 Gw ranked, mae'r unig â rhesuadau ymlaenon ddechu i gyd, rydych i gyfnod o'r cystafell o'r llwyffion, byddwn wneud am ddim yn dweud o gwaith og o'r cwmshoddau. Yn y cwestiynau nrhyw ymlaen, hefyd, mae'n ganddiaeth wedi'u gwybod. A chael chi, mae'n ddod diwrnod o falch o'r gyfnodstartau o'r gweithiau gyda ei agnodau gyda gweddiol iawn i gael gwyllus i gwasanaethu'r cystafell gyd. Minister Jenny Gilruff. Women and girls deserve to travel in safety on Scotland's public transport system. That is why, earlier this year, I committed to undertake a consultation on women's safety across our public transport network. It will include working with national and local organisations representing the interests of a cross section of women from society–as well as groups that represent female staff working on the public transport network. Options to take this work forward will be further informed by discussions o ran o falchion o gynhau oedd gwaith yma, o gynhau dweud o cychwyniad, o gy אחדon I addition a ziech iaes o'r ei pwysig, os ysgwrthach a'r brif Weinby Caveig ac o'r brif Weinby Caveig o'r cychwyniad bryd cyffredinol, os oedda Dawg o'r cychwyniad i'r bwysig a'r cyffredinol i chi'n ei unig i'ch gwaith i'ch gynhyrchu ar gyfer cael fy wneud, ac oedd y prif, ac oedd dd rumyntau ar hynny'n gynhyrchu ein dgletoedd. Tys White. Minister, there were 46 sexual assaults against women on Scotland's railways last year. That's a decade high. 301 women were unacceptably threatened, harassed or commonly assaulted. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The figure is likely much, much higher because the gender of the victim was not known in more than 2,500 incidents. These figures are sickening. Every day, women are fearful that they will be victimised in the train carriage or on the station platform. What urgent action will the Scottish Government take now to ensure that women can travel on public transport safely? I thank the member for her supplementary question. I think that the first thing to say more generally as the member has alluded to in relation to women's safety on public transport, there are data gaps. We know that this is because women are far more likely not to report sexual harassment when it happens. If it does, it is likely after the event. I have instructed my officials to take forward a programme of analysis that will allow for better data collection in Scotland, specifically recognising, too, that the pandemic has impacted on women's experiences of public transport. Given that this is a very sensitive topic, it is vitally important that the scope of this work is right. I spoke only this morning to the Scottish Holdings Board about it and I am keen to work with it in recognising that it will also have potential benefits for staff's safety, as the member has alluded to in her supplementary question. To that end, I look forward to addressing the women in rail conference next month and hearing from the women who work on our railways about their experiences. Following my meeting with Engender, I have been more than happy to meet the member to discuss any suggestions that she may have to ensure that this consultation is as appropriately conducted as possible to allow us to have that data to improve women's experiences right across the public transport network. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns by the Scottish division of the train drivers union ASLEVs regarding proposals to make further cuts to ScotRail services. ScotRail's temporary timetable has been implemented as a result of the on-going impact of ASLEV drivers choosing, as is their right, not to make themselves available for overtime or rest day working. The timetable is a temporary measure and is delivering around two thirds of the planned May services. The difficult decision to implement it was made to give people certainty about when they travel and ScotRail has therefore looked at how best to provide as much of that as it can during this challenging period for passengers. Clearly we all want a return to a much fuller timetable and that is why I am pleased to see ASLEV and ScotRail back around a negotiating table this week. Paul O'Kane. Another day and another inadequate answer from the minister on this issue, which is affecting our communities across every part of Scotland. Those cuts are having an enormous consequence for the lives of every day Scots who depend on rail services to get to work, to attend appointments and to access childcare. In a letter from ASLEV to the First Minister this week, Kevin Lindry has called on the Government to get back around the negotiating table. I appreciate what the minister has said that that will happen, but will she confirm that she will negotiate in good faith on the issue of driver recruitment, which is the key issue here. ASLEV figures in terms of the number of drivers that need to be recruited are 130 in order to safely staff our railway. Will the minister and the First Minister get round that table in good faith and ensure that we end the negative cuts that are having such an impact on people across Scotland? In response to the member's question, I remind the member that this is an industrial dispute. There are a number of other industrial disputes happening between railway unions and other administrations, for example, in London, at the moment, where Labour are in power in relation to challenges on the network. In regard to the member's question as to whether I would be in the room, it would not be appropriate, as minister, to be in the negotiating room. It is for ScotRail