Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, Professor Docherty. I have found my notes from earlier, when I was scribbling down what you were saying in response to Mark Ruskell. You talked about having a plan for doubling the number of rail passengers. I am not sure whether that plan exists yet, but I am interested in what you think it should include.

Going back to public confidence and mood, during the pandemic, people were advised not to use public transport and, if they were travelling by car, not to car share. How do we use public messaging to shift that advice? I have not heard a lot of new advice telling people to get back on the bus and train. Morale is very low among key transport workers including rail workers, there is an industrial dispute and the number of strikes might increase during COP26. How do the Government, Transport Scotland, ScotRail and the trade unions cut through all that and find some agreement, so that we can get the travelling public back on to public transport and out of private cars?

I have questions for Zero Waste Scotland and for SEPA. I will start with Zero Waste Scotland.

According to the latest SEPA data, progress on recycling has slowed and reversed. Less than 45 per cent of household waste in Scotland was recycled in 2019, and there are huge variations across the country. In East Renfrewshire, which is at the top of the league table, almost 60 per cent of household waste was recycled; in South Lanarkshire, where I live, the figure was 46 per cent; in Glasgow, which is hosting COP26, it was 25 per cent; and, in Shetland, it was only 17 per cent. Why are we not making more progress on recycling rates in Scotland? What needs to be done to rapidly improve the situation?

As well as the ability to access buses for free, we need to make sure that everyone, including young people, has access to bus services in the first place. On Friday, I joined some of the thousands of youth climate strikers in Glasgow, who are marching ahead of COP26 and who all want sustainable travel. One issue that was raised with me was reductions in bus services. Having the free bus pass is great, but if there is no bus to get on, it is not much use to anyone. With regard to that holistic approach, what is the Government doing to make sure that communities, including students, have proper bus services? My area has lost the X1 bus and, on Friday, students from the University of the West of Scotland also told me that the special bus that was put on when the campus moved stops running at 5 o’clock, and that is not much good to students in Lanarkshire. Can the minister and his team take that away and look at it as well, please?

Thank you.

I hear what you say about other metrics, other measurements and different ways to benchmark. However, a national target was set to increase household recycling to 60 per cent by 2020. We are way off the mark. The figures are worrying and, in part, embarrassing. Are we measuring the wrong thing entirely? If so, why do we have those targets in the first place?

Thank you. I wish the Children’s Parliament well with the launch of the Climate Changemakers scheme.

I have a question for Liam Fowley. Earlier this morning, we took evidence from the transport minister, and I am pleased that the committee supported the statutory instrument on increasing the national bus travel concession scheme to include 19 to 21-year-olds. I know that many people would like that to go further, so that it includes people up to the age of 25, and I know that there is a wider campaign to go further again. From the point of view of the Scottish Youth Parliament, how important is it that those under 25 have access to that scheme? You talked about some of the challenges in rural areas about access to bus services. How much of a problem is that? If we do not have good public services, can people really play their part in decarbonising transport and helping to address climate change?

Thank you.

There has been a slight technical hitch, but if Terry A’Hearn can hear me, I will continue.

SEPA has been having a hard time. For a start, it was the victim of a cyberattack on Christmas eve, and I want to thank Mr A’Hearn and his whole SEPA team for their hard work in recovering from that. As chief executive, you advised the SEPA board earlier this year that there might be a risk of not protecting the Scottish environment, especially from key threats. Can you update us on the impact of the cyberattack on SEPA’s regulatory actions or the environmental outcomes that you were working towards?

I will ask briefly—

I think that we all want clarity.

On the issue of new large-scale incinerators, would it be a sign of failure if, from this point onward, we were to see such incinerators getting consent and being constructed, given what we know about the climate emergency?