Chamber and committees

Responsibility for the reliability and punctuality of rail services within Scotland rests primarily with ScotRail, the operator for 95 percent of rail services within Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Franchise Agreement with ScotRail is designed to deliver improved punctuality and reliability through meeting contract benchmarks towards reaching a moving annual average for performance of 92.5% by April 2019 (currently 91.0%). Officials with Transport Scotland meet regularly with ScotRail to review their progress on meeting this target, and also review specific initiatives to improve reliability, notably throughout autumn and winter.

A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) was released in November 2016. These plans cover actions across fleet, operations and infrastructure. When the Plan was implemented, ScotRail’s overall performance (moving annual average) was recorded at 89.6%; it has now improved by 1.4%, and currently sits at 91.0%. This demonstrates clear evidence the Performance Improvement Plan is working and its contribution to lifting performance should be acknowledged.

ScotRail are committed to making significant investment to improve railway stations in Scotland, as the Scottish Government recognises their integral role in connecting communities. This investment includes the redevelopment of major stations such as Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling, to the upgrading and enhancement of front line passenger and retail facilities at stations across Scotland.

ScotRail also work with community groups on initiatives to transform vacant station buildings into facilities to benefit local people through a Station Community Regeneration Fund or for use by small, start-up businesses in areas where a lack of accommodation for new business is restricting growth. In addition, ScotRail work and engage with the local community to develop opportunities enabling the railway to be a catalyst for social and economic regeneration through Adopt a Station Schemes and Community Rail Partnerships.

Transport Scotland has discussed with ScotRail the satisfaction scores for rail station parking following the results of the recent National Rail Passenger Surveys, it is difficult to determine the reasons for the low satisfaction score. Therefore ScotRail undertake their own analysis of car parking throughout the year by social media feedback, customer complaints, stakeholder engagement, staff feedback and mystery shopping sampling etc.

I understand the Member met with ScotRail recently and was provided with an update on their strategy to improve station car parking.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with Highlands and Islands Airports Limited to build on the success of Inverness Airport’s recent growth in passenger numbers. We will continue to provide funding for projects, such as the recently completed car park expansion, that will provide the necessary capacity to support the airport’s growth.

Within the first year of the Accessible Travel Framework we have made progress in tackling issues faced by disabled people. For example, the notice period for booking Passenger Assist on ScotRail services has been reduced to three hours, the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract makes a number of new commitments on improving the experiences of disabled people travelling to the Islands, and we are in the early stages of developing a hate crime charter with partners. Our Accessible Travel Framework commits us to take forward a number of work packages to improve accessibility. Transport Scotland is now actively supporting partners – disabled people’s organisations, transport providers and government – in this co-production process.

One of the commitments in the Framework involves making sure disabled people’s experiences of travel are properly captured. In that context, we have been undertaking a programme of journey mapping involving disabled people and representatives of transport providers. This identifies issues and allows transport staff to experience the user perspective. It forms one strand of the research we are undertaking, which includes elements such as assessment of current data collection.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that infrastructure in the Highlands we have responsibility for delivering meets the needs of both locals and tourists.

Encouraging our visitors to see the best of what the Highlands has to offer by public transport is important in ensuring the long term growth in tourism is sustainable.

With regard to the rail network, £54m is being invested in 26 fully refurbished High-Speed-Trains (HSTs) which will be gradually introduced from summer 2018 onwards to run between Scotland’s seven main cities, including Inverness, delivering 40% more seats than operate on those routes today. HSTs are faster, popular with passengers, will benefit from power car upgrades and will be upgraded to provide the latest standard of comfort, accessibility and catering provision.

Most Highland services are operated by class 156 and class 158 diesel trains and ScotRail has already commenced a significant refurbishment programme across these fleets worth around £30m. Work on the Class 156s fleet of 38 trains started last August with the full refurbishment works due to be completed by spring 2019.

The majority of bus services in Scotland are provided on a commercial basis. It is a matter for individual operators to consider timetabling, fares and which routes they operate. Local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular services and to subsidise these at their discretion. Bus operators and local authorities working together can assess the impact of increased tourism on the bus network and identify what changes to services are necessary.

