Chamber and committees

In Scotland, we invest £300 million annually to provide free bus travel for over 2 million people, including all children and young people under 22, disabled people and everyone over 60. We haven’t raised the age at which older people qualify for free bus travel, and we are the only part of the UK now operating a national scheme giving children and young people under 22 free bus travel.

Additionally, in many areas, single fares are already below £2.00. For example in Edinburgh you can travel anywhere in the city for a flat fare of £1.80.

We will look carefully at how this new £2 flat fare scheme will work in England to see what more we can do here in Scotland to support and sustain affordable bus travel for more people during the cost of living crisis. One of the key issues is the cost of operating for many bus companies which face huge cost increases in energy and fuel – the UK Government must do more to support businesses, especially small operators, to cope. Additionally, Brexit impacts have compounded staffing shortages in the bus sector – one way the new Prime Minister can help alleviate this situation would be to include bus drivers on the shortage occupation list.

The Scottish Government supports research and development in a renewable energy system through a range of funds, ensuring Scotland will be at the forefront of new transition opportunities. Our Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray has offered £20 million to projects this year, ranging from testing and promoting emerging technologies such as electric vehicle battery recycling, offshore green hydrogen, and decommissioning, to innovative projects such as a digital innovation lab and a supply chain pathway and challenge fund.

This builds on support offered through our £75 million Energy Transition Fund (ETF) and £100 million Emerging Energy Transition Fund (EETF). The ETF supports four projects: the Energy Transition Zone, Global Underwater Hub, Net Zero Technology Transition Programme, and Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, which will all support the sector to make progress on energy transition. The first tranche of the EETF’s hydrogen investment programme was launched via the £10 million Hydrogen Innovation Scheme with a focus on innovation in green hydrogen, storage and distribution technology. To provide a coordinated vision for the sector, our upcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan will set out the energy system’s role in delivering a just transition to net zero and climate resilience.

Section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 provides that any interested party can make a complaint to the Scottish Ministers that a responsible body has failed to discharge a statutory duty relating to education.

Following investigation of the complaint, Scottish Ministers may make an order declaring the responsible body to be in default of the duty and requiring them to discharge the duty by a specified date.

The complaint procedures do not provide an option for the complainant to consent to the publication of an unredacted version of the final decision they receive.

Individual Placement and Support assists people requiring more intensive support to enter and sustain employment. The Independent review has considered the current delivery landscape and outcomes achieved by this specialist employment support programme, and made recommendations to build on best practice as well as identifying areas for further improvement. The Scottish Government intends to publish the report of the Independent review of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) before the end of 2022.

The following table details the number of recorded crimes of theft of a pedal cycle for the March year end data for reporting years 2016-17 to 2021-22.

Table: Number of theft of a pedal cycle crimes recorded by the police, Scotland, 2016-17 to 2021-22

As the First Minister noted in her statement to the Scottish Parliament on the Programme for Government on 6 September 2022, the Scottish Government’s commitment to the full-parliament plans set out in last year’s Programme for Government - and in the Bute House Agreement - stands.

Under the Bute House Agreement, Ministers and Scottish Green Group portfolio holders hold regular liaison meetings as well as regular stocktake meetings with me, in my capacity as Deputy First Minister, and the wider Green Group of MSPs.

In line with the commitment in the Cooperation Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group, Patrick Harvie MSP and Lorna Slater MSP both attended Cabinet meetings on 26 April 2022 and 16 August 2022 where the Bute House Agreement was discussed.

The Scottish Government is currently progressing a programme of reform of Scotland’s planning system, including implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The 2019 Act included provisions which prohibits elected members from carrying out certain planning functions (e.g. sitting on a planning committee) if they have not completed specified mandatory training. We have commenced work on the development of mandatory training requirements which will help to ensure that local decision makers are equipped to make sound and legally robust planning decisions.

The ongoing delivery of a regulatory review of aquaculture in Scotland aims to develop a more joined up approach between consents, including piloting of multilateral pre-application discussions, which should lead to enhanced communication and better-informed decision-making at each stage of the consenting process. Government officials continue to maintain a close working relationship with Local Authorities that deal with aquaculture applications as this work continues.

Decisions on non-domestic rates, including the poundage and any reliefs or supplements, are generally considered in the context of the Scottish Budget in line with other government priorities.

The Scottish Budget 2022-23 delivers the lowest poundage in the UK for the fourth year in a row, ensuring that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

£10 million of funding has been directed to support Cancer Waiting Times improvements in our NHS across 2022-23. Significant funds are going towards up-skilling nurses and investing in diagnostic tests to support extended working days/weekend working to increase capacity.

Meanwhile, work is underway to develop Scotland’s new cancer strategy, expected to publish Spring 2023. A recent public consultation received over 250 responses, including from blood cancer charities. A series of workshops are planned throughout September to help gain further insight and hear directly from those with lived experience to inform the focus of this strategy.

Yes, the statistics you refer to are accurate. The analysis can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/analysis-consultation-responses-consultation-review-children-scotland-act-1995/pages/9/ . There were 254 responses to the consultation, which asked a number of questions. As noted in the table at section 9.3.1 of the analysis, 124 consultees answered yes to question 31 on amending the Child Abduction Act 1984, with 13 answering no and 117 not answering the question. 124 of 254 is 49%, which is the figure referred to in section 9.3.2 of the analysis.