Seòmar agus comataidhean

Discussions have already taken place for the MV Isle of Islay in relation to commercial crewing levels in which trade unions, with the exception of RMT, have agreed the crew numbers.

A meeting will be scheduled by CalMac Ferries Ltd within the coming weeks with the RMT to continue discussions. This same approach will be taking forward for all new vessels entering service.

In regards to the route specific sea trials mentioned, CalMac have confirmed that once that vessel is under their operation, the vessel personnel will operate under the terms of their individual Seafarer Employment Agreements and Collective Agreements, which they do not envisage as needing to be re-negotiated.

CalMac informed Transport Scotland of the incident, which is their contractual obligation. The Scottish Government has no role in discussing these matters with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The charter of MV Alfred is an operational matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd as the network service operator. The Scottish Government has no role in reviewing the charter agreed with Pentland Ferries.

Neither Transport Scotland or CMAL record staff time or costs by project task and therefore we are unable to provide the member with a definitive response. I can confirm that project partners across Scottish Government and CMAL continue to work on the Ardrossan Harbour Redevelopment Project as quickly as practicable whilst negotiations on port purchase are progressed.

At time of the transition to public ownership and control of ScotRail, in order to maintain service levels while minimising disruption to staff, it was decided that the contracts for the contact centre, finance and payroll which were delivered to ScotRail by a third party provider, would remain external.

The contract for the contact centre, which is coming to an end, has been awarded to Teleperformance Ltd, who will maintain the continuity of providing the service.

ScotRail will bring the abovementioned functions in-house, as soon as it is practicable to do so.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. 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.

These are operational decisions for ScotRail Trains Ltd. In discharging its operational responsibilities, SRT is required to comply with Scottish Government Fair Work policies.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. 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 provided funding of over £1.1m from the Equality and Human Rights Fund to organisations working to promote LGBTQI+ equality in Scotland in 2024-25.

This funding provides support for a range of initiatives, including supporting policy development for LGBTQI+ people, research into the lives of the LGBTQI+ community and an LGBT helpline.

Detailed information on funding the Scottish Government has provided LGBTQI+ charities and organisations in the financial year 2024-25 has been published on our website. You can view this at Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot.