Chamber and committees

I do not have a figure for job projections with me at the moment, but I would be happy to write to the member about that. I am pleased that she shares the enthusiasm for the opportunity to transform Scotland’s towns, villages, cities and communities and to make active travel not only the natural choice but the safe and attractive choice for a far greater proportion of the journeys that we make.

We have allocated £1.8 billion for heat and energy efficiency improvements, including an existing package of grants and interest-free loans, which has recently been made more generous and flexible. The green heat finance task force’s forthcoming interim report, exploring options for scaling up existing financial products, will help to shape our policy for encouraging low-carbon heating investment from the second half of the decade. Decarbonising Scotland’s buildings will require a mix of public and private finance. It will sit within a wider package of measures, including regulation to provide market certainty, develop supplier and skills capacity and enhance information provision.

Absolutely. That capital investment is a record already, and it is set to rise next year. We are keen to work not only with local authorities but with the third sector to ensure that the local leadership matches the scale of investment.

I mentioned that, outside of London, just £1 a head is being spent on active travel in other parts of England. In comparison, the Scottish Government’s spending sits at £34 a head and will rise next year to £58 a head. That is the kind of commitment that is required if we are going to make the transformational change that this Government is determined to see happen.

We are keeping the operation of the 2022 act under continual review. We will report on it regularly to Parliament, as the act requires us to do.

The member will recall debates during the passage of the legislation on the question of rent arrears. I made the case that, although the arguments are balanced in some ways, the help that people with rent arrears need is not simply to be stuck where they are as they build up ever more unpayable debt. The form of help that they need is direct assistance, and that is what the Government has made available in other ways.

Rather than thinking that we will go back and unpick the legislation, which was passed with the support of Labour colleagues, let us make sure that we continue to operate it as effectively as we can to give tenants in Scotland the protection that they so badly need, and which is so completely lacking in other parts of the United Kingdom.

We understand that the figure of 224 that the member quotes relates to the number of eviction hearings or case management discussions that were scheduled to take place up to 15 March 2023. That is not the number of eviction applications that have been received by the tribunal. Each application can involve a number of hearings or discussions, so the number of those will not be the same as the number of eviction applications received.

The Cost of Living (Tenant) Protection (Scotland) Act 2022 does not prevent landlords serving a notice to leave or making an application to the tribunal, and the tribunal will still make a decision on whether to issue an eviction order or decree. However, enforcement of the eviction must be paused for up to six months, except in certain narrowly defined circumstances.

I am sure that all those issues and more will be at the forefront of the mind of the new transport minister.

I will be covering a number of questions in place of the Minister for Transport.

The Scottish Government is, of course, committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens can. “Going further: Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework” was launched in 2016 to help to achieve that. A number of delivery plans have been developed to provide a focus for action by working together with disabled people’s organisations and the mobility and access committee for Scotland. The third delivery plan is currently being prepared and will be published later this year. It will run until the end of the current accessible travel framework in 2026.

The regional transport partnership SWestrans has undertaken three transport appraisals, which have considered potential rail stations at Beattock, Eastriggs and Thornhill in Dumfriesshire. Transport Scotland officials have engaged with SWestrans on those appraisals and will respond on the three appraisal reports in the coming weeks.

I am sure that the new transport minister will be keen to continue to engage on a cross-party basis with colleagues about those issues. As was discussed when we launched STPR2, some members might have been disappointed that a number of regional or locally important projects were not considered as part of the process, which is that of a strategic national review.

However, we have been clear throughout the process, and since publication, that paths remain open for regional and local projects to come forward and for consideration of business cases in relation to them. Therefore, officials have begun reviewing the appraisals that were previously submitted and, as I have said, are intending to respond on those appraisals in the coming weeks. I am sure that the member will continue to engage with the new transport minister on that process, too.

The member will be aware that there has been substantial investment in rail infrastructure, and that substantial further investment is to come in both new lines and the re-opening of stations.

I remind the member that STPR2—a whole-Scotland review of strategically important national infrastructure—generated more than 13,500 ideas, so, clearly, not every stakeholder or local campaign group would have seen their proposals included in it. However, members of Beattock Station Action Group are owed significant praise for their work and efforts in support of their aims, as are other campaigns around the country. Other paths for the development of local and regional significance projects are still open.

We will be coming forward with feedback to SWestrans on those issues, and I encourage Mr Smyth, as I have encouraged Mr Mundell, to engage with the new transport minister on those points.