Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35713 on 27 March 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

The Budget has established the total operating cost for the next financial year and workforce plans will be adjusted accordingly, with an expectation that there will be reductions in the workforce.

Bringing ScotRail into public ownership and control represented a milestone in the devolved history of the railway in Scotland. Now that the 3rd anniversary of that crucial event approaches, it is right that we reflect on what has been achieved since then, and also look forward to the future.

This Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record of public investment in our railways. Public ownership is a logical extension of this scale of public investment, which remains at record levels - £1.6 billion pounds this year.

Public ownership has created the opportunity to deliver a railway which is run for the benefit of customers. The ability to plan for the long term brings with it the opportunity to modernise Scotland’s railway and deliver passenger services which are efficient and sustainable.

Our approach is widely admired and even envied elsewhere in GB – both our counterparts in Wales and the North of England want to follow our devolved model and success, which is reflected in consistently higher ScotRail train performance and Passenger Satisfaction in Scotland than the GB average.

We have seen strong growth in both passenger journeys and revenue, with a 27 per cent increase in journeys between 2022-23 and 2023-24. And this year, we expect to see that increase further to more than 84 million passenger journeys by the end of March this year.

We know that affordability is a key factor in the decision to choose rail, therefore we have kept fares increases as low as possible to maintain the affordability of rail as a travel option while balancing the increasing costs of inflation to the public purse.

The off-peak all-day trial which was funded by the Scottish Government from the end of 2023 until September 2024, simply could not have been undertaken under private franchising and, unsurprisingly, the cheaper simpler fares which were offered were popular with customers. We have learnt a lot from that trial – which will be used to develop further fare offers.

Since last September, regular travellers have been able to take advantage of a 20 per cent discount on all season tickets (which is the equivalent of a 40 per cent saving on the cost of day tickets), and an increase in the number of journeys available with a Flexipass – which offers a saving of 32 per cent.

We are seeing an increase in passengers on our railway - passenger journeys on our publicly owned train services are up 4.5% for each 4-week period this year compared to the same period last year when the trial was running.

ScotRail continues to develop fares initiatives which can help attract more passengers, while offering savings and added value to existing rail users.

It now employs 500 more staff than ever before, with 250 of those being train drivers meaning driver recruitment is at record levels and making real progress towards eradicating the reliance on rest day working that is all too common across the rail industry. ScotRail is also making progress in ensuring passengers feels safe with the expansion of its travel safe team into the east of the country, bringing the team up to 37 members.

Capacity on the West Highland Line has recently been increased in a boost for the tourism economy, and ScotRail is demonstrating innovation by trialling the use of vegetable oil as an alternative to diesel fuel.

Next week ScotRail will publish a report that sets out the value it brings to the economy, and I would encourage everyone with an interest in Scotland’s railway to read this once available.

We have achieved much to make Scotland’s railway successful in the last 3 years but there is much more we wish to do to give the people of Scotland the rail service they need and deserve.

A Scottish Government amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill will, if passed, confer a new power for relevant bodies to share information in connection with their new duties to prevent homelessness. This should help decision makers plan better services but will also mean that those seeking assistance do not have to share distressing information on multiple occasions with different services.

The Scottish Government published updated information sharing guidance in September 2022 as part of a suite of refreshed ‘Getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC) policy and practice guidance, which is intended for practitioners and service leads in services that work with children, young people and families. This guidance promotes lawful, fair and proportionate information sharing that complies with all relevant legal requirements. The Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with stakeholders to better understand local challenges around GIRFEC implementation, including information sharing, in order to strengthen its consistent, high-quality application across Scotland.

The National Care Service Bill, as introduced, contained two critical provisions, section 36 (information sharing) and section 37 (information standards), within part 2 of the bill to support our data and digital infrastructure across health and care in Scotland. Section 36, as introduced, sets out the power of Scottish Ministers, by way of regulations, to establish a scheme for sharing information in order that public health and social care services can be provided efficiently and effectively. This will allow safe, secure and efficient sharing of social care and health data across relevant care settings, including with the individual and will ensure up-to-date information is available to those who support and provide care.

The Scottish Government continues to fund Partners in Advocacy with £295,00 per year to deliver the My Rights, My Say, Children’s Service. This service supports children aged 12-15 to access advocacy and legal representation to enable them to be fully involved in decisions about their education and to exercise their rights under the Additional Support for Learning legislation.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all students with a disability, long term medical condition, or additional support need, can access further and higher education and are fully supported throughout their studies. It is for institutions to make decisions on their intake, but they are required under the Equality Act (Scotland) 2010 to provide equal opportunities and prevent discrimination.

Our records indicate that Scottish Government has not held meetings, since 2018, with Adultwork, Escort Scotland and Vivastreet.

The regulation of the internet and online service providers, and advertising are reserved matters.

To keep The Promise requires a whole systems approach to connect the different strands of policy work, new and ongoing commitments and financial programmes across Government that can impact on the lives of care experienced children, young people and their families.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and growing our childminding sector, which is why we launched the Programme for Scotland’s Childminding Future in June 2024, in partnership with the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA). The programme is supporting the recruitment of new professional childminders across Scotland, offering a package of funded support and training in addition to a £750 start-up grant, providing everything needed to establish a new childminding business from home.

The programme also includes a range of pilot measures to address the retention of the childminding workforce, and to encourage more childminders to deliver funded early learning and childcare. This includes trials of a mentoring scheme and ‘funded time off the floor’ designed to deliver more practical support to ensure our existing professionals are supported with their workloads and professional development.

The recruitment support is available across 19 local authorities during year 1 (2024-25), and 12 local authorities are currently participating in the retention pilots.

The Scottish Government does not have any plans to review the legal status of first-cousin marriages in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the amount spent by local authorities on school bus journeys for pupils travelling to school.