Chamber and committees

Over the last 5 years, Scottish Water’s workforce has remained broadly stable at around 4,500 employees. It supports thousands of additional jobs through its supply chain and provides information on this in its Annual Reports, available at www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports . In 2022-23, 75% of its supply chain was made up of SMEs and more than 90% of its spend was on organisations located in Scotland.

Scottish Water publishes information on staffing levels in its Annual Reports, available at www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports .

Scottish Water is responsible for providing services, including during periods of industrial action. Scottish Water successfully ensured there were no service interruptions for their customers during recent strikes.

In line with the Government Financial Reporting Manual, Scottish Water publishes the pay ratio of the Chief Executive against the pay received by other employees in the company in its Annual Reports, available at www.scottishwater.co.uk/Help-and-Resources/Document-Hub/Key-Publications/Annual-Reports .

The total cost of the public inquiry into hepatitis C and HIV infection acquired from NHS treatment in Scotland (the Penrose Inquiry) was £12,123,754. Approximately 42.5% of these costs were spent on legal fees, including legal representation for patients and relatives and other witnesses, and fees for Counsel to the Inquiry. A breakdown of costs is available on the Penrose Inquiry website at Copy of Penrose Inquiry - Publication of Costs .

The Scottish Government continues to fully cooperate with the UK Infected Blood Inquiry and has provided significant input to the Inquiry to date, including by providing hundreds of relevant files as evidence, through provision of written statements and oral evidence, and by providing a detailed closing submission to the Inquiry, which can be found on the Infected Blood Inquiry’s website at SUBS0000056 - Closing submissions to the Infected Blood Inquiry by the Scottish Government - 16 Dec 2022.pdf .

In a meeting between myself and Lord Brodie on 15 November 2023, Lord Brodie provided an update on the Inquiry’s progress and the forthcoming hearings on both Edinburgh and Glasgow hospitals. Whilst no date for presenting recommendations has been published, the Chair provided assurances of his dedication to concluding the Inquiry promptly whilst ensuring the focus remains on fulfilling the Inquiry Terms of Reference.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and we understand that discussions between ScotRail and RMT on this matter are on-going. We fully expect all parties to engage constructively on this matter.

The Scottish Government does not support Driver Only Operations and continues to specify a requirement for a second member of staff to assist passengers on every ScotRail train.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail, noting that in 2016 any agreement was with the private company, Abellio ScotRail, but ScotRail is now operated by a new, publicly owned company.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail, though we can advise that the Scottish Government does not support Driver Only Operation and continues to specify a requirement for a second member of staff to assist passengers on every ScotRail train.