as the employer to be in the room with the trade unions to reach negotiation. Of course, ScotRail will continue to negotiate in good faith. I am delighted that ASLEV and ScotRail met only on Tuesday of this week. They will meet again later today to reach a settlement. It is important to remember that the timetable shortages are causing real challenges for passengers across the network. That is because of an industrial dispute whereby drivers are choosing, as is their right, not to work on their rest days. I respect that, but it does mean that we have to run, or ScotRail will have to run, rather, a limited service. We want to reach a resolution in a timely fashion. I am absolutely committed to working with our trade unions, who I spent a lot of time with on my appointment back in January, to make sure that public ownership is a success of our railways and to ensure that we can re-establish the previous timetable to allow for passengers to travel more freely. Before I take a point of order, Kenneth Gibson, I ask a question in the heckle of the minister when the minister is trying to answer the question that he himself has asked. Thank you, Mr Gibson. I will remind Mr Gibson that I am chairing the session. I would just like to reiterate before we move on to the next question that I have previously called for succinct questions and responses. At the pace that we are going, we are not going to be able to get in all members who have put a question. John Mason. Clearly, it is a long time since Labour was in power and they take quite a simplistic view on some of those issues. Can the minister assure us that the Government will be acting as peacemakers and will maintain a good relationship with both management and unions? Absolutely. The revised timetable in Scotland is a temporary measure, as I have said, and those arrangements will be kept under review. Scotland will review those arrangements next week. Of course, they are meeting with Aslet this afternoon, and I am hopeful of a positive resolution to that. However, this Government supports fair work and supports the principle and practice of trade unions and the right of people to join a trade union. We remain absolutely committed to partnership working and we have a strong desire to resolve the dispute through negotiation and compromise. I think that that stands in stark comparison to the UK Government's approach regarding its recent threats to introduce new anti-strike legislation. Graham Simpson Throughout this week, the minister seems to have forgotten that the buck actually stopped with her. She refers to talks today between ScotRail and Aslet. What has she instructed ScotRail to do exactly? I assure Mr Simpson that I have not forgotten that the buck stops with me. First of all, in relation to action that I have taken, I have been meeting regular Labour ScotRail for updates on where the timetable has been working, but also to ensure that we have appropriate carriage allocation across the country. Right now, we are running a limited service at around about 70 per cent of the usual service. We need to ensure that there is appropriate carriage allocation. I raised that with ScotRail last Friday. I raised it with him again yesterday, and I will be speaking with him again today about carriage allocation more generally. The other action that I have taken is to ask ScotRail to look at reintroducing a number of services. Again, there will be more information forth coming on that from ScotRail later today, I hope, or on Friday. No, I cannot tell the member. He is heckling me from a sedentary position, Presiding Officer. I am not here today to inform the member of additional services at ScotRail that we are running, because ScotRail is the train operator. I am the transport minister. The member needs to recognise the differentiation between the two. I do not drive the trains. I have been meeting repeatedly with ScotRail to improve the service that is being delivered. I remind the member that we are in this situation because of an industrial dispute between Asleth and ScotRail, the employer. I would invite the member to reflect on his own Government's reputation in relation to how the Conservatives deal with the trade unions in relation to that. To ask the Scottish Government what impact driver shortages will have on the availability of rail services for passengers in mid-Scotland and Fife? ScotRail's current timetable, as a result of driver shortages, is a temporary measure and is delivering around two-thirds of the previously planned main services that should have resulted from the new timetable this month. ScotRail has advised that the core services in the mid-Scotland and Fife area have been retained to ensure a reliable regular service. The last evening trains will be earlier on some routes. ScotRail will advise that trains will be lengthened where needed to reflect capacity and service reduction. ScotRail will review the temporary timetable next week and the interim talks between Asleth and the train driver's union, as ScotRail will take place later today. The last train that constituents of mine can take to get home to Stirling, Fife or Perth now leaves Edinburgh at 8 o'clock. Not only is this wreak havoc with potential social plans, but it is causing real problems for shift workers in the NHS, who now cannot take the train to get back from their place of work. My constituents do not want to hear Buck Passing and do not want to hear excuses. They want to get this sorted as soon as possible. On Sunday morning, the ministerial colleague of the