In the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Government’s Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme is on track to extend fibre broadband access to around 86% of homes and businesses by the end of 2018. Without DSSB only 21% of premises would have been served and no commercial providers planned to deploy fibre on any of the region’s islands. We are also committed to providing superfast broadband access to every home and business in Scotland by the end of 2021.

All four mobile operators are deploying 4G infrastructure across Scotland, with the intention of providing 95% of premises with indoor 4G service. Our Mobile Action Plan, developed in collaboration with the mobile industry, sets out an agreed series of actions designed to increase mobile coverage further. This includes a 4G Mobile Infill Programme and we expect the first phase of this initiative to begin procurement by the end of 2017.

The roads in the immediate vicinity of the Largs ferry terminal are local roads and the responsibility of the local roads authority, North Ayrshire Council. Traffic management solutions on local roads is a matter for the Council to consider. We therefore have not carried out analysis of traffic solutions on these roads. However, we are willing to meet the Council to discuss the matter given that the A78 trunk road goes through Largs.

Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd at Port Glasgow is continuing to make progress on the construction of the two 100 metre ‘dual-fuel’ ferries with the anticipated launch of the first vessel, the MV Glen Sannox, on 21 November 2017.

The value of the contracts for the construction of these two vessels is £97 million.

FMEL are continuing to work with Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd to ensure delivery of the new vessels as soon as practicable.

The Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Act provides for Air Departure Tax (ADT), which will replace UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) in Scotland.

Reducing the burden of Air Departure Tax would help to improve connectivity and boost Scotland’s economy. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a public consultation on our reduction plans and has commissioned separate independent economic and noise impact assessments, the results of which will be published.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the importance of appropriate infrastructure, both for its residents, and to ensure that our visitors enjoy a quality experience.

The majority of that infrastructure is the responsibility of the local authority, The Highland Council. The Council receives its fair share of the local government finance settlement - over £474 million in 2017-18. Taken together with other support for services, the Highland Council will have an extra £20.3 million to support services in 2017-18 which equates to an additional 4.4% on 2016-17.

It is the responsibility of the local authority to allocate its financial resources on the basis of local needs and priorities. One of these indicators of need is road length, which results in the Highland Council’s allocation for road and winter maintenance being the highest in Scotland.

The significant growth in Skye’s visitor numbers in recent years is most effectively dealt with by local destination partners working in tandem with the public sector. It is with this local focus that Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) have agreed grant funding of £60,000 to SkyeConnect Limited, launched in March 2017, as the area’s local destination organisation. This funding will support the recruitment of a full-time project officer who will be employed to take forward strategic projects in collaboration with public bodies.

In recognition of the importance of community development as an essential component of economic development, HIE are also engaged with a number of local bodies to support the improvement of infrastructure on the island. This includes part-time development officer support to Minginish Community Hall Association to progress the Fairy Pools Car Park project alongside Scottish Land Fund capital funding, and providing advice to support Uig Community Council with their initial ideas on a park and ride scheme for the Fairy Glen.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with all stakeholders – both public and private – to maximise the economic opportunities for Skye, as one of our most popular visitor destinations.

To support route development at Scotland’s airports, the Scottish Government adopts a Team Scotland approach. This sees Transport Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland work in partnership to provide support to airlines which can be instrumental in an airline deciding to start a new route or develop an existing service. We can provide support to airlines in the form of attractive cooperative marketing packages, and also provide market intelligence and data to airlines on the potential of the Scottish market. Additional support can be considered for airlines who wish to base aircraft in Scotland considering the economic benefits, including job creation, that comes with such a development.

Improving Scotland’s air connectivity is one of this Government’s top priorities, as it will help build strong business links and provide a real boost to our tourism industry. Our support has helped Scotland’s airports secure new routes to other parts of the UK, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The Scottish Government will continue to promote Scotland as a destination which can sustain more direct air services and better global hub connectivity and will work with Scotland’s airports to achieve these objectives.