 Rwy'n edrych i'r cwm ni'n gweithio'r ddau a rhaglen oedd yn dweud i gyd yn eu ddau i Gwamiliadau i ddau i Gwamiliadau sgolwyddiant. Ar gystechrau'r cyfrigeidiau, nid oes yn gwneud i gwybod mewn cyfrigeidiau,マeurwyr, ond mae ddargyrchu gyda losaith gwneud i gynhyrch, esudno eich cyfrigiau, sy'n golygu ddisgu ddau i ddim yn gymgyrch i'r ddau i ddau i ddau i i ddau i gyd? I'm aware that ScotRail isn't performing as well as would be expected and demanded by the Scottish Government and customers. However, it's impossible to compare ScotRail's reliability today with that of 20 years ago, given the very significant increase over the past two decades in passenger numbers, additional seats provided and the introduction of new stations and routes. However, the Scottish Government continues to work closely with partners of the ScotRail Alliance to ensure that the 20 recommendations contained in their performance improvement plan are delivered. Alongside that, Network Rail has increased resource levels to improve infrastructure reliability and resilience, with a specific focus in the Glasgow area to meet the needs of the busiest rail network outwith London. It should be noted that ScotRail's performance as reported in the ORR quarterly release at 88.9 per cent remains better than the GB average of 86.9 per cent. We should not lose sight of the transformational process under way on our railways with record investment and infrastructure enhancements, as well as new and fully refurbished rolling stock, combining to deliver faster and additional services. Passionate numbers continue to grow in response to that investment. Edward Mountain. I thank the cabinet secretary for that long answer. I agree with him that ScotRail has made many improvements with services, but delays and cancellations mean that passengers cannot get to work, school, health appointments or many of the other duties that they have to do during the day. Passengers in my mind are realistic about delays when they occur, often due to challenging weather conditions. However, satisfaction in the way that ScotRail handles these delays has decreased by 13 per cent in the last year. Therefore, can the cabinet secretary specifically confirm what pressure the Government is putting on ScotRail to improve communications with passengers when delays occur, whether they are avoidable or not? Cabinet secretary, the member raises an important issue in recognising some of the challenges that we can have on the network. It may be of interest to remember that the PPM fair is attributed to network rail increased by 51 per cent alone in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter of the year. It demonstrates that there are issues around the way in which infrastructure challenges can have a direct impact on rail service providers such as ScotRail. All the more reason for them to be working in partnership, much more effectively, to address those issues. Some of the investment that is going into the infrastructure in the Glasgow area through network rail, which has been co-ordinated through the Alliance, is to help to provide greater resilience and reliability that is necessary. Equally, it is important to make sure that, where there are delays and cancellations, that that is communicated to the travelling public effectively and that there are support services there to assist individuals as and when it is necessary. I have met the head of the ScotRail Alliance and the new chief executive of Network Rail to impress on them very specifically the need to make sure that we have greater focus on reliability and how we communicate with the public when they are making use of their services, with a clear understanding as to the implications that it may have for them. The member can be assured that those are issues that have been raised, both with ScotRail Alliance and also with Network Rail specifically, and I expect them to continue to make progress as they take forward the improvement plan that was set out earlier this year. Edward Mountain Thank you, cabinet secretary, for that reply. I would like particularly to get specific examples of how they are going to produce communications to those people that are delayed, and perhaps a cabinet secretary could allude to those by letter after this session. Turning to the latest performance figures, train services to Avimol, for example, are 20 per cent worse than the best-performing stations across elsewhere in Scotland. Given that trains are so vital to the whole island economy, can the cabinet secretary confirm if the Scottish Government is now consulting with ScotRail on what action it and plans it has specifically to improving performance to the islands? Michael Matheson On the member's final point, he will be aware that we have made a significant investment in improving the northern of the Highlandline in recent years, and that will also be part of our plan going forward with the present SPTR that has been taken for, which will allow us to make further investments into infrastructure, particularly into our rail infrastructure. For example, the member will also be aware of the investments that we have just put into improving the line between Inverness and Aberdeen, in order to improve and to increase the speed of train journeys there. The investment that we are also making in the high-speed train service, which will see the seven cities connections, which will help to improve reliability and comfort, and the speed of services. There is a significant investment going in, but we have put in £8 billion of investment into our rail network over the course of the past 10 years or so, and we will continue to have an ambitious programme of investment going forward. On the member's first point on communication, I am more than happy to give the member more details on how ScotRail tends to improve that. If the member has specific instances where constituents within his region feel as though that has not been communicated properly to them, he should feel free to take that up specifically with ScotRail. If he is dissatisfied with the way in which they have responded to those matters, I am more than happy to get ScotRail to look at the matter in greater detail. I have five members who wish to ask supplementaries. We will see how many we get through, but succinct questions and succinct answers, please. Colin Smyth Thank you, Presiding Officer. Last week, we learned that ScotRail's performance has plummeted over the last quarter with reliability at a record low and punctuality, the worst since 2005. This week, ScotRail's own figures have shown that their performance has deteriorated so badly that they have breached their franchise agreement. That is a failing franchise operating within a failed franchise and model. However, the Scottish Government has the power to end the franchise early and to bring it under public ownership by 2022. Will the cabinet secretary use the franchise break and