minister, Richard Lochhead, told the BBC that he expected the decision to be resolved within a couple of months. Is that the Scottish Government's position? Can we have an assurance that it will take no longer than that to get some degree of normality back to the train services that my constituents depend upon? Mr Fraser is correct to ask for a degree of normality. I want nothing more than us to restore the previous timetable that was in place. Passengers like his constituents need certainty. It is appropriate, of course, that ScotRail, as the employer, meets with Asleth the train union, which will be happening today, to reach a resolution to allow for the reinstatement of the previous timetable to bring greater certainty to passengers, and those shift workers that Mr Fraser is very concerned about today. To ask the Scottish Government how many early learning and childcare providers, including private providers, receive funding from the £9.8 million childcare sector omicron impacts fund that is open for applications in March this year. The Scottish Government has made up to £35 million worth of dedicated financial support available for childcare services since the start of the pandemic, in recognition of the acute impacts on the sustainability of services. That includes the childcare sector omicron impacts fund, which made up to £9.8 million of support available to the sector in the 2021-22 financial year. Over 4,600 grants have been issued to services in the private, third and child-minding sectors. The value of the grants available through the fund range from between £950 and £4,500. In order to support the long-term sustainability of the childcare sector, the Scottish Government is working with partners to progress the range of action that is set out in the financial sustainability health check, including working with business gateway to pilot tailored business support offers for all types of childcare providers. I thank the minister for that answer. I hope that the minister will join me in celebrating our ELC workers, who are making a huge difference to our children's lives day in and day out. As we emerge from the pandemic, can the minister set out how the Scottish Government is supporting our ELC settings to continue to deliver high-quality care for our children? I would like to pay tribute alongside my colleague, Grona Mackay, to the role that ELC providers have played across Scotland in ensuring essential services could continue over the pandemic. They have played a key role in the effort to fight the virus and support young children and their families over a very difficult time. I would like to see a heartfelt thank you to them. We are continuing to engage with partners to identify and better understand what the impacts of Covid-19 have been on young children, families and ELC practitioners so that we can respond to their needs. In the 2022-23 period, we will be investing more than £1 billion through local government to deliver funded ELC, including the expansion of provision of 1140 hours. The Scottish Government is also funding for additional graduate-level posts in ELC settings in our most disadvantaged communities across all 32 local authorities and funding the care and support system to deliver a targeted improvement programme. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to assess the impact of the new ScotRail timetable on passengers in the Cowdenbeath constituency. ScotRail's May 2022 timetable delivered a regular half-hourly service along the Fife Coast with direct services between Edinburgh and Dundee or Perth, with a regular half-hourly service between Edinburgh and Cowdenbeath via the Firmland for passengers in the Cowdenbeath constituency. However, as a result of ScotRail now operating a temporary timetable due to driver shortages, Cowdenbeath constituency passengers will see a reduction in their services. The services via the Fife Coast remain half-hourly, but will also have to end earlier. I have asked ScotRail to look at the reintroduction of a number of services where they are able to do so safely in advance of a formal review of services next week. Annabelle Ewing? I thank the minister for her answer as a regular Fife Rail commuter herself. The minister will be well aware not only of the concerns that have been raised and referred to today about the 23 May temporary timetable but also of course in fact about the concerns that had already been raised regarding the 15 May non-temporary timetable. So, can I ask the minister to confirm that both sets of concerns will now be looked at further to an urgent review by ScotRail of both timetables such that rail commuters and businesses in my Cowdenbeath constituency are not bearing the brunt? Yes, I thank Annabelle Ewing for that supplementary question. I travelled only this morning through my own constituency, through the Corkodi constituency and into Ms Ewing's constituency. I know how challenging this temporary timetable is for passengers. I just want to reassure Ms Ewing's constituents that this timetable is temporary but we need to get to an urgent resolution for passengers but also I think for staff and for the businesses already impacted as the member has mentioned. In relation to the new May timetable, which was only introduced a week prior to the temporary timetable changes, ScotRail listened throughout their consultation process. They added around about 150 additional services and they made changes including retaining an all-day direct service between Edinburgh and Perth via Corkodi and additional evening services in Fife. We should also remember, though, that patronage is still not back to where it was prior to the pandemic, with many people not yet feeling safe to return to public transport and others choosing to work from home. I will expect those ScotRail to continue to review the May timetable once reinstated as they did throughout the pandemic. The most important thing for Ms Ewing's constituents and for MSPs across the chamber just now is that we get a resolution between the unions and ScotRail as seamlessly as possible. I am committed to working with ScotRail to deliver that. