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Chamber and committees

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 23 November 2024
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Displaying 1719 contributions

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Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 11 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

Can we have the Dumfries and Galloway perspective, too, please?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 11 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I will ask both of the witnesses about transport. I am sure that we could do an hour on that, but we do not have the time. I will break it down a little. The first panel talked in an urban context about how we get road traffic reduction, including issues of equality. The situation that your two councils are in is different, in that you have urban centres but you also have a wider rural population. Where can you get the biggest reductions in emissions when it comes to transport policy in your areas? What are you focusing on for those urban populations and rural populations? What infrastructure projects are you carrying out and what partnerships and equality approaches are you taking to get the carbon reduction for both types of settlement in your areas?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 11 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

I thank the witnesses for their contributions.

I will focus on transport. Witnesses have mentioned some of the challenges around transport and its contribution to climate emissions reductions. I am interested to know what approaches you are taking to road traffic demand management. Do you have all the tools in the box, and are you willing to use them, to drive down mileage, in particular to meet the Government’s target for 2030?

Perhaps Adam McVey can start. We are coming up to 20 years since the Edinburgh congestion charge referendum. If the proposal had gone through and a charge had been put in place, would the city look different now in terms of traffic and levels of investment in infrastructure?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 11 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

Do you see it as all carrot and no stick? Is there a balance?

Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee

Role of Local Government in Delivering Net Zero

Meeting date: 11 January 2022

Mark Ruskell

How does your council interpret the road traffic reduction target for 2030? Do you see that as being primarily about reducing mileage within cities, or will you focus on trying to reduce the more long-distance mileage across the region?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2022-23

Meeting date: 22 December 2021

Mark Ruskell

Do you see any way of reducing that figure in the future?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Spring Budget Revision 2021-22 Budget Adjustment

Meeting date: 22 December 2021

Mark Ruskell

I am content with those answers to your question, chair, but I have a wider question about pension governance in the Lothian Pension Fund. What role does Audit Scotland play in it as an employer? What role do the members of the scheme play in the fund’s governance, given that many of those people are your existing or former employees? Stephen Boyle or Stuart Dennis might want to answer that.

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2022-23

Meeting date: 22 December 2021

Mark Ruskell

I have a final question on detail. We noticed that the payment for audit support officers has gone down from £41 an hour to £38 an hour. Can you explain that?

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2022-23

Meeting date: 22 December 2021

Mark Ruskell

That would be good.

12:30  

Meeting of the Commission

Audit Scotland Budget Proposal 2022-23

Meeting date: 22 December 2021

Mark Ruskell

I will quickly go back to Martin Walker’s point on the future operating model of your three offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness. I think that you are undertaking a property review at the moment. What are its emerging conclusions? Will you need those three properties in the long term? Will the changes that you have made as a result of Covid stick in relation to the need for less office accommodation? Can you give us a quick flavour of where you think that issue is going?