Seòmar agus comataidhean

You reflect some of the tensions that there have been historically over the situation at Ardrossan. You identify the ownership and the fact that the harbour is not in public ownership. Members will be aware that there is variation in the ownership of ports and harbours: some of them are owned by CMAL and some are not; some are owned by local authorities; and there are harbour trusts and other models. When we are looking at the different partners coming together to look at investment, Peel Ports has a clear responsibility as the owner. North Ayrshire Council also wants to identify its role and responsibilities. The scale of that will be variable depending on what works are done at Ardrossan. For example, there has been some distressing news in recent times about the Irish berth, which has caused some issues. Part of the work is to look at the different scope of what would be required. You are right to identify that one of the challenges that all parties have been working on is that it is a multi-partner business plan that is currently being developed.

It was made clear—in fact, there was a correction from one of my predecessors—that it would be long term. Given that billions have been taken out of the Scottish Government’s capital budget, we cannot expect all our previous ambitions to be realised. Particularly in transport, so much of our budget has to go on keeping our existing system safe. That means that a lot has to go into rail. We have just finished negotiations on the control period 7 position for rail and there is a massive investment there.

Would I want to have more on bus? Yes. Do we have the capability to do it this year? We certainly have more than we had last year, which was a challenge. We are getting back the momentum on bus investment, but it is not at the level that we would have wanted. However, Scotland’s finances are not at the level that we would have wanted and are certainly not at the level that we had at the time of that commitment.

I also have ferries and fleet replacement. There is a whole load of different things that are in that capital budget.

Just over £4 million, with £18 million to the local authorities to date. The remainder of the £30 million, which is for this year, will be paid out to local authorities in the coming months before the end of this financial year.

Yes.

I can reassure you that we are all standing ready. I have visited Ayrshire, where people explained that they will be able to move very quickly. Further, for every £1 invested, we can leverage in, I think, about £3.20 from private investment to expand that. You will start to see more of that scale-up. As you know, we have already met our commitment to reach 6,000 EV chargers by 2026 two years early—that was done in 2024.

The rates for reimbursement for concessionary travel are subject to negotiation with the Confederation of Passenger Transport and industry representatives, and they are agreed annually. To make changes to the reimbursement rates, amendments to secondary legislation are required annually—I think that there is a Scottish statutory instrument due to be laid in the Parliament on 27 January; I hope that I am correct about that—which this committee will obviously scrutinise. Part of the process is the negotiation of the rates, and, with the young persons scheme being a fairly new scheme, our experience of that scheme will obviously inform the level of reimbursement. That negotiation is happening now, and you can take a view as to whether that is appropriate.

The benefits of increased patronage and the increasing number of people using the buses are a behaviour change among our young people, who will continue to use the bus—that is the intention—and, I suspect, the fact that they are keeping some routes going. Many operators have reflected that the concession scheme has helped to support the bus industry, which was in a very difficult position during the pandemic, so it has been very welcome.

The issue with adjusting the reimbursement is that, if the bus companies say, “If you reduce the amount that you are investing, we will have to reduce our services,” that compounds the problem that Monica Lennon set out around the vulnerability of routes and weekend services in some areas. It is not an easy task to negotiate a level of reimbursement that the bus companies see as fair, meaning they will not reduce services, but that also provides value for the public purse. We are obviously learning lessons from the young persons scheme in particular.

It is not just about that line. We are looking at what the roll-out might look like on the suburban lines, too. There might be a different combination of trains at various times. We want a pipeline of work, so that the industry can keep the trains running. Once we know what we are procuring for the suburban lines and for the HST fleet replacement, that is exactly what we intend to happen. You are right about the need for clarity around what the disruption will look like, but I am sure that the deployment will be very much welcomed by everybody.

That was for the north consortium.

You mentioned Perth and, to be fair, I talked about the Highlands and Islands and the north allocation.

I recognise your point, however. In addition to the £30 million that is being spent this year, there is additional money in the 2025-26 budget specifically for rural and islands connectivity. That might not leverage in the same level of private funding, because cities such as Inverness and Aberdeen might be more attractive in that respect. Certainly, we need to make sure that there is provision for areas north of Inverness and in our islands. That is why there is additional funding for next year that is specifically for rural and islands connectivity.