- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 11 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-21657 by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014, when the costs of the procurement will be finalised and where that information will be published.
Answer
Further to the answer to question S4W-21657 the costs of the procurement, mobilisation and transition will be finalised after 31 March 2015 when the new Caledonian Sleeper Franchise begins. This information will be made available once it is finalised.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 11 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether the new Caledonian sleeper franchise will lead to a reduction in the Inverness train depot's daytime workload.
Answer
The future of the ScotRail maintenance depot in Inverness is secure. The Scottish Government has specified that the new ScotRail franchisee must maintain the depot at Inverness. This is appropriate because the majority of work conducted at the depot is for ScotRail day train services. The depot will continue to conduct daily servicing of the Inverness portion of the Sleeper, and also work for the East Coast franchisee.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2014
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it provides to local authorities for the education of Gypsy/Travellers.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2014
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, if the operator of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise became unable to fulfil the terms of its contract, who would be the operator of last resort.
Answer
The selection of an operator of last resort would depend on the circumstances. Transport Scotland could step in to set up an operation similar to the Department for Transport’s Directly Operated Railways, or could appoint another suitably competent operator on a temporary basis.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what earliest opportunity it will have to terminate the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise.
Answer
It is the expectation of Scottish Ministers that this contact will last for 15 years. The contract places clear obligations on the franchisee. If at any point during the contract term the franchisee fails to meet these obligations, Scottish Ministers have a range of sanctions available to them including ultimately rights of termination.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what consultants it hired for advice about the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise; how much each was paid; whether they were asked to declare any possible conflicts of interest and, if so, what declarations were made.
Answer
The requirement for a procurement competition for rail franchising in Scotland occurs once every 7-10 years, and it is not therefore economically advantageous to continually employ, train and retain the specialist staff required in order to provide advice on undertaking such procurement competitions. Scottish Ministers have always stressed the importance of having an expert and appropriately resourced team to undertake both franchise procurements in order to do so competently and maximise the benefits of the public sector franchise investment, and also to mitigate against potential procurement challenge. The Caledonian sleeper franchise contract award is the first one to be completed since the West Coast Main Line debacle (reported to have cost around £40 million).
A fair and open competition was undertaken to appoint advisors to work on both procurements and the external advisors appointed for advice as part of the Caledonian sleeper franchise procurement were: technical advisors – Atkins, financial advisors – Ernst & Young and the legal advisors – DWF. The advisors work on both procurements and in the case of the legal advisors were sourced through the Scottish Government framework for external legal services. The costs of the procurement have not yet been finalised as the franchise contract has only very recently been signed.
The members of the advisor teams and Transport Scotland officials working on the procurement are routinely asked to check and declare if there are any conflicts of interest. To date no conflicts have been identified.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether the operator of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise will be allowed to sub-contract (a) drivers, (b) conductors, (c) cleaners, (d) maintenance crews, (e) station staff and (e) other staff.
Answer
Now that the Caledonian sleeper rail franchise contract has been signed, following the voluntary standstill period, the franchisee is in the early phases of their mobilisation. The franchisee is working with the existing franchisee (First ScotRail) to ensure that a series of staff briefings are undertaken as early as possible (some current sleeper staff are sub-contracted). There are also staff interdependencies with the ScotRail franchise procurement competition, which will not be known until that procurement is concluded.
Current staff pay and conditions are protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and the Scottish Ministers have ensured that Caledonian sleeper staff shall benefit from a fully funded railway pension scheme.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the attitude of the operators of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise toward how industrial relations on the service should be managed.
Answer
A rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process has been undertaken by an expert and well-resourced team in Transport Scotland which looked at all aspects of the new franchise including industrial relations. Both Transport Scotland and the new franchisee will actively and appropriately manage all potential risks and mitigating controls.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government how much private sector investment will be sought for the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise.
Answer
Over £60 million of private sector money will be invested in new rolling stock for the Caledonian sleeper in addition to a £60 million capital grant from the Scottish Ministers. This investment in new rolling stock alongside investment in staff training and development, and many other innovative changes, will give a dramatically improved customer experience.
- Asked by: John Finnie, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Independent
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 17 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether the operator of the new Caledonian sleeper rail franchise will be allowed to increase fares above the rate of inflation.
Answer
The Caledonian sleeper is operating in a particularly competitive market between Scotland and London competing with air, daytime rail (where low advance fares are being promoted) and overnight coach travel which is a driver for competitive fares, and the sleeper franchisee is obliged to hit patronage targets. Fares on the Caledonian sleeper are however generally unregulated and overnight ticket prices (fares) will be based on a dynamic pricing structure to adjust prices at quieter/busier times to ensure maximum patronage. The fares on the morning commuting service on the sleeper from highland communities to Inverness will continue to be regulated.
The new franchisee is aware of the Scottish Government’s policy of bearing down on rail fares and ensuring accessibility to the sleeper for all budgets.
We are already aware of ticket schemes and fares promotions the franchisee plans to put in place, and in addition they plan to use a dynamic pricing structure to adjust prices at quieter/busier times to ensure maximum patronage.
