Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has had no formal discussions with private operators on this matter since 2016.

As set out in the joint Bidding Prospectus, all green port bidders were required to ensure that their proposal embedded the second National Transport Strategy vision, priorities and outcomes for the transport system with in it as well as ensuring alignment with regional and local transport strategies.

Following selection there will of course be intensive discussions with each of the successful designations on all aspects of their proposals.

The Scottish Government will not collect any monies as a result of Low Emission Zone enforcement. Any funds received by the relevant local authority will be ring fenced for LEZ enforcement system running costs, and/or air quality improvement works. The penalty charge structure of the LEZs has been designed to deter entry by non-compliant vehicles, in addition, a grace period has been included so that members of the public have time to familiarise themselves with LEZs and how they might impact their lives and travel habits. To help with this, we have launched a national website and a targeted marketing campaign. We anticipate that this will result in fewer fines being issued.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11074 on 5 October 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

The Scottish Government remains committed to medium and long term solutions to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

I can confirm that design and assessment work for both medium and long term solutions at the Rest and be Thankful is being taken forward from the Capital Land and Works allocation as part of the Scottish Budget: 2022-23.

The A83 preliminary ground investigation site works are now complete. The data from this will inform the design of both the medium and long term solutions.

The Scottish Government introduced the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to provide an enhanced suite of options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to their local needs. Local Authorities now have the power to run their own bus services, and secondary legislation to enable bus franchising and partnership options will be introduced before the end of 2023.

It is important that the options within the Transport Act 2019 are fully explored to ensure they are appropriate for the area, and are sustainable for local authorities long term. As such, the Community Bus Fund aims to support local authorities to explore their powers under the Transport Act 2019, and enable options to be trialled on a smaller scale.

As penalty charge notices can only be issued once Glasgow’s LEZ grace period expires (31 May 2023) no fines have been issued by Glasgow City Council as yet.

We are progressing work to develop a medium term resilient route through Glen Croe. We will bring forward proposals for this by late 2022.

The recent Resource Spending Review allocated £46 million to the Community Bus fund for the remainder of this parliament, with a further £30 million allocated in the Capital Spending Review. These financial envelopes are intended to guide financial planning and reform across the public sector, in anticipation of future Scottish budget setting processes. Work is ongoing with local authorities and COSLA to determine how best to allocate this funding.