Rail Services (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley)
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve rail services in the Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency. (S6O-02608)
In May 2023, ScotRail increased the number of services that it operated between Ayr and Kilmarnock. A train now operates between the two towns every two hours throughout the day, with additional services at peak times. Clearly, that service is currently suspended following the fire at Ayr Station hotel. Connections were also improved to make it easier for passengers to interchange at Kilmarnock to services running to Dumfries and Carlisle.
ScotRail will continue to monitor how passengers use the services and will keep the timetable under review to best meet local needs.
I particularly welcome the reduced peak-time fares that came into effect this week, which will help thousands of my constituents and more people across Scotland. That is in sharp contrast to the shambolic U-turns on rail service commitments down south.
Can the minister give an indication of any further improvements to the service that we might expect over the coming years, particularly in electrification and rolling stock, and any planned improvements to the railway station at Kilmarnock?
Full electrification of the line to Barrhead is under way, with completion planned for December 2023. No date has yet been set for electrification and the associated change of rolling stock on the line from Barrhead to Kilmarnock and Dumfries. That will be considered for future electrification in line with the decarbonisation action plan.
I am pleased that Willie Coffey has recognised the Scottish Government’s funding support for the removal of peak fares, which reduces the return fare from Kilmarnock to Glasgow from £12.80 to £8.10.
Rail Services (Milngavie)
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, particularly a small financial donation from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to any proposals to increase the frequency of services on the Milngavie rail line. (S6O-02609)
The Milngavie railway line is served well, with two trains per hour throughout the day, which increases to four trains per hour at peak times. That is sufficient to support demand on that route. However, ScotRail monitors passenger numbers continuously to best match resources to where they are needed.
The argument for not reinstating more frequent services and pre-pandemic timetables on a number of rail lines is that passenger numbers have still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. I am delighted that the trial removal of peak-time fares for six months began earlier this week. That was a key Green priority in this year’s budget, and it has been long campaigned for by rail unions such as the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen. A constituent of mine on the Milngavie line who commutes to Edinburgh could save up to £2,000 during the pilot period. Removing peak-time fares will support people through the cost of living crisis, help us to hit our climate targets and drive up rail use to the point at which, I hope, more frequent services can be reconsidered.
Does the minister have any early indications of how the first few days of the pilot have gone? What would the Scottish Government and ScotRail consider to be a success six months from now?
I, too, thank the rail unions for their campaigning. The Scottish Government’s initiative is, indeed, bold. It is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, and the trial is intended to discover whether it will encourage people to travel by train instead of car. We expect that it will take at least four weeks for any changes to travel patterns to be established. However, ScotRail is monitoring services and passenger numbers closely, and I look forward to seeing and hearing about how the initiative is benefiting the people of Scotland.
We will assess, using standard techniques, whether the approach represents value for money at the end of the pilot before any decisions on its future are taken. That will involve looking at how changes in the behaviour of existing customers and the travel patterns of new users have impacted on reducing car use and comparing that with the final cost of the pilot to the Scottish Government and other transport operators. Of course, the approach also provides financial savings to many commuters, who face rising costs at this time.
In the first six months after its nationalisation by the Scottish National Party Government last year, ScotRail accumulated more than 9,000 complaints about poor train services. Rail lines are vital for local growth and access to services, especially when cities become more hostile to cars. Can the minister offer any concrete assurances to people in communities such as Milngavie about when they can expect that mismanagement to end?
There is a certain lack of self awareness on the part of the member when it comes to mismanagement of the railways. The cancellation of HS2—an initiative that, in any case, was never going to support Scotland—has betrayed the north of England. Meanwhile, ScotRail is one of the best-performing rail services in the United Kingdom in terms of customer satisfaction, we do not have any rail strikes on ScotRail-run trains, and none of our rail ticket offices are closing. Therefore, I would say that the constituents of the Milngavie area would much prefer their railways to be run by this Scottish Government rather than by the Conservatives in England.
Net Zero Policy (Impact of UK Government Announcements)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the United Kingdom Government regarding the potential impact on net zero policy in Scotland, ahead of the announcement by the UK Government of its decision to delay key net zero targets. (S6O-02610)
Despite the far-reaching implications of the announcement and the fact that delivery of climate ambitions, generally, across the four nations of the UK is linked, the Scottish Government was given absolutely no notice of the Prime Minister’s announcement, which was extremely disappointing. It was made even more disappointing by the fact that I was in attendance at an interministerial group meeting on net zero with UK ministers and the Committee on Climate Change just six days before that announcement.
The decision to renege on the UK’s key net zero commitments is an unforgivable betrayal of current and future generations, but the SNP will continue to lead on climate action, and we will insulate Scotland from the repeated failures of UK Governments.
