General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am ar 5 Rhagfyr 2024.
Claire Baker
Llafur
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to improve rail services for passengers in the Mid Scotland and Fife region. (S6O-04078)
Fiona Hyslop
Scottish National Party
I appreciate that services in Fife have been affected by overcrowding for some time. ScotRail is working hard to increase capacity and to improve the resilience of services, and it has recruited more maintenance and engineering staff, as well as train drivers.
Newly recruited engineering staff will allow for two high-speed trains to be returned to service between Glasgow and Aberdeen from the December timetable change, which will release diesel trains for other parts of the network, and additional stops will continue to be made at Dalmeny and Burntisland to reduce pressure on busy morning and evening Leven services.
The electrification work between Edinburgh and Dalmeny has started. That is the first step towards electrification of the Fife routes.
In Mid Scotland and Fife, which has a reliable service, ScotRail is adding longer trains for Saturday services on the Glasgow to Alloa line to meet the growing passenger demand.
Claire Baker
Llafur
The Cabinet secretary has identified a number of issues with the trains in my region, but I want to ask about ScotRail’s proposals to close—sorry, to adjust the hours of—54 station ticket offices. That conceals the fact that 47 stations across my region will change their hours. I feel that there is a lack of transparency around those plans and that they are not being clearly communicated to the public. The 2022 consultation showed that passengers did not support changes to ticket offices, and the Government’s own report on the safety of women and girls emphasised the importance of having visible station staff.
The on-going consultation does not include members of the public, so how will the cabinet secretary ensure that the needs of all passengers are heard? Can she confirm that ScotRail will provide an up-to-date equality impact assessment?
Fiona Hyslop
Scottish National Party
With regard to that latter point, yes, I can. That point has already been made to a number of members.
Claire Baker will know that ticket office opening hours have not been adjusted for 30 years. The proportion of tickets that are sold at ticket offices has reduced from 78 per cent to 14 per cent. I am glad that she corrected herself: no ticket offices are closing; their hours are being adjusted.
In Claire Baker’s region, the ticket office at Cowdenbeath station will have its opening times reduced, but staffing hours will remain unchanged. Opening hours at Cupar will increase, and although opening times at Dalmeny will be reduced, staffing hours will remain unchanged on that line. Opening hours at Dunfermline city will be increased, and although opening times at Leuchars will be reduced, staffing hours will remain unchanged.
Visibility on platforms and in stations is important, as Claire Baker has stressed, and that is the focus of the adjustments that are being made, which are currently being consulted on with staff.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
