 The first item of business today is general questions. The first question is from Anas Sarwar. To ask the Scottish Government when the Minister for Transport and the Islands last met ScotRail and what issues were discussed. For this morning, our discussion centered on ScotRail's recent performance. I also received an update on the morning peak initiatives being progressed with the performance improvement plan. Anas Sarwar. I thank the minister for that reply. Regulated rare fares are due to rise in the new year, with passengers expected to pay more for services which the transport minister himself does not believe are off an acceptable standard. When he next meets with ScotRail, will he enter into discussions regarding Labour's proposal to stop the new year fare hike going ahead and to freeze fares for passengers in 2017? I would reflect what the First Minister said in answer to Kezia Dugdale's proposal last week. We can give every proposal consideration. What I would say is that when it comes to fare increases, they are at their lowest since we got the powers in 2005. He is correct to say that the performance is not at a standard that I find acceptable, so any proposal that he puts forward at his party or other parties put forward will be given appropriate consideration. The improvement plan that was published earlier this week contains some 250 measures. Very welcome, but some of those will not be delivered for two years. I am sure that the minister will appreciate that passengers do not want to wait that length of time to see real improvements in the service. What deadlines has he given ScotRail for improvements, and what are the sanctions that will apply if those deadlines are not met? I want to thank the member for the question. What I would say is that 249 points around about six of them have a long-term deadline. That does not mean that the work will not start on them immediately. The work will start on them immediately. All that means is that there is a continual process of monitoring, of continuing work on, for example, cable signal renewal or points renewal. I would give assurances that the vast majority of the 249 measures in the performance plan are being worked on right now. In terms of sanctions and improvements, I am looking for immediate improvement. That is why in the past eight-week period performance has not improved from 89.5 to 89.8. I want to see it continue to improve further. In relation to his very last point, if that performance dips—which I do not think it will, I am confident that it will not get to that break point, that 84.3—but, of course, as the First Minister has said, every option is on the table and remains on the table within the specifications of the contract. John Mason Thank you. The UK Government introduced rail franchising in the 1990s, as I understand it, and the legislation precluded any UK public sector organisation bidding to operate a railway service. Can the minister outline what work is under way to ensure that a public sector operator could bid for a future rail contract? That is a fair point that the member makes. Of course, previous UK Governments did nothing to allow a public sector operator to bid. It was this Government that brought forward the changes in legislation, which removed the prohibition for a public sector operator. To bid on his precise point, I had a very constructive meeting with other political parties. All of them in the chamber here were represented. They came to that meeting, I thought, with a constructive tone and, indeed, with some constructive suggestions. Rail unions were also represented in that meeting, as were RTPs and the voice of the passenger as well. It was constructive. We agreed to enter into our formal engagement process early next year for transport Scotland officials to come up with some options, looking at the governance structures, the broad principles and a few other points as well. The discussions were constructive. I was in our manifesto. It is a commitment that we will deliver. I am pleased that we paved a legislative way for a public sector operator to put forward a public sector bid. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what steps it is taking to improve the performance of ScotRail. As Mr Kelly will know, I will be aware from last week's statement to Parliament that I have instructed a performance improvement plan. Details of the 249 actions under way have now been published in the ScotRail's website. I continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of the plan to improve PPM on a trend towards our challenging, ambitious but achievable contract targets. James Kelly I thank the minister for that answer. Today's discussions around a potential public sector bid are driven by concerns about performance. I therefore ask what steps, one of the barriers to an early public sector option in relation to ScotRail is the existing contractual position with Abelio. I therefore ask what steps the minister is taking to assess how an early termination of the Abelio contract could be achieved if performance does not improve. How that can be achieved at minimum cost to a public purse? The points that Mr Kelly makes. First of all, the reason why a public sector operator is being allowed to bid in a future franchise opportunity comes up is not driven by the current situation, but driven by the fact that we had it in our manifesto, we stood in that manifesto and we won the election. That is the first reason why those discussions are taking place. The second thing to try to be helpful to the member is that I do not think that we should start this discussion. Passengers certainly will not thank us for that. We should start the discussion by saying how we can make our railways failing. Let us rip up the contract from Abelio right here. Instead, we should be saying how we can work with Abelio to improve the performance right here for passengers right now. That is where we have the 249-point improvement plan. In the meantime, let us do the constructive work that we are doing. The member beside him, Neil Bibby, was at that meeting. I gave some constructive suggestions on some of the Labour ambitions for a public sector operator. Let us work towards that. Let us realise that it will take time to put forward a public sector operator and a public sector bid. You have to have the right vehicle to do that. You have to potentially ensure that the right statutory and the right guidelines are in place. You have to ensure that the right expertise is also on board as well. However, we are doing that work now because there is a potential for a brake clause as he knows in 2020, so that work will continue in earnest. However, let us all coalesce and get together to ensure that right here and right now we put forward the best performance and the best experience for passengers and commuters across Scotland. Of course. The minister of the Scotty Road franchise contains the toughest quality