Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 01/12/2016

Answered by Jeane Freeman (15/09/2016):Tackling poverty and inequality is a top priority for this Government, and we give serious consideration to all ideas that could help us to do so. The Universal Basic Income is an interesting concept and we will certainly pay attention to research being carried out and the different models of UBI being piloted in other countries. We also recognise that there would be significant challenges with piloting a Universal Basic Income in the devolved context, whilst we do not have full control of tax and social security.

 

Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15/09/2016

Answered by Humza Yousaf (30/06/2016):RMT industrial action commenced on Tuesday 21 June 2016, the first of seven planned strikes involving ScotRail conductors over the extension of Driver Controlled Operation when new electric trains are introduced on the Edinburgh – Glasgow route.Safety is paramount and, as such, the Scottish Government’s priority will always be to ensure the safety and efficient running of our railways. I have chaired five meetings of the government’s Resilience Committee on this issue and have a further such meeting tomorrow.

Following further strikes on Thursday 23 June, Saturday 25 June and Sunday 26 June the remaining dates are Sundays 3, 10 and 17 July with additional action short of strike action on a number of dates through June and July.

ScotRail’s plans have been successful in easing the impact of the industrial action with around 70% of services operating, and this is anticipated to increase on future strike days.

A multi-agency response team has and will continue to operate on each of the strike dates when all modes of transport have continued to perform well. It monitors the situation throughout the day to help ensure the public has the latest information and agencies are equipped to respond to any major incidents, aiming to help to mitigate the impact on planned major events in July.