bring Scotland's trains under public control so that we have a railway system that puts passengers and not profits first? I am quite confused by Labour's position on those matters. They very often say that we should get rid of franchises, which we cannot do because it is a reserved area. We sought to make sure that there is a level playing field between the public sector and the private sector in bidding for those matters, which was repeatedly refused by the previous Labour Government. We have now got agreement that that can be taken forward with the present UK Government. However, I am even confused to the point that the Welsh Government has just awarded a contract to two private sector companies to deliver railways in Wales. Despite the rhetoric that we get from Labour spokespersons on those issues and all the hot air that we have had from the Labour conference over the past couple of days, I will tell you what we will do. We will focus on making sure that we continue to make the very significant investment into our railways here in Scotland to ensure that we have modern rolling stock that is starting to be rolled out with the new class 385 trains that are coming into play, which will provide greater number of seats, faster services with the electrification programme that is at a very advanced stage, and we will continue to make sure that we deliver on the improvements that we want to see in our railways, and we will leave the kid on politics to the Labour Party. Can the cabinet secretary please just clarify how many trains arrived on time in this period? What effect has recent bad weather had on punctuality? Can he confirm whether or not network rails functions are devolved to Scotland? In relation to the member's final point, there is absolutely no doubt that the responsibility of network rail here in Scotland should come under the responsibility of this Government. The reason for that is absolutely necessary, despite the fact that both parties—I think that both Tory and Labour Party—oppose us, but that is despite the fact that that would help us to align how we carry out our infrastructure investment into our railways, and to do that align with the services that we require within the Scottish rail network. I find it quite surprising that the unionist parties in this Parliament continue to oppose this type of approach, but we will continue to work with network rail to try and get the best service that we can out of them for the Scottish network. Let me just give the member some examples. As I mentioned earlier, Minister, there are three more questions to network rail increase by 51 per cent. Minister, could you keep those examples and give them as a response to the further three questions that I would like to call? You could give the examples then. I am trying to respond to the specific points that the member has raised. You can give the examples as a response to the further three questions. John Finnie. Cabinet Secretary, you will be aware that one of the major factors contributing to the low performance is, particularly in the highlands, the propensity of single track. You will know that recently there have been a number of breakdowns, and a single breakdown there can bring the whole highland mainline to halt. Will you commit to significant investment beyond the modest investment that is already in place for control period 6 to address that significant deficiency, particularly when compared with the £3 billion expenditure on the road that runs beside it? Cabinet Secretary, I discussed this matter with the member just last week. He raised that matter. The member will be aware of the investment that is going into the highland line at the present moment. What will happen as a part of the SPTR as we move forward, it will allow us to look at what further investment should be made in the future, and that will look at how we can improve resilience on the existing line. The full details of that will be set out once we have completed the review work, but a key part of that will be about improving journey times and resilience on that particular line. How that will be taken forward will be set out once we have completed the review work. Jamie Greene The old adage says, fix the roof while the sun is shining, but the problem is that, since March, the PPM has got worse than over 60 stations in Scotland. Knowing that autumn, winter is a difficult period traditionally for results on train punctuality and reliability, how confident is the Cabinet Secretary that we are not coming out of summer with bad results and come through winter where we are even worse ones? Jamie Greene One of the things that Network Rail is taking forward within the ScotRail Alliance is to look at what additional infrastructure investment can be made in order to help to improve resilience. For example, it is putting some £5 million of additional infrastructure investment into the Glasgow area in order to help to improve infrastructure and the rail lines that it can have on that. That includes looking at what it can do around some additional measures that are about helping to make sure that particular points in the year occur in vegetation, which might have an impact on the use of the lines at particular points during the course of the year, particularly during the autumn, to minimise the risks and the difficulties that can come about as a result of that. That is part of a wider package of around £34 million that it is spending to try to help to improve and enhance resilience in those areas. One of the very specific issues that I discussed with the ScotRail Alliance was the additional measures that are being put in place this autumn and this winter compared to last year. One of the things that it is doing is not only carrying out some of its additional work but it has also brought in some additional machinery to help to provide greater resilience within the network so that it can deal with issues as and when they arise. There is no doubt that there will continue to be challenges during the course of the autumn and the winter in the rail network. What it has assured me of is that it has learned some of the lessons from last year and, from previous years, it has made additional investments to try to help to address some of those issues and to help to support them through this autumn and this winter. I hope that that will produce better results going forward. However, time will tell over the course of this winter, but it has made it very clear to me that it is determined to do everything that it can to try to help to reduce some of the challenges that it has faced in the past. I apologise to Stuart McMillan for another question. In relation to the questions that have just gone, I understand that you are looking for brevity in answer from the ministers, but it did strike me how it is possible for a minister or indeed yourself to anticipate a question that was coming later so that the minister was