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The Scottish Government continue to promote and highlight the importance of partnership working in relation to the transport sector. Guidance was published to encourage the use of both statutory quality partnerships (SQP) and quality contracts. Dialogue to improve and promote the uptake of these is on-going.

The Bus Investment Fund was designed to encourage partnership working and was weighted to favour bids which created or worked towards an SQP.

The monitoring of statutory quality partnerships (SQP) and quality contracts are completed by the local transport authority. Once an SQP scheme becomes operational, monitoring becomes an essential component. It is a requirement of SQP legislation to undertake annual reporting to Scottish Ministers on the effectiveness of the scheme.

The Scottish Government is aware of five statutory quality partnerships across Scotland. To date no quality contracts have been introduced.

This information will be collated at a local authority level as part of regular monitoring arrangements and will be available in due course.

The Scottish Government understands that Perth and Kinross Council has decided to make use of this power in respect of 2016-17.

As pledged in our Town Centre Action Plan, we created powers for local authorities to establish a Town Centre Investment Zone using discretionary rates relief to encourage local business. The discretionary rates relief power was established by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, commenced in October 2015 and has already been used in 2016. It is up to local authorities whether and how to use this power, and we remain keen to discuss options for supporting a pilot Town Centre Investment Zone scheme with interested local authorities.

"Wholesale re-regulation” refers to nationwide re-regulation of bus services done either through a national franchise or by compelling all local authorities to franchise or directly operate bus services.

The first Bus Stakeholder Group meeting was held on 3 April, 2012. Eight further meetings were held on the following dates:- 26 June 2012; 26 October 2012; 26 February 2013; 30 October 2013; 26 March 2014; 11 November 2014; 26 January 2016 and 31 August 2016.

The following have been present at meetings: Transport Scotland, Confederation of Passenger Transport, Regional Transport Partnerships, CoSLA, Association of Transport Co-Ordinating Officers, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland, Bus Users Scotland, the Scottish Traffic Commissioner, Community Transport Association and the Scottish Road Works Commissioner.

I chaired the most recent meeting on 31 August 2016.

The aim of these meetings is to bring together representatives from across the bus industry to discuss bus policy issues. A range of issues have been discussed over the life of the Group with recent focus being on congestion, smart and integrated ticketing and engagement with bus users among other things.

On 24 May 2016 officials made me aware that Network Rail had advised that they were unlikely to deliver the electrification of the Edinburgh-Falkirk High-Glasgow Queen Street line by December 2016, as confirmed in the Office of Road and Rail's Network Rail Monitor. I was not prepared to simply accept this and challenged Network Rail to revisit their analysis. In addition I ordered Transport Scotland to undertake an intensive review of major rail projects being delivered by Network Rail, which will report back shortly.

Following the publication of the Bus Action Plan (BAP) in 2006 a steering group was set up to consider how the 17 action points from the BAP should be delivered and was composed of regulators, public sector representatives and bus operators.

In June 2010 it was accepted that the actions had been delivered and the steering group was wound up. To maintain progress since then a Bus Stakeholder Group was established to consider and take forward bus policy development and implementation.

A review of the Bus Investment Fund process is currently underway. The report will be published and made available on the Transport Scotland website on completion.