I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24570 on 29 January 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and shares the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route.

During the Route Options Assessment process cost estimates were developed for each of the options under consideration. The two options considered which included a tunnel were the ‘Pink’ and ‘Purple’ options with estimated costs ranging from £1.3 billion to £1.38 billion and £968.3 million to £1.1 billion at 2023 prices respectively, which are, individually, more than double the cost of the preferred ‘Brown’ route option, at £404.2 million to £465.4 million at 2023 prices.

A comparative assessment of operation and maintenance costs was also undertaken, which estimated that the preferred route option had the lowest cost, totalling approximately £24.6 million. In comparison the Pink and Purple Options were estimated to have operation and maintenance costs of £117.5 million and £138.8 million respectively.

The estimated costs of all options can be viewed in the DMRB Stage 2 Route Options Assessment Report available on the Transport Scotland website.

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) stage two route options assessment report - A83 Access to Argyll and Bute | Transport Scotland

Bus services in Scotland were deregulated by the then Conservative UK Government under the Transport Act of 1985 and are mostly provided by private operators.

Our commitment to bus travel includes investment of over £370 million to support concessionary bus travel and funding of almost £50 million to help ensure our bus operators can continue to provide access to affordable transport in the de-regulated market across all of Scotland. The Network Support Grant is aimed at keeping bus networks more extensive and fares lower than would otherwise be the case. This fund is paid on a per kilometre basis which favours longer distance routes more common in rural areas.

The Older & Disabled and Young Persons concessionary travel schemes provide free bus travel for over two million people in Scotland, including all children and young people under 22, eligible disabled people and everyone aged 60 and over.

The Scottish Government is committed, in partnership with operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of ensuring that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they live. The importance of local bus services to communities and ensuring the long-term sustainability of these vital local routes is a collaborative endeavour.

Funding is also provided to local authorities in their annual settlement to support services they consider socially necessary and for community transport services, which can play an important role in rural transport networks.

Non-consolidated performance payments for chief executives continue to be suspended. There is a presumption against provision for non-consolidated performance payments in all new Chief Executive contracts or following a review. There are 71 public bodies covered by the Public Sector Pay Policy, and of these there are a small number of public bodies with specific exemptions agreed by Ministers. These are Scottish Water and the Scottish National Investment Bank. All aspects of chief executive pay are detailed within the annual accounts of each public body.

In line with Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy, the Scottish Government does not pay non-consolidated performance payments to any staff, including Senior Civil Servants. Therefore, I can confirm that no Scottish Government Senior Civil Servants have received a non-consolidated performance payment in the period referenced.

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and shares the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route.

As part of the comprehensive route options assessment process for the permanent solution, five options were assessed, two of which included tunnels. The options were assessed across a range of criteria including Engineering, Environment and Economics along with performance against the Scheme Objectives.

In June 2023, the ‘Brown Option’, consisting of a 1.4km debris flow shelter on the line of the existing A83, was selected as the Preferred Route Option as it improves resilience and operational safety of the trunk road network by reducing the impact of disruption for travel to, from and between Argyll and Bute and the Central Belt of Scotland. The Brown Option performed most favourably across a broad range of environmental criteria including cultural heritage, visual, population and human health, climate, and materials and waste. It also had the greatest potential to be delivered quickly and provides the greatest opportunity to encourage sustainable travel.

While the tunnelling options would equally provide improved resilience and operational safety of the trunk road network, the associated costs for both construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of these options were significantly greater than the preferred route option.

The full assessment can be found in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) Stage 2 Route Options Assessment Report which is available on the Transport Scotland website.

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) stage two route options assessment report - A83 Access to Argyll and Bute | Transport Scotland

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.

In line with Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy, the Scottish Government does not pay non-consolidated performance payments to any staff, including Senior Civil Servants. Therefore, I can confirm that no Scottish Government Senior Civil Servants have received a non-consolidated performance payment in the period referenced.

The Scottish Government is committed to improved data collection and analysis to accurately assess the impact of policies to ensure greatest impact can be achieved.

Data collection methodologies and approaches are kept under constant review to ensure not only the relevance of the data being collected but also to ensure efficiencies in how this is done.

The Scottish Government is committed to the use of evidence in developing and evaluating policies to understand what works. The Scottish Government regularly undertakes evaluation activity across a wide range of policy areas. Final reports are routinely published on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government published its Evaluation Action Plan in August 2024. One of the key pillars of the Plan is to make better use of evaluation evidence, at the right times when developing policy and to enhance value for money. To deliver the Action Plan the Scottish Government is setting up an internal Centre of Expertise in Appraisal and Evaluation. This will make better use of in-house expertise to further improve the standards of appraisal and evaluation planning.

Details of every external meeting all Ministers have undertaken since 2016 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/. This currently shows engagements up until May of this year, however information on engagements after this point will be published in due course, as per the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so, which is set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code.

It is also worth noting that although the names of specific councils or council leaders may not appear in records of certain engagements, the First Minister, previous First Ministers and other Ministers have engaged with various council leaders at COSLA Annual Conferences and other conferences and events that involve council leaders since 2021.