Scottish Rail Holdings - General Counsel

About Us

Scottish Rail Holdings Limited (SRH) is a non-departmental public body and a registered limited company owned and controlled by the Scottish Ministers.

SRH was set up with the express purpose of overseeing the governance of rail passenger services by train operating companies in Scotland in accordance with the Scottish Ministers’ duties under section 30 of the Railways Act 1993.SRH acts as the holding company of the owning group of the passenger train operating companies. It provides an interface between Transport Scotland, as strategic policymakers, and the operational oversight of passenger train services delivery for both ScotRail Trains Limited (SRT) and Caledonian Sleeper Limited (CSL).

SRT and CSL were brought under Scottish Government control on 1 April 2022 and 25 June 2023, respectively.

The relationship between SRH and the Scottish Government is defined by a Framework Agreement with the Scottish Ministers acting through Transport Scotland. There are separate grant agreements between SRH, the Scottish Ministers and each of SRT and CSL for the provision of the relevant rail passenger services and oversight by SRH and Transport Scotland.

SRH has a current staff of 20, a number that is in the process of increasing, and on behalf of the Scottish Government oversees an annual budget for the SRH group of £1.4 B, of which £0.4 B is paid to Network Rail for the provision and maintenance of track and signalling.

Our purpose is to ensure that SRT and CSL connect people and places to help make Scotland a great place to live, work and visit.  Our stewardship of both CSL and SRT is focused on ensuring that we deliver the best possible value for money for the Scottish taxpayers and enable Scotland to have the best possible passenger rail services.

Objectives

We are working with our Sponsor organisation, Transport Scotland to agree Key Performance Indicators for SRH to ensure that we deliver:

• An affordable railway
• An accessible railway
• A reliable railway
• A sustainable railway

The FD has a key role in leading, driving, supporting, and enabling this ambition.

Additional Background Information

Other useful documents:

• The Scotland’s National Performance Framework is the Scottish Government’s national wellbeing framework. It outlines Scotland’s [National Outcomes] and is intended to catalyse collaborative action to deliver these for the Scottish population.
• Scottish Public Finance Manual – Scottish Public Finance Manual – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Scotland’s National Transport Strategy (NTS2) – National Transport Strategy 2 | Transport Scotland
• CP7 – Control Period 7 Strategic Business Plans – Network Rail
• National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) – Introduction – National Strategy for Economic Transformation: annual progress report June 2023 – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Framework Agreement between SRH and Scottish Ministers
• SRT and CSL Grant Agreements

For more information about the Scottish Government budget, please visit Scottish Budget 2022 to 2023 – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)