Official Report 1154KB pdf
Net Zero and Energy, and Transport
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions, and the first portfolio is net zero and energy, and transport. I make the usual plea for members who wish to ask a supplementary question to press their request-to-speak buttons during the relevant question—that would be very helpful.
Question 1 has been withdrawn.
Built Environment (Energy Consumption)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce energy consumption from the built environment. (S6O-03862)
Heating our homes and workplaces causes 20 per cent of our emissions. We have already made significant progress: emissions from buildings fell by 32 per cent between 1990 and 2022.
The energy efficiency of our homes is increasing across all tenures and more heat pumps are being installed than ever before. More than 150,000 households in Scotland have already benefited from our delivery schemes and we provided more than £210 million to those schemes in the last financial year.
We intend to lay regulations in December 2024 to deliver a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard.
The minister is right about the critical aspect of the heat in buildings programme as part of the transition to a net zero society. Over the past few years, the Scottish Government developed a programme that has been well regarded and even described as something that could be a template for action across the rest of the UK. However, in the past few weeks, I have heard increasing rumours of large-scale job losses in Home Energy Scotland and even one suggestion that the entire grant and loan scheme is going to be put on hold. Will the minister take this opportunity to scotch those rumours and make it clear that those changes will not happen? If there is any danger of such changes taking place, will he immediately begin discussions with Exchequer colleagues to ensure that the additional money that is now available to the Scottish Government, following yesterday’s UK budget, is made available to reverse any changes that have been suggested?
The Scottish Government will have to study the implications of the UK Government’s budget for Scotland. We work with suppliers and others to ensure that there is as much certainty as possible on those matters, but we are at the mercy of decisions in the UK about our overall budget. However, we certainly keep in touch with suppliers and agencies to ensure that there is as much certainty in the system as possible.
Bus Service Franchising
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting local transport authorities to franchise bus services. (S6O-03863)
The Scottish Government has delivered all the bus powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable local transport authorities to consider all the powers available to them, including franchising, and we will provide general and statutory guidance on the franchising process. This is currently under development and will be published once the remaining franchising legislation is completed.
It is for local transport authorities to determine what powers, if any, to use to improve local bus services. Any authority considering the franchising powers must ensure that their business case is made robustly and in an evidence-based way to support future decisions.
It should be clear to the minister, following last night’s vote, that he does not have the confidence of the Parliament or stakeholders in the franchising process for Scotland’s bus services. How will he rebuild that confidence in the months ahead? The first decision on franchising is unlikely to take place until summer 2027, so there is time to work constructively with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and other transport authorities on a fairer and more robust process that puts the public interest at its heart.
I beg to differ with Mark Ruskell’s assessment of the situation. I am struggling to understand how he can say that there was no agreement on franchising yesterday. In every discussion that I have had and in every debate, everybody talks about how they want franchising to happen. The regulations were set in 2019 primary legislation, but I get the fact that there have been some issues in relation to them over the past week. However, I have contacted my officials to say that I will continue to have conversations with Valerie Davidson and Stephen Dornan from SPT to provide an assurance to the people who are demanding that franchising takes place that the process will stay on course.
The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 enabled franchising, and the SNP has made significant improvements to public transport in Scotland, including by providing free bus travel for our young people. Can the minister say anything more about the impact of those policies on the affordability and accessibility of public transport and the vision for future improvement?
That supplementary goes slightly wide of the original question, but if the minister is able to add anything, I invite him to do so briefly.
Free bus travel is opening up opportunities all over the country for children, families and young people, and it is enabling young people to broaden their horizons by choosing to study further away from home, where that suits. Franchising will be part of that process, and we aim to continue to move forward with that.
Jonathan Bray, who is one of the leading experts on bus franchising development across the United Kingdom, has said that if Scotland adopts the panel-based approach by giving to the traffic commissioner unilateral power to veto SPT’s plans for a bus franchise, that
“will be a serious mistake which ultimately will be seen as such ... It’s hard to see any rational justification for it other than it serves the interests of those who wish to maintain the status quo for as long as is possible.”
He also said that the panel should be “deleted from the process” and that the regional transport authority—SPT—should be given the unfettered ability to implement, democratically, the desired scheme for the region. That has the support of the Parliament, in committee and, I would contend, in this chamber.
Will the minister agree to revise the proposal to have the powers in question vested in the traffic commissioner and to come back to Parliament with a revised scheme and amend the legislation accordingly?
SPT agrees that checks and balances should be in place, which is why such a provision was included in the 2019 act.
We are now in a position in which the panel will be put in place, there will be full scrutiny and we will put in place guidance, which the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee will have a chance to look at. If we delay that process, we will have to go back to primary legislation, which, as I have said in a number of debates, will stall it even further.
As I have said, I am preparing to meet SPT. We will discuss the matter further. However, franchising is going forward at the right pace.