not able to fully give the answer. How are you or indeed the minister able to anticipate what questions are coming after to be able to follow up on that way? Mr Crawford has been in the chamber long enough to know the answer to that. That is brief questions from the members. Mr Lyle, in that case, asked three questions of the minister. The minister answered the first one on network rail and was not able to get through all the PPMs, but the minister has got plenty of opportunity to give that information and answered four other questions, which I think is a lot on this particular issue. We are running out of time now. To ask the Scottish Government what arrangements it is making for ordering the enhanced flu vaccination for the forthcoming immunisation programme. As with the rest of the UK, we are advised on vaccination policy, but the Independent Expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, JCVI, recommended which vaccine programmes should be offered, eligibility criteria and the kind of vaccine that should be used in the programme. In November 2017, following a review of the season of flu vaccine, the JCVI advised the use of Adjuvanted Trivalent Flu Vaccine 8 in those aged over 65. It agreed that the use of the vaccine should be a priority for those aged over 75 who will derive the greatest benefit. Clinical evidence is clear that the vaccine offered to 65 to 74-year-olds this winter still provides protection against flu to that group. It is worth noting that the minister did ask for extra time to be able to answer in detail. Am I okay to continue? You may, Mr. That is important, because it is important that our flu vaccination programme gets under way next week, and it is really important that people understand that the vaccines that are being offered offer them the best possible protection. I encourage anybody who is requiring vaccination is in one of the groups to go and get that. The NSS undertakes the season of flu vaccine procurement on behalf of NHS Scotland each year to ensure that they can acquire the volume of flu vaccines required for each season. They begin procurement early autumn for the next flu season. That meant that the procurement exercise for this year's flu season had already concluded when JCVI made its recommendations. NSS, on the other hand, continued to fully explore options to secure the vaccine availability for everyone aged over 65. The new ative vaccine is currently manufactured by only one supplier, who had significantly had to ramp up their production for the whole of UK very quickly. Unfortunately, they were unable to guarantee NHS Scotland sufficient supply of the ative vaccine for everyone over 65 this year in time for the start of this year's vaccination programme, so we did what was obviously provided the most security to ensure that we had a vaccination programme for the whole of Scotland. The minister will be aware that across England and Wales, all individuals aged over 65 and over are to be offered and are recommended to accept the enhanced flu vaccination as standard, potentially leading to tens of thousands of fewer GP appointments and hospital stays and hundreds of fewer deaths. Can the cabinet secretary explain why this life-saving flu vaccination is only available to all over 75s in Scotland—sorry, all over 75s when the rest of the UK is to all over 65s? So, procurement arrangements differ across the UK for the seasonal flu vaccination programme, while we procure the seasonal flu vaccine essentially in England and Wales. It is up to individual GPs to decide what vaccines should be ordered for their patients. In the past, this has led to vaccine shortages and concerns over variations in access to the right flu vaccine, and those are problems that we do not face here in Scotland. While Mr Sarwar is correct to some extent that other parts of the UK have recommended that GPs provide this vaccine, it is clearly up to the GPs which vaccines they order, and it is not clear that, given the vaccine supply, whether GPs across the rest of the UK will be able to buy enough vaccine to do so. After seeking expert advice, it is clear that the safer approach for us to take would be to roll out the new vaccine during 2018 and 2019 that guarantees a supply of the flu vaccine for everyone eligible. Mr Sarwar, the fact is that, in the rest of the UK, the over 65s are being offered and recommended to accept the enhanced flu vaccination, and in Scotland it is all the over 75s. That is factually the case. The reason why that is so concerning is that, last year in Scotland, the number of flu deaths rose from 71 in 2016-17 to over 330 in 2017-18. As a result, the First Minister rightly ordered an urgent investigation into the matter to learn lessons for this year. Can the minister tell us whether that investigation took place, when it reported and what the recommendations are, because it would be completely unacceptable for us to try and learn lessons from a review that has not published yet for this year's immunisation programme before the immunisation programme even begins? First of all, just to clarify that we take advice from the experts on the best way to approach that. If I can go back to the answer that I gave Mr Sarwar to his previous question, while in other parts of the UK there is a recommendation that GPs provide that vaccine, it is not centrally procured, so it is not clear that across the UK, in other parts of the UK, that vaccine will be available to all over 75-year-olds, never mind over 65-year-olds. Emma Harper Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can the minister outline how the childhood flu vaccination programme in Scotland compares with those in other parts of the UK? Would members please stop interrupting and talking across another member? Ms Harper makes this question very important, because while we are talking about the flu vaccine for over 65-year-olds, we also have an additional programme where we are offering the quadrivalent flu vaccine to healthcare workers, pregnant women and to other vulnerable groups. That particular vaccine contains an additional flu-based strain, which is more likely to affect the working-age population, so that new vaccine will provide those groups with further protection against the flu. Unlike in England, we have extended the vaccine to cover all schoolchildren. In addition to providing schoolchildren with the protection from the flu for themselves, it also offers herd immunity. As well as helping themselves, it will offer protection to their grandparents. That is something that is really important. We are a big step ahead of the rest of the UK. The next item of business is a statement by Claire Hawke on the mental health strategy 2018 annual report. The minister will, of course, as usual, take questions at the end of her statement. I urge all members who wish to ask the minister a question to press their request-to-speak buttons, as soon as possible.