Chamber and committees

There are measures to tackle aviation emissions, but I think that they are driven more by the technology side of things—I am looking to my colleagues to come in on this, too. As I have said, those emissions have been baselined into the plans as they stand.

Initial measures are being taken in the budget, but they will not come into effect for a few years. For example, it was announced as part of our proposals that we would be taking on the powers with regard to air departure tax and shifting to air passenger duty, and there are also the proposals on private jet use. I should also point out that my role as Cabinet Secretary for Transport has been to ensure that Highlands and Islands airports are protected, and that exemption is absolutely critical.

We are also working with an industry that is changing. People have strong views on aviation, but the shifts in emissions reductions are there; they might not be there to the extent that some might want, but things are shifting. The main focus has been on ensuring that we can take the powers that we need, and we will use them responsibly. For a start, we will be matching the UK Government in the first year. There is a consultation out on that just now, which you can obviously input into.

I will ask Phil Raines to explain the financial aspects of how the figures are put together in relation to the transport baseline. If I am correct, you are talking about what is on page 28—the 2026 to 2030 total benefits and total costs.

Nice move, convener, but it is a bit challenging. I did not receive the results of the transport elements of the consultation over the weekend. I will take a keen interest in the responses on transport and come back to the committee to share them. I would like to be able to do that now, but it is perhaps unfair to ask because, in preparation for this meeting of the committee, I have not been delving into responses that have not yet been presented to me. However, as you are seeing Gillian Martin, the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, next week, you will be able to go through what is next in terms of the process.

I will be very brief, convener.

Thank you for the invitation to give evidence on the 2026-27 transport portfolio budget. In 2026-27, we will make a record investment of £2.7 billion in public transport to fund bus and rail services, concessionary travel for more than 2.4 million people and lifeline ferry and air services. Our investment will support new ferries, port upgrades and the replacement of ScotRail’s intercity fleet.

We will continue to make public transport more affordable and accessible, building on the success of free bus travel for under-22s. We are piloting a bus fare cap across the majority of the Highlands and Islands, and we have removed ScotRail peak fares for good, saving passengers 17 per cent on average.

We intend to remove peak fares for islanders using northern isles ferry services, making travel more affordable. Those measures support household budgets, encourage greater use of public transport and contribute to our wider goals of protecting our climate.

In 2026-27, we will invest £1.2 billion in maintaining and improving the trunk road network. We will progress major projects, invest in the maintenance of the trunk road network and enhance road safety to reduce injuries and fatalities. Our infrastructure delivery pipeline reaffirms our commitment to completing the A9 dualling programme by 2035, using capital-funded contracts to secure better value for money.

We will also remain in support of full dualling of the A96, and our investment in the trunk road network over the next four years will allow us to make further progress on dualling the A96 between Inverness and Nairn, including the Nairn bypass, along with the adjacent A9/A96 Inshes to Smithton link road.

Tackling climate change, which we have just discussed, remains central to our work. As I set out in my earlier statement, across the spending review period, we are investing in decarbonising travel, with £1.4 billion for low-carbon and sustainable travel. We are making a further £4.4 billion capital investment in rail, fleet and infrastructure over four years. That will support electrification of key routes in the Borders and Fife and facilitate ScotRail replacing intercity and suburban fleets.

Our spending plans will help to deliver a sustainable, inclusive and accessible transport system that supports Scotland’s economies and communities while reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts. They align resources to priorities and protect front-line services that are critical to the running of the transport network.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss our plans and to take members’ questions.

The fair fares review—in which, I know, the committee took an interest—looked at that. Is there a way of using that funding to be a bit more strategic in our partnership and delivery with bus authorities, or do we use the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which the committee has been monitoring closely, to try to get change? Different tools, including franchising, bus partnerships and ownership, can be used.

However—I think that Mr Matheson raised this point previously in the committee—if I had an answer to that question immediately, I would have done that work as part of my responsibilities. We have had to deal with a number of transport issues in lots of areas. For example, rolling out the concessionary travel scheme to under-22s has been a major piece of work.

The operator reimbursement, including for the concessionary fare, is one of the most challenging aspects in all this. I am not the lead on bus transport, as you are probably aware. Alison Irvine might want to help by explaining the reimbursement rates. Those are quite complex, because we have to identify how we might work with different operators. There are challenges with the cross-boundary aspects, as there are various fares and systems across different council areas. That is why it has taken some time to work through.

We are doing that work in a phased way, starting in Shetland, where there has been a lot of publicity. We want to roll that out to different areas once the service is available in them. That will be done in conjunction with regional transport partnerships—for example, with the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership for the Highland area. Bus companies will also want to promote the service themselves.

On your point about resilience, we would ideally like the pilot to prove—although we do not know if it will do that until we have monitored it—whether the flat fare encourages more people who have not previously been using buses to do so, whether it increases bus patronage, and whether it provides more resilience in what might be more marginal operating areas, particularly in rural areas.

The figure for patronage in the financial year  2024–25 was 84.7 million passengers, which was up from 63.7 million passengers in 2022–23. That is a healthy 33 per cent increase over two years.

We have electrified various lines. We have opened the Levenmouth line, which people are now travelling on. Earlier in this session, we heard about the Borders railway, which some people did not want us to deliver, but it was delivered. That provided additional patronage and more rail services. In my constituency, the Bathgate to Airdrie line was opened, which has provided more services for passengers.

Bearing in mind that rail has to be subsidised—the costs represent a considerable public sector investment—the developments on those lines demonstrate that this Government has improved the availability of rail services.

In the statement that I gave to the Parliament a few weeks ago, I set out the ordering that we will commence with. The initial ordering has been consistent in the first five sections. We wanted to provide certainty, which is why the budget and the spending review have identified the funding certainty that is required in order to deliver the work and the Government has made commitments on that. I will be opening the compound site for the next stage of road that will have active work, which is the Tay crossing to Ballinluig.

External risk factors exist in any construction contract, but the new model of engineering contract that we are using puts more of the risk on to the Government if there are unforeseen circumstances. I will bring in Lawrence Shackman to talk about some of the risks.

Yes. I have said that to you.