Chamber and committees

ScotRail fleet reliability and cleanliness are operational matters for which ScotRail Trains Ltd is responsible. Details of how ScotRail is monitored for its Public Performance Measure (punctuality and reliability) and also how its stations and trains are monitored via Transport Scotland’s Service Quality Incentive Regime (SQUIRE) can be found by accessing the following link:-

Performance & Reliability | Public Performance Monitoring | ScotRail

Any considerations for HST replacement including timescales must take account of the conclusions of the Carmont Steering Group, and must be informed by the available budgets and the business case for change. The procurement of new rolling stock forms an integral part of Transport Scotland’s Decarbonisation Action Plan.

The RAIB’s accident investigation report following the Carmont rail accident in 2020 concluded that the HSTs are not unsafe, a position which has also been confirmed by the independent safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road. The Carmont accident was caused by a fault on the infrastructure.

Transport Scotland as part of considering future fleet options continues to analyse the possibility of hydrogen powered trains on Scotland’s Railway, informed by lessons from the Scottish Hydrogen Train project and other relevant projects.

Table 1 provides real terms expenditure based on 2021-22 prices for Scottish schools in each year since 2007. Real terms expenditure is broken down by primary, secondary, and special education.

Table 1: Real terms expenditure, 2007-08 to 2021-22 (£000)

Table 1 provides real terms spend per primary, secondary, and Additional Support for Learning pupil based on 2021-22 prices, to align with the most recent Local Government Financial Returns. Data is provided from 2007-08 for primary and secondary spend. Additional Support for Learning spend is provided from 2012-13, when the data was first collected in Local Government Financial Returns.

Table 1: Real terms average spend per pupil, 2007-08 to 2021-22

Councils agreed to freeze Council Tax from 2008-9 when the average Band D charge in Scotland was £1,149. In 2021-22, we estimate this figure would have increased by £399 had the CPI inflation measure applied and by £502 had the average Council Tax increases in England applied.

Using the CPI measure, we estimate that by 2021-22 the average Band G and Band H charges would have been £3,033 and £3,794 respectively and £3,234 and £4,046 if the average Council Tax increases in England had applied.

a) Prescription charges were removed in Scotland in financial year 2011-12, with £57m being baselined into territorial board budgets. The prescription charge for a single item in 2007-08 was £6.85. In England, where prescription charges were not abolished, the single item charge increased to £9.65 in April 2023.

b) In 2022-23 the nominal price payments for the Older & Disabled Persons’ scheme was £158.4m, and the Young Persons’ Scheme was £109.1m. These figures may be subject to future revision as operators have up to 12 months to make a claim for reimbursement in line with scheme legislation. Statistics on concessionary travel can be found in Chapter 2 via the following link: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-2022/

c) Information on expenditure related to Free Personal and Nursing Care is published annually, and is publicly available via the following link: Health and social care analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

As introduced, Section 3 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill requires Ministers to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of the services that the NCS provides. Ministers intend to put in place arrangements for reporting on social care data nationally and locally.

In addition, Section 36 of the Bill as introduced, enables Scottish Ministers to set up a statutory scheme through regulations to permit data sharing for the efficient and effective provision of services by, or on behalf of, the NCS and the NHS. Section 37 of the Bill as introduced enables Scottish Ministers to produce information standards setting out how information is to be processed.

Integration Authorities (IAs) are required to prepare and publish an annual performance report to demonstrate performance against the national health and wellbeing outcomes. In order to demonstrate performance, IAs use the core suite of integration indicators which includes a measure of the proportion of care services graded ‘good’ (4) or better in Care Inspectorate inspections.

All social care services, including those provided by local authorities, are regulated and inspected by the Care Inspectorate. The results of these inspections are published on the Care Inspectorate’s website.

Social care providers also provide a range of information which is used to collate publications of official statistics by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS). Scottish Government official statistics are available via the following link Health and social care analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This includes Free Personal and Nursing Care, Social Care Eligibility and Waiting Times, and Carers Census statistics. PHS official statistics releases include: Insights in Social Care, the Scottish Care Home Census, Delayed Discharges and Care at Home Demand ( Publications - Public Health Scotland ).