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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 12 January 2025
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Displaying 2361 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

That all sounds substantial. I am sure that it will be a great help to the committee when those reports are published and we can look at that.

Can I take it from your answer that that will feed into ministerial objectives for Scottish Water’s investment and that the report will be timed in such a way as to inform ministerial thinking and choices?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

I will move from water to air. The committee did an inquiry on the back of ESS’s first air quality report. I note that you have now produced a subsequent air quality report, which recommends the adoption of the World Health Organization’s very stringent limits for particulates. That was not an improvement report on the Scottish Government, so I am interested in what that report’s headlines are—the top asks—and also what the conversation with the Government on air quality now looks like, given that you have, in effect, produced an advisory set of recommendations with a slightly different status to the first report on air quality.

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

I was going to ask about how long the older and disabled persons scheme has been in place, how many times the cap has been breached, and what happened, but I think that Bettina Sizeland—

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

This is obviously an issue of great public concern, and I note the number of submissions that ESS has received. The primary focus of those submissions has been SEPA’s discretion under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 to regulate in that area and take enforcement action. Can you give the committee the top line from your investigations and spell out the next major steps for regulators and others in that area?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Are you talking about CSO monitoring?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

What practical changes are needed on the ground? Is it greater regulation of traffic and of wood-burning stoves, for example? Will a lot more work need to be done in terms of the Government and stakeholders coming up with an action plan to make progress towards a much more stringent WHO target, or is it pretty clear what the next steps will be?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Environmental Governance

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Could the Scottish Government fill the gap unilaterally, or would it have to work within the UK framework?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Could you stay with your crystal ball for a minute, minister?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Meeting date: 5 March 2024

Mark Ruskell

Scotland is trailblazing here. There are not, to my knowledge, any other countries in Europe that offer a free travel for young persons scheme.

I want to ask about a potential extension to the scheme to people who are in the asylum system. We have heard about the benefits for young people. Young people who are asylum seekers are currently using the young persons scheme and people who are eligible are using the older and disabled persons scheme. However, the Government made a commitment to extend concessionary travel to everybody who is languishing in the asylum system in Scotland. It might be a bit early to say, but would those people fall under an extension of one of the concessionary schemes or would it be a bespoke card or something separate to the current concessionary travel legislation that would enable them to get on the bus? I think that the commitment was that every asylum seeker, regardless of age or disability, would be able to access free travel because of the crushing circumstances in which they find themselves.

Meeting of the Parliament

Portfolio Question Time

Meeting date: 28 February 2024

Mark Ruskell

Creative Stirling has shown itself to be a highly innovative organisation. It has met the needs of communities, but it does not benefit from siloed funding. I wish to ask the cabinet secretary about the conversation with Creative Scotland, which I know he has engaged with, in particular about opportunities for multiyear funding and about innovation. Organisations such as Creative Stirling will go to the wall unless they get support, survive this period of vulnerability and continue to do what they do best as they seek long-term funding.