Chamber and committees

As there are no current plans to deploy Operator of Last Resort arrangements for the Caledonian Sleeper Franchise, spending public money on analysing the costs of doing so would not represent good value.

The Gateway Review into Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) took place on 14-16 June 2021 and the follow-up Assurance of Action Plan took place on 21-23 September 2021. Subsequently, I carried out extensive engagement with industry and other stakeholders, in particular Circularity Scotland Ltd, to agree a final timescale and clear milestones for delivery. These were announced to the Scottish Parliament on 14 December 2021.

The Scottish Government currently offers a number of funding schemes, through Transport Scotland, to support businesses (including taxi owners) make the shift to low and zero-emission vehicles. Applications for these funds can be made through the Energy Saving Trust who administer the schemes on our behalf.

Available support includes:

• the Switched-on Taxi Loan scheme which offers an interest free loan up to £120,000 to enable taxi owners and operators to replace their current vehicle with an eligible ultra-low emission vehicle.
• the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Retrofit Fund for taxi owners operating within LEZs. This provides up to 80% grant funding to replace existing diesel engines to meet the Euro 6 standard for driving within a LEZ. The grant provides up to £10,000 per wheelchair accessible taxi installing re-powering technology, or £5,000 per taxi installing exhaust after-treatment systems.
• the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Support Fund, which is available to eligible microbusinesses and sole traders (including taxi operators), operating within a 20km radius of Scotland’s LEZs. The fund provides a £2,500 grant towards the safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles as an incentive to take older, more polluting vehicles off the road.

We acknowledge that working together is crucial, because we know that Scotland’s world-leading and legally binding net-zero target cannot be met by Government alone and a partnership approach between businesses, local authorities and communities will continue to be required to respond to the climate emergency and improve the air quality within our cities.

We have no current plans to extend free bus travel beyond the existing older and disabled persons scheme and the new young persons scheme for people under the age of 22.

Our Fair Fares Review, which is currently in its planning stages, will consider the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry, as well as the cost and availability of services.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05072 on 6 January 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

We are pressing ahead to put in place arrangements to mobilise a wholly owned company of the Scottish Government to provide ScotRail services within the public sector under Scottish Government control. The revised arrangements will start when the current franchise expires as expected on 31 March 2022.

For bus services, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides viable options for partnership working, franchising and wider powers for local transport authorities to run their own buses (and which sit alongside their existing ability to subsidise services). We have allocated £1 million in the draft Scottish Budget for development of the Community Bus Fund in 2022-23. This will support local transport authorities to improve local bus services and to explore the full range of options set out in the 2019 Act. In administering the fund, we and local transport authorities will need to observe competition, procurement and subsidy control rules.

The development of an integrated transport network is being guided by our National Transport Strategy, and the Strategic Transport Projects Review process is identifying investment priorities which will support this and help to deliver our commitment to create an inclusive and net zero emissions economy.

As the amount of renewable energy being produced in Scotland increases, so does the amount available to the public transport system. Already 75% of rail journeys are being undertaken via electrical traction, and we have given significant funding to zero emission buses, introducing diesel-electric hybrid vehicle carrying ferries, and promoting electric vehicles. We believe Scotland’s approach to transport decarbonisation – which focuses not only the transition to clean technology but also on reducing demand and encouraging behaviour shift – is an example of world-leading best practice and is central to our green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transport Scotland has produced extensive guidance on travelling safely for all forms of transport since the start of the pandemic and this is available via the following web links (for operators and passengers respectively).

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance-for-transport-operators/

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/advice-on-how-to-travel-safely/

Transport Scotland has also worked closely with operators across all modes to help reinforce the messaging to transport users and staff.

Enforcement of the law remains the responsibility of Police Scotland and the British Transport Police. Officers can issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone 18 or over if they have reason to believe an offence has been committed. Throughout the pandemic, Police Scotland officers have continued to use the “4Es” approach (to engage, explain, encourage and only enforce as a last resort to protect public health).

Following a successful three year pilot, in 2013 the four nations agreed to a 10 year grant to support those affected by the thalidomide drug. Over the last nine years the Scottish Government has issued a total of £11.512 million to the Thalidomide Trust, for distribution to Scottish survivors. A further £1.636 Million is projected for the final year (2022-23), bringing total funding to £13.15 million.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is working collaboratively with the Dermatology AI Consortium championing Community Local Image Centres (CLICs) to improving the capture of images as part of the dermatology pathway. The idea is relatively new and the CLIC model is still in development. The consortium will be developing the operating model and evidence base to show their benefit. CfSD awaits the outcome of this with interest.

It should be noted that the Consortium is also considering other approaches to image acquisition to support dermatology referral – most notably increasing the ease and quality of image acquisition in Primary Care. It is unlikely that a one-size-fits all will suit the varied geography of NHS Boards and therefore CfSD is working to understand the current pathway arrangements in all Boards to support image acquisition prior to Secondary Care.

The Scottish Government does not hold average data for ongoing waits, however the latest distribution of waiting times data with regards to ongoing waits for orthopaedic inpatient/day-case and new outpatient appointments is published on the Public Health Scotland website: Stage of treatment waiting times - Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients 30 November 2021 - NHS waiting times - stage of treatment - Publications - Public Health Scotland .