regime in the UK to drive up standards for passengers. However, where standards fail to meet the prescribed level of service, what specific penalties can be levied against the franchise holder? The member may be aware that we have the toughest auditing regime on these islands, the squire regime, as it is known and members will know it by. That is a tough regime that looks at a range of measures from the cleanliness of toilets at stations right the way through, of course, to measures on the train and the rolling stock itself. If ScotRail Abelio does not live up to those very high auditing standards, then a financial contribution is made. That last contribution was £500 or in the order of £500,000. The important point is that we have ensured that that gets invested back into the railways. I know that previous members from across the chambers have given suggestions of where those improvements can be made, and I will be open-minded to suggestions that come forward. Recently, I received a number of complaints from constituents about overcrowding on the Waverly line. On Saturday 19 November, a football and a rugby match coincided in Edinburgh, creating over normal demand. I wondered if the minister would tell us what action the Scottish Government is taking in the short term to ensure sufficient capacity is provided to meet demand for transport two events? I thank the member for the question. What I would say is that, when a major event takes place, ScotRail has a special team that will come together to ensure the management of that. That includes, of course, the capacity on trains, but also moving passengers in a safe manner from the station to where their next venue is. The overcrowding issue is one that tells of a story of growth in passenger numbers. Since 2007, our railways have become 33 per cent more popular. What we have done on top of that is to increase the number of carriages and the amount of rolling stock that we have on our network. From 2007 through to our ambitious plans in 2019, there will be 50 per cent more capacity on the network. We added from 2007 140 carriages. From now until 2019, we will add an additional 200 carriages. She can be rest assured that we are doing what we can to increase capacity, where there are opportunities and where there are opportunities to increase that capacity, to add more rolling stock that we will always look for those opportunities. However, I would be more than happy for her if she wishes to meet ScotRail's team that looks at major events and how the planning and co-ordination of those takes place, and to give her a briefing on that if she would find it helpful. To ask the Scottish Government what its priorities are for public transport. We are investing £1 billion in public transport annually and other sustainable transport options to encourage people out of their cars. A £5 billion investment in Scotland's railways is committed over the five-year period of 2019. That includes 17 new high-spec electric trains for delivery from 2017 and 75 new sleeper vehicles from 2018. Daniel Johnson I thank the minister for that answer. Of the action points set out in the infrastructure section of the performance improvement plan, could the minister tell us how many are new announcements and how many relate to undertakings that had already been given by the Scottish Government, their partners in the rail industry to improve public transport? Could the minister also confirm that the action points that are scheduled to be delivered by the end of November have been delivered? What I would say is that £8 million of infrastructure investment has been accelerated, so that is £8 million worth of improvements that we are going to take place later have now been brought forward. That is part of the improvement plan. In the last discussion that I had with ScotRail, the minister was telling me that work had been well under way, so some of the improvement plan actions have already been committed to and have been done. Others, of course, are still to be done. I, of course, will be monitoring that. That document on the ScotRail website is a live working document, so where, for example, it has an action point, there are a number of sub-actions below that that have to be done. I will be monitoring that closely. I think that all of us, no doubt, will be. I want to see an improvement in performance here and now, and we are on the right trajectory to achieve that. In terms of promoting cycling, the minister may be aware that there is a community-led campaign in forests to extend a cycle route alongside A96 to Brody, but there appears to be a deadlock, a long-standing deadlock, between Transport Scotland and the community campaigners. Is the transport minister willing to speak to Transport Scotland to find a way to unlock that deadlock so that we can improve cycling links on A96 along to Brody? I am aware of that deadlock or the impasse, as he describes it. I note that he has written to me on that very subject. I will look to personally intervene in the matter and speak to Transport Scotland to inform him of any update. Our commitment to active travel is one that speaks for itself, a record investment beyond what any other Government has put towards cycling and walking. We will continue to do that. It is important for the environmental impact, it is important to get Scotland healthier as well. I will give that commitment to have a look at that specific issue that I know about and that he has written to me about in the A96 between Forest and Brody, and I will come back to him in good time. John Lamont To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish details of the proposed single national board to oversee economic development and skills funding. Phase 2 of the enterprise and skills review will include work to take forward the detailed consideration and planning of the new single strategic Scotland-wide statutory board that is intended to co-ordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council. That work will also look at taking forward our commitment to establish a new vehicle to meet the unique enterprise and skills needs of the south of Scotland. It began on 1 November 2016 and is intended to take around six months until spring 2017. John Lamont I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. I was heartened when the Scottish Government announced that it was implementing the Scottish Conservative idea of a south of Scotland enterprise agency. However, given the news that the HIE regional board is to go, I can only presume that south of Scotland enterprise will also be overseen by a national board. There was a real opportunity to create a local organisation to support economic development in the borders and elsewhere in the south of Scotland, but I fear that that opportunity is being missed by the Scottish Government's centralising agenda. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what is the point in setting up a dedicated agency for the south of Scotland and then running the agency from the central bells? I am not sure whether the implication of that is that the Tories have withdrawn their support for the idea of a separate south of Scotland agency. Of course, it may well have been a Tory idea, but, like many Tory ideas, it was one that was never brought into force—something that they never got around to doing—and it has taken an SNP Government to take that forward. I think that that is to the credit of the SNP Government that, once again, we took forward action to help in the south of Scotland where, as the Tories, in all the long years that they have had the possibility of doing that, they did not do that. In relation to the strategic board, the issue of its governance and how it relates to the separate agencies, all of which will be guaranteed—the legal status guaranteed—and which will remain. It is important to understand that the second part, phase 2 of that review, will also be looking in one of its work streams as to the governance arrangements and as to how it relates to the individual agencies that will remain. That work is on-going. It will involve the people who are most closely involved in those agencies and will also have representation from the interests, if you like, of the south of Scotland. I am confident that the people involved in that—some very high-caliber people—will be able to take that forward and ensure that we get the right governance arrangements to take forward this new idea, this new development that is brought forward by the SNP to establish a south of Scotland agency. Kate Forbes Thank you. Can the cabinet secretary provide assurance to my constituents and to me about the future of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which is absolutely critical to the Highlands? Cabinet secretary, I am happy to repeat the assurances that I and other colleagues have made about retaining HIE, including its Inverness headquarters, including control over staffing, including its own NDPB status and its chief executive, and the services crucially the same people in high that are providing the services to businesses and individuals now will be doing that at the end of this review. The review made a specific recommendation to maintain high in this way to offer just the assurance requested. As to the allegations of decentralisation, although there is a real problem with that, if we are establishing an agency in the south of Scotland, it does not sound much like decentralisation to me. That is making sure that we have the right services for the right parts of Scotland and the assurance is that HIE will remain as an agency and that will be enshrined in law. Rhoda Grant Thank you, Presiding Officer. Given the widespread opposition about this wrong-headed decentralisation, will the Scottish Government listen to the people of the Highlands and Islands and change their minds about scrapping the high board and keep management and decision-making in the area? Cabinet Secretary. As I have just said, the management and decision-making and the services provided by those in HIE to services to people, to individuals and companies in that area will remain. It is also true to say that as we go forward to discuss and agree on the governance arrangements between the new overarching board and that agency, people involved in high currently at board level will be involved in those discussions. I would hope that they would lead those discussions. They will have a view, of course, in making sure that the particular interests of HIE are replicated in the governance structure, which has then agreed that. That may take many different forms. The crucial point is that people involved in HIE now will be involved in that process and also that HIE, which it cannot currently do to the extent that we want to see happen, will also be able to access much more easily the services of SDI, of SE, of the funding council. We get that alignment across all the different ages in Scotland to not just build upon what HIE has achieved over the past 50 years, but to improve it even further to the benefit of people in that area. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when construction will actually start on the A90-grade separated junction at Lerwanskirk. Minister Humza Yousaf. As I have previously advised the member on the 11th of August under a written parliamentary question, work has already started on the A90-grade separated junction in terms of consultants being appointed, but delivery of the scheme itself can only commence when the scheme is approved, of course, under the statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for construction can be determined. Mike Rumbles. In a letter to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, he has just said that despite a decade of waiting, he is taking the next three years on an assessment process, another year to draft the road orders and a further three years after that, if there are no objections, before he plans to start work on construction, but in any case, not before 2021. What are local people to make of this, kicking it into the period after this Government will be long gone? If the Minister is serious about saving lives at this junction—this is not a laughing matter, I take the Minister of Parliament—if he's serious about saving lives at this junction, why will he not instruct Transport Scotland to get a move on? I remind the member that, when his party was in government, he did, frankly, he-haw for those on the A90. What he did was put forward temporary measures, while we are putting forward a permanent solution, which is the grade separation, backed by £24 million worth of investment. The statutory process is important because it involves the public in terms of the best option, the preferred option and the consultation. If he does not want the public to be involved, I would say to him that that is highly illiberal and highly undemocratic. Ross Thompson Thank you, Presiding Officer. Given that the Scottish Government also promised a 200 million investment in rail improvements between Aberdeen and the central belt at the same time as the Lawrence Kirk announcement, can the minister provide a start date for this crucial project to improve journey times for train passengers? I know that discussions are already taking place, so I am more than happy to inform and write to him about how those discussions are progressing. I met the RTP yesterday just to have that discussion. Work is under way. Of course, he will understand that it is part of the initial additional investment that we are giving, is to make sure that we do a transport, a £5 million transport appraisal of the region as well. I am looking forward to working with the councils, working with the RTPs, working with local members. In terms of the specific update, I will write to him to give him that in terms of how the discussions are progressing. Ross Thompson Thank you.