Chamber and committees

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce was a short-life working group, which worked to achieve the aims set out in its vision (copied below) by bringing together the top leadership from each sector with a role in transitioning fleets to zero emissions. The Taskforce was not vested with powers to exercise any statutory functions, nor did it handle any funds.

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce has delivered on its remit to identify and establish commitments to address the hurdles and opportunities in transitioning to a zero emission bus fleet.

Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce Vision Statement:

In the context of wider decarbonisation of the transport and energy sectors and the broader vision as set out in the Scottish National Transport Strategy, central to which is a vibrant bus sector with increased bus usage as people choose to travel by bus instead of car, the guiding vision of the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is a future where:

• Bus operators are exclusively running zero-emission battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell buses;
• The bus sector provides an excellent service meeting passengers’ day-to-day needs;
• People enjoy travelling on buses and knowing that doing so is one of the most climate-friendly choices they can make;
• There are vibrant ownership and leasing markets for buses which benefits operators, manufacturers and the finance sector;
• The smart technology on buses enables them to be operated in the most energy efficient way;
• There is an even stronger and diverse domestic manufacturing sector and supply-chain comprised of high-quality skilled jobs with continued innovation reducing manufacturing and supply chain emissions;
• Energy networks, bus operators and Local Government are used to working together to ensure depots are powered/fuelled and all potential users are able to benefit from the energy provision centred at depots and on-route charging infrastructure;
• Buses and infrastructure are fully recycled at the end of asset life contributing to the circular economy, reducing waste and supporting further decarbonisation efforts;
• After an important period of support, the Government has ceased subsidising battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell buses, but continue to support innovation in new zero-emission fuels and technologies of the future;
• Scotland is recognised the world over as a leader in the design, manufacture and operation of high quality zero-emission buses and other large road vehicles, alongside associated green finance solutions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-01331 on 7 September 2022. The answer to the Oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at:

https://archive2021.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=13875

As stated in the answer to S6W-10716 on 20 September 2022, work to develop an Islands Energy Strategy was delayed during the pandemic. In the interim period there have been significant changes to the policy landscape, including commitments to take forward an Energy Strategy Just Transition Plan for Scotland and the Carbon Neutral Islands Project. An Islands Energy Strategy will follow and build on these pieces of work in 2023 allowing alignment with Scotland's national plans. Stakeholder engagement on is ongoing. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The consultation document puts forward the following criteria for the purpose of defining a landholding as 'large-scale':

a. A fixed threshold of 3000 hectares

b. Land that accounts for more than a fixed percentage of a data zone (or adjacent data zones) or local authority ward(s) designated as an Accessible Rural Area or Remote Rural Area, through our six-fold urban/rural classification scheme (please refer to: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-urban-rural-classification-2016/pages/2/

c. Land that accounts for more than a specified minimum proportion of a permanently inhabited island.

The proposal to set the fixed threshold at 3000 hectares for the purpose of defining a landholding as 'large-scale' reflects a suggestion made by the Scottish Land Commission that the 'aim should be to establish a threshold that would ensure that family farms and small businesses would not fall in scope, but that modest estates that could pose risks [of harm to the public interest] would'.

Consultation on our proposals for the next Land Reform Bill is ongoing. We will form a view on measures to include in legislation, and what definitions might be required, in the light of the responses we receive.

£25m digital inclusion funding was made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21 for local authorities to use to support learners, in line with their own local needs. This funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 tablets or laptops for learners across all local authorities.

A number of local authorities have also invested their own funding in technology and have distributed connections and devices to learners in line with their own digital strategies.

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government published an update to the housing and regeneration outcomes indicators on 16 June 2020. The `Sources, Thresholds & Updates` tab of the master spreadsheet details dates that each indicator was last updated. This spreadsheet also shows each indicator that is used by the Scottish Government.

Work is underway to update indicators with the latest available data where available, and will be published before 9 November 2022. However, some data sources do not have available data for more recent years to allow for the associated indicators to be updated. This is for a number of reasons, including the impact from coronavirus and resulting restrictions, and other changes on data collection. Affected indicators will be detailed in the publication.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental practice registration capacity in their area.

We remain a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Scotland, with 59 dentists per 100,000 of the population providing NHS dental services, compared with 43 per 100,000 in England. Dental registrations project a similar picture, with a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

Further information on dental statistics, including NHS dental registration numbers broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website, at: Dental Statistics (publichealthscotland.scot) .

Responsibility for the routine maintenance, upkeep and management of burial grounds in Scotland rests with the relevant burial authority. A burial authority may be a local authority or a private owner. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (as amended), owners must ensure any premises they are responsible for are maintained to a safe standard for both employees and visitors. The Burial ground memorial safety: local authority guidance was produced to assist local authorities meet their obligations to inspect and make safe memorials and headstones.

At this time the Scottish Government has no plans to provide financial support to local authorities for the maintenance of burial grounds.

It is not possible to estimate how much households have spent in total on installing these alarms during the six months before the statutory deadline in February 2022 as the number of households installing alarms during that period is not known.

Estimates of the number of households with legislation-compliant alarms will only be available when the results of the 2022 Scottish House Condition Survey are published. This is expected to be in late 2023 / early 2024.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The six recommendations of the 2011 report, ‘Inspiring change’ were embedded in the SPS transformational review ‘Unlocking Potential – Transforming Lives’ document published during 2013 and the Learning & Skills Strategy which was renewed in 2016.

SPS continue to monitor performance against agreed criterion with their Learning Provider Fife College.