Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thanks for coming along. How do you see the Scottish Land Commission developing? Do you have a collective view on that? I am interested in your working relationships. I do not know whether you have had working relationships in the past or whether you have thoughts collectively about how you will work together with the other commissioners, and I am interested in exploring that. It is not a trick question—it is just an open question about how you see yourselves working collectively and how you think that that will change.

Robert, the farming commissioner role is embedded in the Land Commission, but how do you interpret that role within the commission’s wider work? Will you be following Bob McIntosh’s example, or will there be changes?

I see that Michael McLeod wants to come in.

I thank Gillian Mackay for securing this debate on behalf of her constituents, who are here in the chamber today, and I congratulate those constituents on raising the profile of the often very complex issue of school transport on the national stage. I am sure that their campaign is really resonating with communities across Scotland.

Getting the wee ones out safely to school in the morning and back in the afternoon is a real challenge for many families. It defines the working day for many people. Indeed, I fondly remember those days myself. I am minded to think back to my former role as a councillor in Dunblane, where I supported many families who had similar school transport problems.

In the case of Dunblane, a commercial bus service linking both sides of the town was withdrawn, leaving many pupils stranded, and, in the dark and wet, children like Ella would struggle to get to school, while half-empty buses carrying distance-entitled pupils would go past, unable to stop. The distance-entitlement criteria meant that some of their friends in neighbouring streets could get the bus, while they could not. In the end, more parents drove to the high school, causing more parking safety issues. Some of those who managed to walk did so on unlit paths, while those who cycled had the benefit of the national cycle network in the town, but unsafe crossing points still had to be negotiated, which put off many children.

At that time, there was no concessionary travel for children over five years old. Today, there is free bus travel for all under-22s, which has provided flexibility for young people and supported commercial bus services. That said, there is a critical need for councils to co-ordinate services between education buses and fare-paying services. As many members have reflected, the critical elements are parental engagement and planning.

At the start of last term, students in Dunfermline were desperate to get on commercial buses going to Woodmill high school, but, given the numbers of under-22 card holders and fare-paying passengers, there was overcrowding to the point that some buses drove past students, leaving them stranded on the pavement. Some buses were late, while others did not arrive at all, which made it stressful for families and forced teachers to challenge lateness. One of my constituents told me:

“Having to provide comfort and support for my daughter as she transitioned to high school is naturally being part of a parent, but having to manage unreliable bus services and to tell her that it is not her fault that the bus did not stop or was a no-show was painful.”

This term, in Dunfermline, a new commercial bus service has been introduced to plug the gap and meet demand, but that could have been anticipated by Fife Council much earlier in the summer. The fact, though, is that parental engagement and planning are really important.

It is also important that councils consider how we make walking, wheeling and cycling to school more accessible, safer and fun for young people. Councils need to keep working on creating safer routes from the streets where young people live to their schools.

The first step in that respect is safer 20mph speed limits. The next step is proper investment in walking, wheeling and cycle paths away from traffic, with better crossing points and other improvements. That will require funding in next year’s Scottish budget, so that councils can deliver the tier 1 projects at pace and finally complete their planned roll-out of 20mph speed limits. I hope that the transport minister is listening to that point and will reflect on it when closing the debate.

In particular, the national cycle network is a great resource that connects many local streets to schools, but it requires investment to make it more accessible and safer.

Of course, all those investments support health, road safety and traffic and pollution reduction. All schools must be supported to deliver bikeability training on the streets around schools, while building a confident school cycle culture, with bike buses and other programmes.

Again, I thank Gillian Mackay and the campaigners. I wish them well and hope that other school communities and councils across Scotland will take inspiration from their campaign, get the engagement right and design the right school travel solutions for their communities. A package of solutions is needed. Buses and active travel are part of that, and parents and pupils must be at the heart of that conversation.

People who are seeking asylum are facing impossible choices every day—I know that the minister knows that—and provision of the bus pass would represent a small but important freedom. How will the minister build confidence with the community that it is now going to happen? For the past three years, we have had a cycle of hope, with a promise from the Government and then a commitment, only for it to be dropped. As the minister knows, the community is desperate and it has no faith that this is going to happen. How will she restore faith?

