Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 18 December 2019
18 Dec 2019 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
ScotRail Franchise
I start by paying tribute to the thousands of people who work on Scotland’s railway, many of whom will be watching the statement, given that they had no formal notice and will have learned about the decision as it was announced by the cabinet secretary.
The statement raises a number of questions. What engagement did the Government have with the current operator in coming to the decision? Leading on from that, what analysis was undertaken of the consequences of the decision to terminate the contract early, specifically regarding potential job losses? Will today’s decision have any effect on services currently provided by Abellio? What analysis has been done of the effect of the decision on current and future investment plans for Scotland’s railway between now and 2022? However, the most important question that the public will rightly be asking is, who will run the railway post-2022? Nothing in the statement gave any insight as to the Government’s plans, other than “to examine the options”. Surely, the cabinet secretary should have examined the options before terminating the existing contract.
The statement answers one question but raises plenty more. The public will rightly be concerned and surely deserve answers.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
The next item of business is a rail update statement by Michael Matheson. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there sho...
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity (Michael Matheson)
SNP
I would like to take the opportunity to update Parliament on the ScotRail franchise contract. The benefits that our railways bring are well rehearsed: they ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement, and I intend to allow around 20 minutes for that. There are already a lo...
Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
I start by paying tribute to the thousands of people who work on Scotland’s railway, many of whom will be watching the statement, given that they had no form...
Michael Matheson
SNP
Jamie Greene’s initial comment was that the hundreds of thousands of staff who work for ScotRail were given no advance notice of this announcement. My respon...
Colin Smyth (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement. Since the start of this franchise, Abellio has failed to deliver for Scotland’s hard-presse...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I thank the member for his comments. I said to Jamie Greene that, in considering the rebasing proposal that ScotRail put to us, we carried out a very detaile...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move to open questions, and I have a lot of requests.
John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
I thank the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement. I warmly welcome the end of the franchise and mourn the fact that we cannot go straight to na...
Michael Matheson
SNP
On the member’s latter point, the answer is yes. I am aware of the concerns that have been raised, particularly in relation to the proposed changes that the ...
Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD)
LD
This is good news indeed. I very much welcome the decision to end Abellio ScotRail’s contract, which the Liberal Democrats have been calling for, and the cab...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I am grateful for Mike Rumbles’s comments on the matter. He touched on an important issue. I do not want to start speculating about any future contracts, on ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I know that the cabinet secretary’s answers are fulsome and probably appreciated, but they are rather long, which means that some questions will need to be c...
Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement. He will be aware of my continuing interest in supporting the improvement of rail services from Kilmarnock, and f...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I am aware of Willie Coffey’s interest, given that both Wabtec Rail and Brodie Engineering have bases in his constituency, which I had the pleasure of visiti...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
Performance concerns have many causes: 40 per cent of cancellations are caused by problems with tracks or signalling, 10 per cent are caused by non-ScotRail ...
Michael Matheson
SNP
That is a bit rich from the Conservative Party. Week in and week out, Conservative members come into the chamber to slag off ScotRail and to demand better se...
Jenny Gilruth (Mid Fife and Glenrothes) (SNP)
SNP
Can the cabinet secretary provide any further detail on whether his decision will have implications for the current Abellio contract between now and 2022?
Michael Matheson
SNP
The existing franchise agreement and the contract’s content continue to be in place. Through the various levers in the contract, we can continue to hold Abel...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the cabinet secretary for the early Christmas present to the hard-pressed commuters in my area, and I welcome his recognition of Scottish Labour’s ca...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I am pleased to give Jackie Baillie’s constituents an early Christmas present, if that is how she views the matter. It is a decision that was made purely on ...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
The cabinet secretary mentioned the UK rail review. When it is eventually published, how will he take it into consideration for the future of rail services?
Michael Matheson
SNP
We had hoped to have the outcome of the UK rail review in the autumn of this year, when it was anticipated—possibly in October. However, it was delayed by th...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
If Rachael Hamilton is quick, I will manage to get John Mason in.
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
In October of this year, Dominic Booth, Abellio UK’s managing director, said: “Scotland’s railway needs stability, not the upheaval a change in the franchis...
Michael Matheson
SNP
I hope that Rachael Hamilton will welcome the significant improvement that there has been on Borders rail services, including the provision of increased capa...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
In recent years, there have been huge improvements in the rail service; there certainly have been between Glasgow and Edinburgh. We now have five electrified...
Michael Matheson
SNP
Yes. All the commitments that were set out as part of our plan for investment in the franchise and our infrastructure investments will continue as part of th...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I can squeeze in a quick question from Claire Baker.
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I very much welcome today’s announcement, but ScotRail’s contract with Abellio will still last until 2022, and as we enter the severe winter period my consti...