Question reference: S6W-26214
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 15 March 2024
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Current status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 16 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many electric school buses it has supported each local authority to purchase, in each of the past three years.
Answer
Local authorities receive funding via the local government block grant to enable them to meet their statutory obligations, including the provision of home to school transport. Local authorities are responsible for decisions about the purchase of vehicles. The Scottish Government’s guidance on home to school transport encourages local authorities to procure zero emission vehicles for use in home to school transport services. Local authorities and bus operators that provide home-to-school transport services were eligible to apply to our recent round of ScotZEB 2 funding. This programme provides funding to increase the number of zero emission vehicles and their supporting infrastructure by encouraging collaborative working within the bus sector.
The Scottish Government does not collect information on the number of electric school buses purchased by local authorities.