I thank Gillian Mackay for securing this debate on behalf of her constituents, who are here in the chamber today, and I congratulate those constituents on raising the profile of the often very complex issue of school transport on the national stage. I am sure that their campaign is really resonating with communities across Scotland.

Getting the wee ones out safely to school in the morning and back in the afternoon is a real challenge for many families. It defines the working day for many people. Indeed, I fondly remember those days myself. I am minded to think back to my former role as a councillor in Dunblane, where I supported many families who had similar school transport problems.

In the case of Dunblane, a commercial bus service linking both sides of the town was withdrawn, leaving many pupils stranded, and, in the dark and wet, children like Ella would struggle to get to school, while half-empty buses carrying distance-entitled pupils would go past, unable to stop. The distance-entitlement criteria meant that some of their friends in neighbouring streets could get the bus, while they could not. In the end, more parents drove to the high school, causing more parking safety issues. Some of those who managed to walk did so on unlit paths, while those who cycled had the benefit of the national cycle network in the town, but unsafe crossing points still had to be negotiated, which put off many children.

At that time, there was no concessionary travel for children over five years old. Today, there is free bus travel for all under-22s, which has provided flexibility for young people and supported commercial bus services. That said, there is a critical need for councils to co-ordinate services between education buses and fare-paying services. As many members have reflected, the critical elements are parental engagement and planning.

At the start of last term, students in Dunfermline were desperate to get on commercial buses going to Woodmill high school, but, given the numbers of under-22 card holders and fare-paying passengers, there was overcrowding to the point that some buses drove past students, leaving them stranded on the pavement. Some buses were late, while others did not arrive at all, which made it stressful for families and forced teachers to challenge lateness. One of my constituents told me:

“Having to provide comfort and support for my daughter as she transitioned to high school is naturally being part of a parent, but having to manage unreliable bus services and to tell her that it is not her fault that the bus did not stop or was a no-show was painful.”

This term, in Dunfermline, a new commercial bus service has been introduced to plug the gap and meet demand, but that could have been anticipated by Fife Council much earlier in the summer. The fact, though, is that parental engagement and planning are really important.

It is also important that councils consider how we make walking, wheeling and cycling to school more accessible, safer and fun for young people. Councils need to keep working on creating safer routes from the streets where young people live to their schools.

The first step in that respect is safer 20mph speed limits. The next step is proper investment in walking, wheeling and cycle paths away from traffic, with better crossing points and other improvements. That will require funding in next year’s Scottish budget, so that councils can deliver the tier 1 projects at pace and finally complete their planned roll-out of 20mph speed limits. I hope that the transport minister is listening to that point and will reflect on it when closing the debate.

In particular, the national cycle network is a great resource that connects many local streets to schools, but it requires investment to make it more accessible and safer.

Of course, all those investments support health, road safety and traffic and pollution reduction. All schools must be supported to deliver bikeability training on the streets around schools, while building a confident school cycle culture, with bike buses and other programmes.

Again, I thank Gillian Mackay and the campaigners. I wish them well and hope that other school communities and councils across Scotland will take inspiration from their campaign, get the engagement right and design the right school travel solutions for their communities. A package of solutions is needed. Buses and active travel are part of that, and parents and pupils must be at the heart of that conversation.

How should good practice be codified? Should it be in the legislation or in guidance, or should we expect that to evolve?

Jon Hollingdale, do you want to come in?

Jon Hollingdale, do you want to come in?

We have discussed sites of community significance. When Josh Doble mentioned that, I could not help thinking about the Taymouth castle estate. It is relatively small, but there is a huge amount of community interest in the assets, and other such examples have been mentioned in evidence. Is there a way in which we can define such things in the bill? It feels as though it is open to a lot of interpretation, but a way forward could be to say, “This is a hugely significant asset to the community, so aspects of the bill should apply”. I am tempted to go along that line, but I am interested in how we would define it. As with the definition of “community”, we could get into a bit of a grey area.