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This is a ScotRail led procurement, undertaken in line with Public Procurement Guidelines and as such appropriate for ScotRail to confirm details in due course.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Apart from costs of a transcription service used to transcribe interviews and surveys during the engagement phase of the review, all costs relating to the Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment (2014) policy review have been absorbed as part of the overall annual SPS Delivery Plan resourcing budget.

For information, the cost of the transcription service was £2,153 including VAT.

Transport Scotland and Network Rail regularly meet stakeholders to update them on the progress of the design of this project.

The letter and anticipated schedule to which the member refers was in the context of a scheme launch date of July 2022. Following an independent Gateway Review in June 2021, the Scottish Government confirmed that it would conduct a review of that go live date, with input from Circularity Scotland, industry and independent advice.

As a result of that review, the Scottish Parliament voted to move the launch date of DRS from July 2022 to August 2023, accounting for the impacts of EU exit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Circularity Scotland has since published information on returns collections as part of their Blueprint for Return Point Operators and Hospitality Providers . You may wish to review section 9, starting on page 9 which sets out that Return Point Operators (RPOs) will provide details to support collection schedules as part of the DRS registration process. Page 28 provides a sample collection frequency and Circularity Scotland specify that collection frequencies and/or schedules will be agreed following the registration process. Please note that said schedules would be a contractual matter between Circularity Scotland and individual RPOs to manage and that they are not obligated to provide copies of these to the Scottish Government.

Local authorities subsidise the range of existing rail concession schemes and as such require ScotRail to sell tickets via stations and on train only to avoid fraudulent activity.

ScotRail advise it is working with partners to identify cost effective solutions that could be adopted in the future which would enable National Entitlement Cards to be used via other ticket purchasing channels.

The current ScotRail mobile app went live on 1 July 2019 and the following data, as provided by ScotRail, is relevant from that date until the present day:-

- App downloads: 1.4 million (this figure includes re-installs which ScotRail is unable to differentiate)

- Average users per month: 619,000 (average across last three months)

- Average sessions per user per month: six (average across last three months)

- Average session length: one minute, five seconds (average across last three months)

The Scottish Government has committed to making £3.5 billion available in this Parliamentary term towards the delivery of more social and affordable homes as part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

Information on the facilities available at ScotRail stations can be found on its website at the following link:-

Stations and facilities | ScotRail

The information on cycle storage at stations can be found under each station under the heading “interchange”. This confirms if the station has cycle storage available and how many storage spaces are available at that station.

The EPC for Strathbeg House in Thurso was completed on 20 May 2023 and has now been lodged with the Scottish EPC register. The EPC rating is D

CMAL has appointed naval architects Leadship to carry out future vessel feasibility studies and concept designs which will include passenger cabin options.

As the project progresses, engagement events will be held which will ensure that all key stakeholders are able to contribute to the outcome of the project.