Given the undoubted detrimental impact that those decisions will have on Scotland’s ability to meet its net zero targets, does the cabinet secretary agree that that complete lack of consultation or respect in the approach of the UK Government exposes the utter hypocrisy of the Tories and their calls for the Scottish Government to, in the words of Donald Cameron’s amendment in Tuesday’s debate,
“work collaboratively and constructively with the UK Government”,
and is yet another example of a complete lack of respect for the devolved Administrations? Does she also agree that we would think that the Scottish Conservatives would condemn and apologise for the lack of consultation and respect if they truly wanted to see collaborative and constructive working between the two Governments?
Keith Brown is absolutely right. Clearly, if the UK Government is prepared to make announcements as serious as the one that we are discussing with no consultation and no notice, despite having met Scottish ministers a matter of days before, the current arrangements for co-operation are not working. Further, I would add that, frankly, the United Kingdom is not working—it is certainly not united and it is not working for Scotland.
Along with my ministerial counterparts in the Welsh Government, I have written to Michael Gove to highlight the weakness of the current arrangements and to call for greater collaboration across all UK nations on agreeing a pathway to net zero. I also called for a four nation summit on reaching net zero, to be chaired by the Committee on Climate Change, and I await a response from Michael Gove on that.
I agree that Scotland needs to lead the way and that we need co-operative work, but most of the powers to decarbonise our homes lie with the Scottish Government. How confident is the cabinet secretary that the Scottish Government will meet its target of 124,000 low-carbon heating systems installed in people’s homes by 2026, given that, by May this year, only 11,341 homes had zero-emissions heating and that funding for solar panels has been removed from Scottish Government grant funding?
I have been quite clear on two things. First, there is no doubt that the UK’s reneging on these key areas—including the area of heat in buildings, which Sarah Boyack rightly refers to as being a critical part of the net zero journey—will have an impact on Scotland. We are currently assessing the flat emissions reduction impact of that, but I also have to consider the impact in terms of affordability, supply chain availability and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, which this Parliament did not wish to be imposed on us.
Secondly, at the same time as doing that, the SNP and the Greens in government will continue to do everything that we can and will strain every sinew to pursue our ambitious plans to decarbonise our economy and our society. I cannot pretend that the UK Government’s actions will not have an impact on that, but I commit to continuing to do everything that we can in Scotland to tackle climate change.
Joint Projects with UK Institutions
To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of reports that the V&A Dundee has generated £304 million for the Scottish economy over the past five years, whether it will be pursuing any further joint projects with United Kingdom institutions. (S6O-02611)
The Scottish Government has long been a supporter of V&A Dundee. I recognise the V&A Dundee’s important work and the positive impact that it is making in supporting the city, the wider region and Scotland. The Scottish Government would welcome exploration of further joint projects with notable institutions, subject to robust business cases.
It is good to hear that. The UK Government has earmarked £140 million for Scottish towns as part of its levelling up fund. Will the cabinet secretary agree that those efforts demonstrate the great value to Scotland of the shared United Kingdom?
Presiding Officer, I am sure that you would be reminding me that I should be answering questions about the V&A, rather than about UK Government announcements that bypass the Scottish Parliament—[Interruption.] I know that members on the Tory front bench do not like to hear that.
The Scottish Government intends to continue to support to V&A Dundee in order to enable it to continue to deliver, including on its ambition of being Scotland’s national design centre. Exact funding levels will be confirmed during the budget process.
Although joint arts projects with the UK have helped to generate income, it is impossible to know the economic and cultural impact of the loss of opportunities within the European Union. Can the cabinet secretary provide some detail regarding the cost of Brexit with regard to opportunities for the arts and culture sector in Scotland?
In relation to the V&A Dundee specifically, Brexit has had an impact, especially on European Union citizens who may not be able to work there. We know that, within the artistic and wider cultural community, there are all kinds of issues relating to freedom of movement. I am very keen that we make sure that we fully embrace the opportunities that have been created by the V&A’s outstanding tartan exhibition and its ambition that that should tour internationally. I will be looking very closely at how we can work with the V&A in order to make sure that that happens.
Anti-Racist Curriculum Principles
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to implement the anti-racist curriculum principles, which were published in June. (S6O-02612)
I was delighted to support the publication of the principles in June. The Scottish Government is leading a national group working with Education Scotland, the Scottish Qualifications Authority, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and local authorities to promote and embed those principles into policies and practice at all levels of education. To achieve that, we are investing in the development of new curriculum resources for teachers, in a school-level pilot activity working with Intercultural Youth Scotland and in leadership and professional learning through Education Scotland’s national building racial literacy programme. The programme for government set out plans to further advance inclusive education in our schools, including the promotion of a decolonised curriculum and the recognition of Scotland’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The teaching slavery in schools programme has been designed to support educators who are committed to developing new and sensitive approaches to an inclusive curriculum. Given the goals that were outlined in the curriculum reform principles, can the cabinet secretary advise whether the Scottish Government has considered creating a specific programme for teachers to address Scotland’s colonial past?
