address this problem.

The final evaluation of the pilot will assess the effectiveness of the Pilot against the First Minister’s priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing Scotland’s economy, tackling the climate emergency and improving Scotland’s public services. The value for money assessment will take into consideration the impact on business travel costs in the normal manner.

I refer to previous answers to question S6W-19363 on 7 July 2023 and S6W-23734 on 4 January 2024 and S6W-24773 on 1 February 2024. The core CHFS3 team consists of 13 FTE staff. Specialist support is being provided from relevant officials within the Legal, Financial and Subsidy Control teams as and when required to complete the necessary due diligence on a potential direct award (an award in reliance on the exemption in Regulation 13 (1) of the Public Contract (Scotland) Regulations 2015).

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 .

Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with trade union representatives. The consultants commissioned by Transport Scotland provide confidential legal and financial advice which supports decision making. Trade unions should continue to use the existing communication channels through Transport Scotland for any queries they have regarding the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, which is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, will introduce a number of reforms which are intended to improve access to justice, one of the three pillars outlined in the Aarhus Convention. 

The Bill will introduce a modern set of regulatory objectives which promote greater access to affordable legal services for consumers. It will also introduce direct regulation of legal businesses, remove restrictions on charities to allow them to directly employ solicitors, simplify the complaints process and introduce a register of regulated legal service providers. These reforms are designed to improve access to justice in Scotland.