A96 Dualling (Inverness to Aberdeen)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is committed to fully dualling the A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen. (S6O-03864)
The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to improving the A96. In particular, we have recently completed the statutory process for dualling between Inverness and Nairn, including the Nairn bypass, along with the adjacent Inshes to Smithton scheme. We are now pressing ahead with the procedural steps to complete the purchase of land.
The current plan is to fully dual the route. As part of that process, we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments. Once published, that review will be subject to public consultation.
I am sorry, but that answer shows that the cabinet secretary simply does not get it. She said that the Government is committed to “improving the A96”, but the pledge that she and her colleagues were elected on in 2021 was to fully dual the A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen. Today, communities in Moray and across the Highlands and the north-east are looking for that commitment to be reaffirmed by the transport secretary.
On page 42 of its manifesto, the Scottish National Party said that the dualling of the A96 was required to ensure that
“the road network between all Scottish cities is of dual-carriageway standard.”
Does the cabinet secretary still stand by that? If not, why does she not prioritise businesses and people in the north-east of Scotland as much as she prioritises other parts of the country?
Douglas Ross says that he is sorry, but I am sorry that he did not listen to my answer. I draw attention to my first answer, in which I said:
“In particular, we have recently completed the statutory process for dualling between Inverness and Nairn, including the Nairn bypass, along with the adjacent Inshes to Smithton scheme. We are now pressing ahead with the procedural steps to complete the purchase of land.
The current plan is to fully dual the route. As part of that process, we are undertaking a transparent ... review”,
et cetera. It wastes the Parliament’s time if members do not listen to the original answer and the same answer has to be repeated.
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I know that we cannot rehash the debate, but can you confirm that the cabinet secretary’s initial answer was that the Scottish Government is committed to “improving the A96”, not to fully dualling it?
Mr Ross, you will know that it is not for the chair to determine the responses or, indeed, the supplementary questions.
Karen Adam has a supplementary.
Significant improvements have been made to road infrastructure in the north-east since 2007 and upgrades to the A96 are an important next step. Will the cabinet secretary set out some examples of how Scottish Government investment has improved connectivity across the north-east?
The north-east demands and deserves good connectivity, which is why this Government has spent more than £1 billion on road infrastructure in the north-east since 2007 and opened two new railway stations. There have been projects such as the A96 Fochabers and Mosstodloch bypass, or the new Inveramsay bridge on the A96 and it was this Government that benefited the north-east through the completion of the Aberdeen west peripheral route, which has reduced journey times and improved journey reliability for those travelling round the city of Aberdeen. Additionally, the Haudagain roundabout project has improved traffic flow. Those are all investments by this Government in the north-east of Scotland.
Renewable Energy Projects (Consultation)
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve public consultation on renewable energy projects by energy companies. (S6O-03865)
The Scottish Government is currently developing pre-application guidance for overhead transmission line projects. That will outline the clear and meaningful opportunities that we expect for affected communities to be fully consulted on the route and design of overhead electricity lines.
We have also worked closely with the United Kingdom Government on a consultation that is aimed at modernising the overall Scottish energy consenting scheme, by proposing updates to the reserved legislation that underpins our decision making. That consultation was launched this week and includes proposed legislative changes to mandate pre-application consultation for large-scale projects.
I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests: I was formerly a land agent and advised clients on renewables issues.
During Tess White’s debate, you asked me whether I would support you—
Please speak through the chair.
I am sorry. During that debate, the acting cabinet secretary asked me whether I would support her calls to make consultation and engagement with the public mandatory for transmission operators. That is fine and I agree with that, because communities across the Highlands and Islands and across Scotland are hurting because of the amount of infrastructure work that is going on.
However, it was recently announced that the UK and Scottish Governments have launched a joint consultation to change the planning process for large energy projects and that that could see the removal of councils’ automatic right to a public inquiry, which will hurt the public across Scotland. Will the cabinet secretary guarantee that councils’ right to review such projects will be protected? I do not want to hear that Labour and the Scottish National Party are planning to stitch up more communities.
Tim Eagle will not be surprised to hear that his characterisation of those reforms is not in line with my vision. I want to see enhanced opportunities for communities to be involved at the earliest stages of consultation. We are not waiting for the consultation to go through the UK Government; we are bringing out proposed guidance for community consultation.
I have always believed that community consultation should be mandatory and should come with associated guidance, because I agree with Tim Eagle that communities deserve, and should have, meaningful opportunities to engage with developers well before applications go in.
The ability to make pre-application community engagement mandatory is reserved to the UK Government under the consenting regime of the Electricity Act 1989, so that limits our ability to reform energy policy. Will the cabinet secretary advise members what engagement the Scottish Government has had with the new UK Government on reforms to ensure that that process can swiftly be taken forward while giving communities a voice?