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the social impact of economic development in the north-east. The Scottish Government is committed to driving forward economic development activity in the north-east. The national strategy for economic transformation contains bold and ambitious actions to deliver economic prosperity for all Scotland's people and places. The strategy sets out an aim that, by 2032, Scotland's economy will significantly outperform the last decade, both in terms of economic performance and tackling structural economic inequalities, with people at the heart of an economy that offers opportunities for all to succeed and where everybody in every community and region of the country will share in our economic prosperity. I thank the minister for that response. Trickle-down economics and other economic development models from the last century do not deliver well-being for communities across my region. There is also a clear need to understand better the interconnections across different sectors and to move away from siloed strategy and policy development. Can the minister outline how the Just Transition Fund for the north-east will catalyze, build and sustain community engagement and deliver meaningful social and economic benefits? Can she also outline what more we can do to improve cross-sectoral working, connect transport, tourism, planning, culture and so on, to ensure that no community is left behind? Our 10-year £500 million Just Transition Fund will accelerate the transition to net zero in the north-east and Murray, creating new and exciting opportunities across the region and ensuring that no one is left behind. The minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work has just recently completed extensive engagement with over 200 stakeholders in the north-east and Murray and has been clear that the fund must be co-designed. Our commitment to both sectoral and regional Just Transition Plans will reflect interdependencies and interactions with and between plans, ensuring that the future of industries beyond carbon-intensive sectors are brought along on our transition. In addition, of the £20 million that will be made available this year, £1 million will be subject to participatory budgeting to empower communities to have a direct say on how money will be spent in support of a Just Transition in their local area. To ask the Scottish Government what is its analysis of the latest transmission charging forecasts from national grid ESO in light of transmission network use of system charges, reportedly increasing in Scotland by between 39 and 73 per cent, while charges are decreasing in the majority of zones in England. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson, the transmission network use of system charges remain a key barrier to net zero in Scotland. Ofgem's own analysis suggests that, by 2040, Scottish renewables and low-carbon generators will be the only ones to pay a wider to new-ish charge, with all others, including gas generators elsewhere in GB, being paid credits. In a net zero world, it is counterproductive in the extreme to care more about where generation is situated rather than what type of generation it is. A new approach is needed rather than simple modifications to the existing methodology. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. This disparity in approach would see a 1 gigawatt offshore wind project in North East of Scotland pay £36 million a year in charges compared with a £7.9 million a year subsidy for a project connecting in Southern Wales, a difference equivalent to a close of £10 for every megawatt hour generated, putting Scottish projects at significant disadvantage when bidding for contracts for difference. Does he agree with me that the national grid ESO in Ofgem needs to recognise the barrier that those charges present to renewable powered development in Scotland and to bring forward reforms that can support investment across Scotland? Can he also advise what discuss has been held with national grid ESO in Ofgem so that we can accelerate progress to net zero, keep down overall system costs and ensure fair competition when bidding for contracts for difference? The transmission charging regime must reward those developers who are committed to investing in renewable generation. That is a call that we have repeatedly made to the UK Government, because the existing Chinese scheme is discriminating against Scottish-based projects. That is a matter that we have raised not just with the UK Government but also with the national grid ESO. I discussed this very issue with them just last month. I also discussed the issue again yesterday with the chief executive of Ofgem calling for action in this area. That is a serious issue that could potentially compromise renewable energy projects in Scotland. It is unacceptable that Scottish projects continue to be discriminated against in this way. Thank you. That concludes generally questions. The next item of business.