Chamber and committees

Up to 930,000 young people will be eligible to travel for free under the scheme and we are absolutely determined to ensure that everyone who is eligible for and wants a free bus pass gets one. I appreciate that we still have a long way to go to reach all 930,000 eligible young people but now that covid restrictions are easing, we are encouraging all young people and parents to apply for their cards. To assist with take up, we plan to launch an extensive marketing campaign in the coming weeks.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05885 on 7 February 2022. 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

Of the £49.1 million allocated toward the Climate Action and Just Transition Fund, £20 million has been allocated toward the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The remaining £29.1 million is split across a wide range of policies and programmes as detailed in the level 4 budget spreadsheet. The exact allocation between these policies and programmes will be confirmed once the Budget Bill has completed its passage through Parliament.

New cards are required to access the scheme as previously issued cards will not have the necessary digital travel product encoded on them. This is needed so that bus journeys under the scheme can be recorded so that the Scottish Government can accurately reimburse operators for the fare. New cards allow for differentiation between journeys made under 16 year olds and over 16 year olds, which are reimbursed at different rates. They also implement the parental or guardian approval requirements that are in place for 5-15 year olds to access the scheme.

Scottish Government ran a very successful five-week, multi-media marketing campaign last autumn to raise awareness of the new standard. This was supported by over 96,000 leaflets distributed to all libraries in Scotland as well as posters, website and an online campaign toolkit shared with over 500 partners.

Independent analysis showed the campaign reached 95.2% of its target audience and follow-up analysis in December 2021 showed 88% were aware of the new standard.

Furthermore, Scottish Government has published material online through social media and a dedicated website and the Cabinet Secretary has written on several occasions to MSPs with information and FAQs to support their constituents.

We welcome that the unions are sharing their ideas and views. Transport Scotland officials attended the launch of the unions’ publication, and the previous Minister for Transport discussed various subjects covered in that report in his engagements with the unions.

Our focus is currently on the mobilisation of ScotRail Trains Ltd, which will provide passenger services within the public sector, under Scottish Government control, from April. Discussions with rail trade union representatives are underway, ensuring continued engagement, as part of the transition on 1 April 2022 of ScotRail to ScotRail Trains Ltd.

I am keen to meet the unions and advance a constructive dialogue on these matters and, to that end, a meeting is scheduled with all four rail trade unions for 10 February.

The application process, card renewals, card replacements and all other cardholder management are the responsibility of the Improvement Service for online applications and of individual local councils for all other applications. All local councils have been given the option of coordinating applications through schools on behalf of their pupils with the necessary information having been provided to them by the Improvement Service late last year.

We have worked very closely with partners including the SFRS throughout the legislative process and they fully welcome any measures that support fire prevention.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05860 on 7 February 2022. 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

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities and are entirely separate from the Scottish Government. As long as they act lawfully, it is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes. The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently.

New regulations, which came into force on 9 November 2020, require Scottish public bodies from November 2022 to report on how they will align spending plans and use of resources to contribute to delivering their emissions reduction targets.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.