Bill Kidd’s question gives me the opportunity to say that I have had multiple meetings on that point with the new UK Government ministers. I raised it in my first meetings with Michael Shanks and Ed Miliband, because we did not have agreement with the former UK Government on the mandating of community benefits and engagement. I am pleased to say that the consultation is a result of the lobbying that I have done and the conversations that I have had. We launched a joint consultation that will specifically address the issues raised. I greatly appreciate the level of engagement and collaboration that has been shown by the current UK Government as we have collectively worked through the detail of the proposed reforms, which reflect the public discontent with the current system that Bill Kidd has just articulated.
Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (A77)
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to fully implement the recommendations of the second strategic transport projects review in relation to the A77. (S6O-03866)
We value the critical link that the A77 provides, in particular, in connecting the ports at Cairnryan to the wider trunk road network. Our investment in the Maybole bypass, which opened in January 2022, is a clear statement of that commitment. Recommendation 40 is in development and follows on from the robust strategic case for investment that was made in STPR2. This is a long-term plan and we must not forget the continued investment that we make in the maintenance and safe operation of that route.
Two years after the final plan was published, there is still no clear implementation plan or timescale for those commitments, and that is deeply disappointing. Will the cabinet secretary consider the deep concerns about the impact of what appears to be a growing use of full road closures of the A77 and, indeed, the impact of such closures on the A75? Routine maintenance often leads to detours of hours for drivers. Will she consider the request from the A77 action group for a task force to bring together local stakeholders with Transport Scotland and Amey Highways to explore what more we can do to minimise the disruption for residents, local businesses and users of the road?
Clearly, for road safety, improvements to the road are essential. Being able to make those improvements without full closure of the road is an operational matter for the roads operator. However, I hear what Colin Smyth says. It was difficult to follow which road closures he was referring to. I know that there are current concerns about the A75, but his original question was about the A77. I had intended to meet people in the A75 area, but the First Minister has now agreed to visit. In the meantime, I have approached the A77 action group to talk to its members and I might be able to raise the issue of that impact with them. I will also try to identify whether the operator has considered alternatives.
We have to be realistic. If we want to improve roads for road safety and other measures, we have to ensure that that work is carried out. In some circumstances, that might mean full closures and diversions, particularly for heavy goods vehicles. As I mentioned, the connectivity with Cairnryan is an important part of the road network.
The A77 is a key trunk road both for people who live close to it and for those who live further afield. Thousands stand to benefit from further improvements, both in quality of life and in boosted economic activity. With that in mind, what major improvements does the Scottish Government have planned for the A77 in the next decade?
As Ms Dowey knows, there has already been substantial investment, including in the Maybole bypass. In addition, there have been £35 million-worth of improvements in other areas, such as Glen App and Haggstone. Resurfacing schemes were recently completed at Ballantrae and south of Girvan. In this financial year, resurfacing schemes are planned on the A77 Ayr bypass roundabouts at Bankfield, Holmston and Whitletts.
Orkney Internal Ferry Fleet
To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the internal ferry fleet in Orkney. (S6O-03867)
Since 2018-19, the Scottish Government has provided Orkney Islands Council with £87.7 million to support the operation of its internal ferry fleet. We also recognise the fleet replacement challenge that faces the council and, in that regard, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and I met the council at the Orkney ferry replacement task force earlier this month. We were pleased to confirm the allocation of £3 million in additional funding to support the council’s electric ferry trial, design work for the northern isles ferry, and desktop-based work on the proposed port upgrades.
The news that the Scottish Government is investing £3 million in Orkney’s internal ferry fleet will be really positive for Orcadians who rely on the services to travel for various professional, educational and social opportunities. Will the minister outline how the Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with Orkney Islands Council to ensure that decisions on improvements to local transport links are made in consultation with local communities and with the best interests of islanders at their core?
Ms Roddick highlights an important issue, which has been made clear to me in meetings and visits with the islanders. Transport links are key to economic and social wellbeing, especially for island residents, communities and businesses, who must be involved in the decisions that affect those services. In light of that, the importance of hearing the voice of communities is a key theme in our islands connectivity plan. From meetings with the task force, it is clear that Orkney Islands Council is focused on meeting the needs of its island communities, and we remain committed to supporting the council with that work, including the progression of its business cases.
Under-22s Bus Travel (Glasgow)
To ask the Scottish Government how many journeys in Glasgow have been taken by under-22s using a free bus pass in the last year. (S6O-03868)
In the 12 months to 30 September 2024, 10,657,077 bus journeys were made by children and young people for free using a card issued in the Glasgow City Council region.
I thank the minister for that very positive response. Does he agree that the scheme has been hugely successful in making bus travel more attractive to people at a younger age, with the accompanying benefit of opening up social, education, employment and leisure opportunities that younger people might not have had access to?
I completely agree with the points that James Dornan has made. This is a truly transformational policy that is opening up opportunities for young people right across Scotland to leisure, learning, work, social activities and family connections that would not otherwise be available to them.
Since January 2022, more than 170 million free bus journeys have been made under the young persons scheme, and more than 772,000 cardholders have now signed up. This landmark policy is helping young people and families with children to cut costs every day in leisure and travel, while at the same time helping to protect our climate.
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