Section 129 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 places a duty on Scottish Ministers to review and publish a report on the operation of the seal licensing regime every five years. The next review is due to report on 1 September 2020.

The review will cover all aspects of the operation of the seal licencing system.

In accordance with the franchise, a Remedial Agreement has been entered into between Scottish Ministers and Abellio ScotRail to contractualise the Remedial Plan. The contractual terms of the Remedial Agreement between Scottish Ministers and Abellio ScotRail contractually commits Abellio ScotRail to deliver a series of time bound commitments that are designed to improve the performance of Abellio ScotRail with a view to them exiting Breach Performance Level for the Suburban East and Express Other PPM sector by May 2020. In the event ScotRail fails to deliver on any of the contractual commitments as set out and programmed in the Remedial Agreement, this will constitute an Event of Default under the Franchise Agreement.

The figures have not yet been released as they are still being audited. They will be published on the Transport Scotland Website in approximately October 2019. The figures for 2017-18 can be found here https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/annual-report-and-accounts-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2018/

The following table details the number of services which failed to stop (skip stopped) during each 4 weekly period from Period 12 17-18 to Period 12 18-19 and the overall percentage.

In accordance with the franchise, a Remedial Agreement has been entered into between Scottish Ministers and Abellio ScotRail to contractualise the Remedial Plan. The Remedial Agreement sets out the terms for implementing commitments contained in the Remedial Plan and is effective up to 30 May 2020. This accords with timescales for the completion of the contractual commitments in the Remedial Agreement and aligns with ScotRail’s forecasts of when ScotRail expect to exit Breach Performance Level for the Cancellation and PPM Benchmarks in respect of relevant sectors.

In the event ScotRail fails to deliver on any of the contractual commitments as set out and programmed in the Remedial Agreement, this would constitute a default.

The Scottish Government consulted in 2017 on the recommendations made by Lord Bonomy in his review of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. We expect to consult on any changes to the law on fox hunting that we may propose.

The Scottish Government will announce its plans for future legislative programmes in due course.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, on behalf of the Scottish Government, negotiated the terms for the purchase of the MV Helliar and MV Hildasay with the vessels owners, Fortress. The purchase of these freighters was concluded on 25 March 2019.

The terms for purchasing the MV Helliar and MV Hildasay are commercially sensitive and release of this information would be in breach of the confidentiality agreement with Fortress. However, we believe this transaction represents good value for the taxpayer and will deliver significant ongoing operational savings.

As part of the National Transport Strategy (NTS) Review, Transport Scotland is working with stakeholders to review an extension of discounts on public transport available to those under the age of 26 (this incorporates a cost and benefits appraisal on extending free bus travel as any changes to concessionary travel schemes must fully consider financial sustainability). The initial stages of scoping out this work has just begun with a view to the outcomes informing thinking on actions which Government will take forward to deliver the NTS (due for publication at the end of 2019).

The position of the Scottish Government remains unchanged from the the answer to question S5W-18378 on 23 August 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

We continue to develop avenues to enable a public sector body to bid. However, a key consideration is the Williams Rail Review which is likely to lead to substantial change in the franchising process across the UK.

I will update the Reference Group after we have received and considered the findings from the Williams Rail Review, which is likely to lead to substantial changes in the franchising arrangements across the UK.