Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Official Report 694KB pdf

---

Subordinate Legislation

---

Rural Development (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/33)

---

Low Emission Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/26)

Item 2 is consideration of two negative instruments. No motions to annul have been received in relation to the instruments.

There are no comments from members. I propose that the committee makes no recommendations in relation to the instruments. Are we agreed?

No member has indicated disagreement, so we are agreed.

---

Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Penalty Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 [Draft]

---

National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons (Scotland) Order 2021 [Draft]

Item 3 is consideration of two affirmative instruments, on which the committee will take evidence. The motions on approval of the instruments will be considered at items 4 and 5 respectively.

I welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson. We also have with us, from the Scottish Government, Stephen Thomson, who is head of the environmental and sustainability branch; Anne Cairns, who is a solicitor; Tom Davy, who is head of business strategy and concessions policy; Debbie Walker, who is operations and business manager; and Rosalind Wood, who is a solicitor.

The cabinet secretary will make a brief opening statement on the two affirmative SSIs. We are tight for time, so I remind everyone that brevity is good.

The Scottish Government has committed to introduce low-emission zones in Scotland’s four biggest cities between February 2022 and May 2022. The progression of the Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Penalty Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 is a key milestone in their delivery. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 will enable local authorities to introduce such zones, and the regulations will help to deliver low-emission zones in a nationally consistent manner by outlining standardised emission standards, exemptions, penalty charge rates and enforcement activities that must be applied to all Scottish low-emission zones. They also set out a route for appeal against a low-emission zone penalty, via the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Separate regulations will be developed during 2021 and 2022 to establish the low-emission zone appeals procedure in more detail.

The National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons (Scotland) Order 2021 will enable us to deliver our commitment to create a statutory national concessionary travel scheme for young persons who are under 19, as stated in the programme for government. Providing free bus travel for under-19s will strengthen our response to the climate emergency and support our green recovery by encouraging sustainable travel habits in young people. The order also makes changes to the existing concession scheme for older and disabled persons, by making provision for companion cards for eligible disabled children under five; extending current reimbursement terms into 2021-22; and making minor changes to the definition and operation of the scheme.

I commend both instruments to the committee, and I am happy to answer questions.

The first question is from Richard Lyle.

What I have to say is more of a compliment than a question. I thank the cabinet secretary on behalf of showmen and showpeople, who, in normal times, would set up fairs in areas that will become low-emission zones. As a result of Covid-19, they have not worked since last March, but that is by the by. The exemption in regulation 3 for showmen’s goods vehicles and showmen’s vehicles are a major win for them, and I thank the cabinet secretary for acceding to my request in that regard.

I am not sure that that was a question, Mr Lyle.

On exemptions in low-emission zones, what is the situation with recovery vehicles? Do they all have to be low-emission vehicles? If so, could we have a situation in which a recovery vehicle could not recover a broken-down vehicle and take it back to an area outwith a low-emission zone?

The low-emission zone exemptions are for police vehicles, ambulance and emergency vehicles, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service vehicles, National Crime Agency vehicles, military vehicles, vehicles for disabled persons, vehicles of historical interest and showmen’s vehicles. There is no specific exemption for recovery vehicles for the purpose of recovering a vehicle from a low-emission zone.

That is my understanding. My concern is that that might leave many people unable to get their cars recovered, other than by specific contractors. Might it be worth considering the matter further, given that a broken-down car blocking the road would be a serious issue?

I understand your point, but I am not sure that that will be necessary. We should keep in mind that the emissions standards have been set out in such a way that they apply to vehicles that will probably have been made in the past 10 years. I expect that most recovery vehicles would fall in that category, so I would be surprised if the zones became a major issue for recovery companies. In my experience, most recovery vehicles are fairly new, given the way in which they are required to operate.

You must come up to the Highlands, where—I think—they are not all that new, but I will leave the matter there.

Are there any other questions from members—on the bus travel concessionary scheme, for example?

There is silence, which is most unlike the committee. We will move on.

Item 4 is formal consideration of motion S5M-23926, in the name of the cabinet secretary.

Motion moved,

That the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee recommends that the Low Emission Zones (Emission Standards, Exemptions and Penalty Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 [draft] be approved.—[Michael Matheson.]

Motion agreed to.

Item 5 is formal consideration of motion S5M-23952, also in the name of the cabinet secretary.

Motion moved,

That the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee recommends that the National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Young Persons (Scotland) Order 2021 [draft] be approved.—[Michael Matheson.]

Motion agreed to.