Chamber and committees

The First Minister announced to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 2025 that we intend to remove the ban on alcohol on trains and replace it with new restrictions which will allow alcohol consumption between from 10am to 9pm every day. ScotRail will reserve the right to implement alcohol restrictions on specific services where BTP and rail industry intelligence indicates it necessary, for example major concerts or sporting events.

The current ban will be lifted and the new rules will come into force on 2 June 2025.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts estimate that £3 billion will be raised in non-domestic rates revenue in 2025-26, and £731 million of reliefs will be provided.

Those reliefs, including the UK’s most generous Small Business Bonus Scheme relief, deliver direct support to small independent retailers, with almost 62% of all shops on the valuation roll benefiting from one or more reliefs.

As at 1 June 2024, almost 34,000 shops in Scotland benefited from non-domestic rates relief, with an estimated value of over £113 million. The Non-domestic rates relief statistics 2024 provide a further breakdown of relief awards by property type and local authority area.

The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026, which will ensure rateable values reflect current market conditions. Decisions on non-domestic rates and reliefs are generally considered in the context of the Scottish Budget.

Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.

We have had extensive engagement with stakeholders – including consumer organisations such as Consumer Scotland – to ensure we understand all perspectives in this debate and represent this in our engagement with the UK Government.

The UKG have committed to publish a decision on REMA in the summer ahead of the CfD allocation round 7 commencing.

All Health Boards in Scotland have the responsibility for delivering the shingles vaccination programme and have operational flexibility to reflect local needs.

Each year, individuals become eligible for vaccination depending on their age on 1 September. Boards can decide when it is most suitable to deliver this effectively alongside other immunisation programmes.

The Chief Medical Officer publishes advice for health professionals which includes the programme eligibility, priority and asks Health Boards to include an element of proactive inclusion work to reduce health inequalities. He also asks for a particular focus on underserved communities; this might include people living in the areas of highest deprivation and certain ethnicities who may experience lower vaccine uptake.

The Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (Scotland) Regulations 2003 provide local authorities with powers to issue fixed penalty notices to drivers of parked idling vehicles who refuse a reasonable request to switch off their engines. It is for individual local authorities to decide how to make use of their powers and promote awareness. The Scottish Government provides guidance and funding support to assist local authorities in this process.

Decisions on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) are reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government has published impact assessments and is updating its analysis ahead of a final decision this summer. We are awaiting sight of this updated modelling.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing the 2003 guidance, and has been engaging with local authorities as part of this process. Any updates to the guidance will be published in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37351 on 14 May 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.