Chamber and committees

Thank you.

Finally, can I get a perspective from Mr Wragg?

I suppose that our institutions need to be resilient in relation to the political circumstances in which they find themselves.

I have one other question before I come back to the convener. I think that it was Rhodri Morgan who talked about the importance of devolution as a laboratory for policy innovation. I am interested to hear your perspectives on that. Is the current state of affairs in the UK having a chilling effect on policy innovation, given the ability of the UK Government to override particular policy innovations, or are things in a healthy state? I ask Huw Irranca-Davies for the Welsh perspective.

Absolutely. I take from that that we are in testing times, but there is no chilling effect. What are the perspectives of Mr Wragg and Baroness Drake on that?

Thanks. That describes an iterative process and conversation with communities about their needs and the vessels and ports that are required to meet those.

That is me for now, convener.

It is really welcome that there will be an evaluation. It is important that the evaluation is qualitative as well as quantitative. A lot of really impressive figures are being bandied about—the 45 million journeys, and the hundreds of thousands of young people who are joining the scheme—but what lies underneath that? What I am seeing is a massive improvement in the confidence and independence of young people. I do not think that anybody really predicted that when the scheme was first discussed. I wonder whether any evaluation will also look behind the numbers at the impact on young people, and on families and communities, because it feels as though there is a story there that is not really being told.

Okay—so your involvement with Transport Scotland is primarily about the assets. You would not pass comment on the viability of fixed links, for example, or any other issues that are relevant to connectivity for islands; your activity is just about the ferries and ports.

I want to go back to a lived-experience issue that a number of islanders have told us about. Access to urgent last-minute ferry services is a particular frustration, whether it is needed for medical appointments or for another reason. Is there scope for Transport Scotland to change the contractual requirements so as to allow islanders more access to the vital lifeline services and slots that they need?

Okay, but you will be aligned in 2045. Is that what you are saying?

That is in the context of current contractual arrangements. Is there a need to review those contractual arrangements, or is there enough flexibility within them?

That sounds like a commonsense approach to need, which is important.