Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 February 2022
I thank the minister for advance sight of her statement.
If this is to be a new beginning for ScotRail, there must be a new direction from Government and a new ambition for the future, but the starting point for the new ScotRail is cuts of 250 daily services, 50,000 fewer seats on trains and the biggest fares hike in a decade, as we face a climate emergency. I welcome the minister’s having said that she is in listening mode, but the test will be of what the minister does, not just of what she says.
Scottish Labour is prepared to work with the minister before 1 April, but we are not prepared to work with her to cut services or to cut people’s jobs. Will the minister confirm that she supports plans to cut overall services by 10 per cent from pre-pandemic levels?
She will be aware of Unite the union’s home safe campaign and passenger and rail unions’ concerns about safety and accessibility on the railway. Has there been an equality impact assessment of ticket office closures?
The Scottish Government expects ScotRail, under public control, to adopt the general public sector pay policy. Why is the Government insisting that the policy will apply to that part of the public sector, but not to others?
The minister has said that the new operator will be founded on fair work. Why will the Scottish Government not categorically rule out compulsory redundancies?
The purpose of bringing ScotRail back into public hands was to better serve the travelling public. That is why the Scottish Government’s actions must match its rhetoric. It is regrettable that, at the moment, they do not.