Seòmar agus comataidhean

Are you aligned with the 2030 target?

My questioning follows on from that point, convener. Mr Wilcock, you were talking about the ring-binder approach to the islands connectivity plan. Can we get a sense of where the other parts of the plan will slot in, and the formal timetable for its adoption?

Coming out of that, there is a question about why the long-term plan for vessels and ports has been published ahead of the community needs assessment. Will you give a little more detail as to what is coming, when it is coming and why the decision was made in particular to publish that piece of work on vessels and ports ahead of the one on community needs?

The under-22s bus scheme has been quite remarkable over the past year. I have seen in my own family and the wider school community how young people are now using bus services in a very different way. I am also seeing that feed back into services with far more people on bus services now than was the case before Covid.

I suppose that we do not have that story in front of us just now. We have some pretty raw figures that are impressive in terms of the number of journeys and how patronage has increased.

Will Transport Scotland do an evaluation of that part of the concessionary travel scheme, because it seems to me that there is a lot to bring out there? It would be worth evaluating that and for Parliament to be able to understand the positive economic impacts and the impact not only on services but on young people’s confidence.

What impact will the continued uncertainty that is being presented by the failure of the United Kingdom Government to issue a United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 exclusion have on the deposit return scheme?

That is particularly helpful if, like me, you do not have a musical education.

I thank you all for joining us this morning and for those initial comments. I would like to ask Tommy Smith in particular about “Jazz Nights”. Can you give examples of how that programme has helped to support new emerging artists in Scotland?

I guess that this question is for all of you, but I will go back to you first, Professor Smith. I stumbled across “Jazz Nights”—I am not usually awake in that dead zone on a Sunday night—and I am glad that I did. Can we do more to promote that digital linear content through BBC Sounds? There is a lack of awareness of the three programmes that are up for cuts at the moment, which is a shame, because we are missing something if we do not know that those programmes exist.

Many of us are on a musical journey and we are trying to learn about new genres and wake ourselves up to new talent, but it is often difficult to find those programmes. They are not obvious—stumbling across them is not easy.

Yes, that is great—thank you.

I will go on to ask you about the BBC’s response. It has said that it has jazz programmes on Radio 2 and Radio 3, and that it can incorporate Scottish emerging talent into those programmes. I had a chance to look at the past month of output that is currently on BBC Sounds. I looked at all the track listings for the jazz programmes, but I did not see Fergus McCreadie, Georgia Cécile or any Scottish artists in any of them. Is there something problematic about the formats of those programmes on Radio 2 and Radio 3 that makes it hard to reflect that ecosystem of Scottish talent that we have talked about?

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made toward increasing the availability of longer-term housing options for displaced people from Ukraine using the £50 million Ukraine longer-term resettlement fund. (S6O-01919)

Having somewhere safe to live is an absolute necessity for every displaced person who is rebuilding their life here in Scotland, free from war, persecution and violence. However, over recent weeks, we have seen horrific racist attacks on people seeking asylum who are living in hotels, which have been whipped up by far-right agitators and hostile language in Westminster. Will the cabinet secretary update me on what the Scottish Government is doing to protect people seeking refuge from far-right attacks?