Chamber and committees

The Travel Innovation and Strategy budget stream funds a range of transport interventions. The change in budget from financial year 2021-22 of £39.9 million to £21.6 million in 2022-23 reflects a reduction in the capital grant support required for the Glasgow Subway Modernisation programme due to the re-profiling of programmed works by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. There is no impact on deliverables through this budget movement.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) releases a quarterly publication presenting statistics on the number of patients waiting for one of the eight key diagnostic tests, which are covered by the national six-week standard. Further information on these tests and the latest available statistics up to the 30 th September 2021 can be found here:

Diagnostic waiting times - Waits for key diagnostic tests 30 November 2021 - NHS waiting times - diagnostics - Publications - Public Health Scotland

In addition, PHS collects data on patients waiting for six other tests not covered by the national six-week standard, including Echocardiography. However, these data are not routinely quality assured and completeness may vary by Board. Verified data for patients waiting for an Echocardiogram is therefore not available centrally.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical importance of the Stena Line ferry service from Loch Ryan Port to Belfast. On 22 December the Scottish Government approved an application from Stena Line for an exemption to allow their essential workers to volunteer to leave self-isolation and return to work. Under the critical workers exemption process, before a staff member who is a close contact of a positive case can return to work there are a number of requirements they must adhere to, including having had their second COVID-19 vaccination more than 14 days previously and have evidence of a negative PCR test.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05400 on 24 January 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government approved an application from Stena Line for a critical workers exemption to allow essential workers to volunteer to leave self-isolation and return to work. Workers in businesses and organisations providing vital public services can volunteer to leave self-isolation and return to work, in certain limited circumstances, to allow vital services to continue. Exemptions are possible where staff shortages are in danger of putting essential functions and services at risk.

On 29 December, a priority system was reintroduced for workers in critical sectors, including maritime transport, to access PCR tests. This allows people who meet the criteria, including key Stena Line staff, to access priority slots within the online booking system.

The Scottish Government is working closely with business organisations to develop an action plan to identify actions to mitigate the impact of labour shortages on businesses across affected sectors. Longer term interventions will include consideration of the current skills system, specifically how this links with the wider education landscape and careers guidance services.

With the exception of skills and training, most of the levers available to mitigate the acute HGV driver shortages we have seen in the last 6 months are reserved to the UK Government. Our Modern Apprenticeships continue to support individuals to enter the logistics sector. The Freight Logistics Apprenticeship Framework encompasses the planning, routing and movement of freight across all transport modes as well as associated activities such as warehousing and storage.

Collectively there were 1107 starts on these frameworks in 2020-21 and up to the end of Quarter 2 of 2021-22, there have been 770 Modern Apprenticeship starts in freight logistics with 1456 individuals in training in total. In addition, as of September 2021, 95 individuals have been supported through the Employability Fund to train as HGV drivers.

Skills Development Scotland is also developing a small pilot with the Road Haulage Association to support up to 30 drivers with an HGV licence to undertake Driver Certificate of Professional Competence training allowing them to re-enter the sector. The pilot will help establish the demand for this type of training.

We are also monitoring the impact of bus driver vacancies and on bus service levels. My officials are in regular contact with the Department for Transport regarding issues such as delays in processing licence applications and driver testing. In addition, officials are also working with the bus sector to facilitate solutions to workforce issues through the Labour and Skills Shortages Action Plan, and connecting Local Employability Partnerships (LEPs) who are aware of opportunities in their areas with bus service operators through the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT). This includes sharing examples of good practice across the network of both LEPs and members of the CPT to encourage more local level collaboration to meet the needs of each area.

The Scottish Government has provided £79.3 million directly to taxi and private hire drivers and operators in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Further support of up to £28 million was announced on 5 January 2022 from within the £375 million package of funding announced on 21 December 2021, bringing total support for the sector to over £107 million.

Our priority is for a seamless transition for passengers and staff throughout the transition to ScotRail Trains Ltd from 1 April and during the business’ first year of operation. We have empowered ScotRail to review its range of fares offerings to respond to changing travel behaviours due to the impacts of the Covid pandemic, and as part of this work to seek to simplify fares where possible as part of an improved service to passengers.

In addition, the Fair Fares Review, which is currently in its planning stages, is being undertaken by Transport Scotland to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares in the future.

Transport Scotland has set out a Stage 1 and Stage 2 evaluation of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme following the first full year of operation. The evaluation will assess the short and medium outcomes and the long term impact of the scheme by comparing conditions at different stages.

During the first year of operation (Stage1), short term outcomes of the scheme such as uptake of entitlement and travel behaviour will be evaluated. Uptake of the scheme will be monitored directly through the application process, which launched on 10 January 2022, and data on usage of the entitlement will be collected through recording of journeys made using the National Entitlement Card. Reports from this evaluation will be published on the Transport Scotland website.

It is an objective of the free bus schemes that bus operators should be financially no better and no worse off as a result of their participation. This objective should mean that there are not subsequent fare pressures on fare paying passengers as a result of the scheme. We have worked with the Confederation of Passenger Transport to arrive at reimbursement rates which seek to meet this aim. Usage of the Young Persons Scheme will be closely monitored to refine the reimbursement model as necessary.

The annual Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics publication is the main source of data used to assess territorial emissions of greenhouse gases in Scotland. Although each annual publication is accompanied by a spreadsheet containing all background data at its full resolution, it is not currently possible to distinguish between types of generation or fuels using these data.

The Scottish energy strategy, published in December 2017, confirmed the Scottish Government’s continued opposition to new nuclear stations under current technologies.

Our priority continues to be to support energy efficiency, develop Scotland’s huge renewable resource and to promote storage and flexibility. The opposition to new nuclear generation takes into account the continued operation of Torness, subject to safety cases being met.

We believe that nuclear power represents poor value for consumers. There remains considerable uncertainty around the economics of new nuclear generation, and the long-term storage of nuclear waste remains a difficult issue. The latest Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction delivered offshore wind at £39.65 per megawatt hour – substantially below the £92.50 awarded to Hinkley. Internal analysis tells us that in 2030 alone Hinkley could add almost £40/year to a consumer bill, whilst the equivalent offshore wind farm would reduce consumer bills by £8/year.