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The removal of mid and peak islander fares on Northern Isles Ferry Services will apply to passenger, cabin and car bookings.

Officials are working with NorthLink on the detail and timing of implementation and further details will be confirmed in due course.

The Scottish Government has no arrangements in place to verify personal use of frequent flyer or other travel loyalty scheme benefits that may arise from Ministerial air travel.

The Scottish Ministerial Code stipulates that Ministers must avoid arrangements that create undue obligation or personal benefit.

It is right that local transport authorities explore how best to use the measures in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, as our approach is to enable them to determine what is best to improve services in their areas. I am pleased that £4 million is included in the draft Scottish Budget 2026-27 to support these authorities to build business cases for local bus improvements.

Work on the design of the fund is at an early stage, but we will develop appropriate governance arrangements and work on the detail of administering the £4 million, which will be considered with various stakeholders, including CoSLA and regional transport partnerships.

As NHS Boards continue to develop work in this area, we will request further information on the PEACE pathway in future self-reporting documents.

The Scottish Government has not received claims for the furlough support scheme awarded to Alexander Dennis on 15 September 2025. Compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant offer letter will be assessed once claims are made.

While publicly owned, ScotRail is a distinct legal entity, separate from Scottish Ministers, which is both empowered and required to take operational decisions in the execution of its duties. This includes issuing relevant guidance to its passengers. If all public bodies and publicly-owned companies issued copies of all operational guidance to Scottish Ministers, and were Scottish Ministers to note and file all such guidance, the administrative burden of that duplication would be significant.

ScotRail, as a train operating company owned by a non-departmental public body (Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH)), is subject to Freedom of Information (Scotland) regulations and can provide information under these regulations.

As SRH is not an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, it is not appropriate for its Chief Executive Officer to respond to Parliamentary Questions. The member may wish to write to SRH directly.

a)Standards on hospital discharges and the use of non-clinical spaces

• We do not collect national data on the use of non-clinical spaces. Our focus is on addressing the underlying causes of this practice, such as high hospital occupancy and poor patient flow.
• We are driving improvements and working closely with local systems to ensure plans are in place to improve system flow. Through the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan, we are investing £220 million to reduce waiting times, improve hospital flow, and minimise delayed discharges.

b)Regular public reporting

• Regular public reporting on hospital discharges is already undertaken and published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) and can be found on their website.

CTM North Ltd. does not hold any data on any travel loyalty scheme accounts, including frequent flyer memberships, used in connection with Ministerial air travel.

The current Crown Commercial Services Framework for Travel and Venue Solutions stipulates that the supplier shall not facilitate the collection of a traveller's loyalty card points that may be awarded by any third party provider.

The Scottish Government has allocated £4 million funding to support Local Transport Authorities to build business cases for local bus improvement through franchising, announced as part of the draft Scottish Budget for 2026-27.

Work on the design of the fund is at an early stage, but we will develop appropriate governance arrangements and work on the detail of administering the £4 million, which will be considered with various stakeholders, including CoSLA and regional transport partnerships.

The Scottish Government maintains regular contact with Alexander Dennis in relation to the furlough support scheme awarded to the company on 15 September 2025. It is the responsibility of the business to approach the Scottish Government to access the agreed furlough grant, thereafter compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant offer letter will be assessed.