Seòmar agus comataidhean

On 30 October I chaired the Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board. This meeting involved a range of operational partners, including Police Scotland and local authorities, to discuss measures aimed at enhancing road safety and progressing towards achieving our vision for Scotland, including the north east, to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030.

As reported in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26, Major capital projects progress update (December 2023), I can advise that a refresh of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan is underway. Timescales for this project will be updated in the light of current affordability constraints as part of the wider programme and the rolling stock procurement exercise.

Meanwhile, progress with development work for this project continues and I am pleased to confirm that a contract to provide a new electrification Feeder Station at Thornton has been placed with National Grid PLC.

Consideration of all protected characteristics, including gender, will continue to inform the design and delivery of post school education and skills reform.

We will continue to build on our existing work to address barriers for women and girls, including:

• A range of resources developed by Education Scotland to address gender segregation in subject choices in schools.
• The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is working with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to tackle persistent inequalities in the tertiary education sector. Their approach includes for institutions to have regard to significant imbalances on courses and take action to address it.
• The refreshed Fair Work Action Plan which was published in December 2022 and aims to take an intersectional approach, where possible, to tackling the structural labour market barriers faced by disadvantaged groups in Scotland’s labour market including women.
• The Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) created the Gender Commission, who developed recommendations that offer practical solutions to help address the gender imbalance across the Apprenticeship family. The Gender Commission published their report and recommendations, and SG are committed to integrate findings from the Commission into our reform work to ensure they become embedded in the skills system.

An initial Equalities Impact Assessment, Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA): Purpose and Principles (www.gov.scot) for the Purpose and Principles for Post-School education, research and skills Post-school education, research and skills - purpose and principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) was published on 4 July 2023.

The specification for the seconded headteacher position is being developed by the Scottish Government and the SQA in consultation with key stakeholders. Recruitment to the role will be undertaken by the SQA with the selection process involving the Scottish Government.

The seconded headteacher will be pivotal in delivering improvements to the relationship between the national qualifications body and the school sector and enabling the successful implementation of qualifications and assessment reform. More information on the role and the selection process will be available soon.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, NHS Boards are responsible for service delivery and treatment. As set out in our recently published Transport to Health Plan All Health Boards should consider patient transport needs when they plan and deliver services and must ensure Patients have access to all information on any relevant patient transport (including community transport) and travel reimbursement entitlement.

Individual Boards are responsible for developing and assessing their own policies, including determining eligibility for escorts and reimbursement rates, whilst ensuring patient care and safety.

There is no specific timeframe set for the consideration of a Harbour Order application. The Harbour Order application process can be complex and, depending on the proposed aims and potential impact, some applications require more detailed consideration. Applicants may choose to communicate directly with those who make representations during the formal consultation period, which can increase the time to complete the process. However, this can also help ensure that an application is adequately considered, providing the opportunity for all those impacted by its aims to provide views before a final decision is made.

The Scottish Government has committed to funding this facility for £2 million annually until March 2026. To date, the only Scottish Government spend on this facility is the first tranche of funding for 2024-25 which was £760,000, provided to the HSCP in August. The second tranche of funding for 2024-25 is due to be provided in December.

Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) recently submitted proposals for ScotRail (SRT) to redeploy staff to more passenger focussed duties across the Scottish rail network through changes to ticket office hours, and secured approval to this proposal from Transport Scotland. This acceptance was predicated on conditions that stipulate existing passenger assistance arrangements for disabled passengers will not be affected, and that additional help points are installed at stations where the ticket office is at a different level to the platforms. It should be made clear that these proposals continue to keep ticket offices open for passengers when they are needed and that no members of staff will lose their jobs as a result.

SRH and ScotRail have given assurances that reducing the opening hours at some stations will create opportunities for staff to offer enhanced face to face support for passengers, including those with disabilities.

ScotRail has adjusted its proposals to take account of feedback from its previous consultation. It’s important to note that Ticket Office opening hours haven’t changed for 33 years while ticket office sales over that period have reduced from 78% to 14%.