The member raises a hugely important point, particularly in relation to curriculum reform. I know that he has been a keen champion for equality and inclusion in our education system and I commit to working with him to that end and on the suggestion that he has promoted.
More broadly, we have supported professional learning. Since December 2022, we have supported the building racial literacy project, which is an award-winning programme that is making a real difference in our schools. From next month, it will support more than 400 educators from all over the country. I am more than happy to engage with Foysol Choudhury on that, because as we move forward with curriculum reform, there is an opportunity to better embed these practices across the school curriculum.
Early Learning and School-age Childcare Profession (Strategic Framework)
To ask the Scottish Government what its timeframe is for the implementation of the strategic framework for Scotland’s early learning and school-age childcare profession. (S6O-02613)
The programme for government for 2023-24 set out major new commitments on childcare, including commitments on how we will test in six council areas what an all-age childcare system would look like for Scotland. We will work closely with those communities and with our partners and providers to consider how the early learning and school-age childcare workforce can support such systems and what they will need to do so. That will include consideration of regulatory issues, qualifications and professional development, which will take time to do fully and is why we will now set out our plans in 2024.
In the meantime, we will continue to work with the framework steering group and other partners to implement a range of support for the profession. Action that has already been taken includes development of a range of new learning resources and the introduction of the protection of vulnerable groups scheme fee waiver for all new entrants to the sector. We are also working on a new national portal for professional learning.
I welcome the Scottish Government’s continued support for our early years and childcare sector. However, in the past few months, two breakfast and after-school clubs in my constituency have faced closure because of issues in recruiting and retaining staff—particularly for roles that require a degree-level qualification. Will the minister consider any changes to regulatory compliance requirements, such as supporting degree-qualified peripatetic roles, which might go some way towards addressing the recruitment problems that the sector faces?
I thank Gordon MacDonald for raising an important question. I know from on-going discussions with stakeholders that there is a lack of consensus on the type and level of qualification that is most appropriate for the school-age childcare workforce. I also recognise that, to meet the needs of children and families, we need a workforce that brings diverse experience from across the childcare, youth work and activity sectors.
As we build our new system of school-age childcare, we will seek to understand the possibility of recognising and developing a wider range of qualifications that are relevant to school-age childcare, as well as the value of other complementary qualifications and skills. We are also working to understand more about the impacts of different staffing models and, where possible, we will use our early-adopter communities, including those in rural areas, to test them. Through working with stakeholders, including regulatory bodies and other key partners, we will ensure that the regulation framework is fit for purpose, supports quality provision and supports a diverse and sustainable workforce.
Local Authority Services (Areas of High Population Growth)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the delivery of public services by local authorities, such as Midlothian and East Lothian, where the population growth has been higher than forecast, having risen by 16.1 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively between 2011 and 2022. (S6O-02614)
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests that notes that I was a councillor until May 2022.
The annual local government settlement is distributed in full under the needs-based formula, which is discussed and agreed each year with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities on behalf of all its local authority members. The formula uses the most up-to-date information for the full range of indicators, including population.
The 2024-25 local government settlement will use the latest population census figures, which were published on 14 September. The 2023-24 local government finance settlement provides East Lothian Council with an additional £8.1 million for vital day-to-day services; Midlothian Council has an additional £6.7 million compared with the figure for 2022-23.
The current funding model, which allocates a larger share of resources to areas that are experiencing population decline, presents a challenge to regions where the population is steadily increasing. Following the signing of the Verity house agreement, will the minister confirm that the needs of areas that face significant population growth have been considered in discussions with COSLA about a new fiscal framework?
The settlement is distributed on the basis of a range of indicators, which include population. All else being equal, that means that councils with growing populations receive more funding over time than those with declining populations. However, to ensure funding stability for local services, the formula that is agreed with COSLA caps budget changes from one year to the next. Ministers are clear that we are open to considering changes in the funding formula, but any changes to the current model would need to come through COSLA, as is proper.
I call Christine Grahame for a brief supplementary, please.
I add my concerns to those of my colleague Colin Beattie, as I represent Midlothian South, which has substantial population growth in Gorebridge, Penicuik and Newtongrange. I welcome the minister’s answer and I appreciate that the issue involves agreement with COSLA, but the distribution model needs to be revisited.
I am not sure that I can add much to my previous answer, but I reassure the member that we are working within our population strategy to support our local government partners to cope with increasing population as well as declining population across Scotland.
That concludes general question time.
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First Minister’s Question Time