Chamber and committees

The table below shows the number of cardholders under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme as of the end of the day on 31 December 2022, broken down to local authority level.

This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. The table includes travel products collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application.

While broadcasting is reserved, the Scottish Government wholeheartedly supports public service broadcasting and Channel 4’s important and distinctive role in that system. Channel 4 continues to deliver high quality outcomes for people in Scotland and we are committed to ensuring its ongoing sustainability.

I welcomed the recent announcement that the UK Government has reversed its unnecessary and ill-conceived proposals to privatise Channel 4. I will write to the Secretary of State to request further detail on the UK Government’s plans for Channel 4, and to press the importance of Channel 4’s place in the sector, delivering programmes in the public interest and driving creative innovation in Scotland. We will continue to closely monitor and argue for the strengthening and long-term sustainability of Channel 4’s operations in Scotland.

The Scottish Government supported the creation of a Channel 4 creative hub in Glasgow, bringing network commissioning responsibility to Scotland. We will continue to do everything we can, including through our engagement with the UK Government and Ofcom, to support an increasing presence of Channel 4 commissioners in Scotland, and to maintain and enhance Channel 4’s nations quotas to help improve local representation, develop our creative industries, and grow new Scottish talent.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13547 on 16 January 2023. 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 phasing of the PDR review programme is kept under review to ensure that it reflects – and helps to promote – wider Scottish Government objectives. The stakeholder update which I issued with the Chief Planner in October 2022 confirmed that, in light of the current cost and climate crises, Phase 3 of the review will focus on PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewable energy equipment – and that a consultation will be published early in 2023.

The Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (“the Regulations”) aims to minimise the risks to public health at designated locations and during periods when large numbers of people bathe. For all 87 designated bathing waters in Scotland the bathing season runs from 1 June to 15 September each year, in accordance with the traditional period of peak usage. In comparison with the 3 ½ month bathing season in Scotland, across Europe the season length varies from 2 months in Sweden to 6 months in Cypress.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate level of water quality protection and improvement is provided for the designated bathing waters within the bathing season and outwith for nature and wildlife.

Scottish Water currently has UV treatment at nine Waste Water Treatment Works (WwTW) to meet microbiological standards during the bathing season as set out in its discharge authorisations issued by SEPA.

Maintaining the UV treatment at these WwTWs for the whole year would increase the use of energy and resources incurring financial and carbon costs at a time when these waters are not regularly used by large numbers of bathers. In line with the Bathing Waters Directive, the Regulations ensure that bathing water standards in Scotland are applied using a proportionate approach.

The number of bathing waters in Scotland has increased since last year and now stands at 87, with 98% achieving the bathing water quality standards and more rated excellent than ever before.

Today the Scottish Government has published the Onshore Wind Policy Statement, which can be accessed on the Scottish Government website ( https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805253754 ). This is the result of careful consideration of the 162 responses received during the consultation period.

The Onshore Wind Policy Statement sets out our ambition for 20GW of onshore wind to be operational by 2030. This challenging ambition, which will see Scotland’s onshore wind capacity more than double, is needed now more than ever, to provide clean, affordable, renewable energy.

The Scottish Government will ensure Scotland’s people benefit from this potential, and to this end will form an Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group tasked with pushing forward progress against the issues set out in the Policy Statement and with the development of a Scottish Onshore Wind Sector Deal, to be developed over the first half of 2023.

In addition, we will follow the onshore wind policy statement with our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan in early January which will set out our approach to the energy transition.

The national strategy for 20 mph continues to make good progress with the Scottish Government supporting local authorities with an additional £1.4 million in funding to undertake the necessary assessments to identify the number of roads affected and the financial implications. This work is scheduled to conclude in Spring 2023 and will enable the multi-partner 20 mph Task Group to then scope the next steps and options for implementation.

Transport Scotland and local authority partners are also exploring the potential for some early adopter schemes. These would enable the Task Group to assess the opportunities, impacts and promotion of 20 mph limits ahead of the 2025 deadline.

In addition Transport Scotland is working with the Scottish Government Marketing and Insight Unit to develop a national campaign that will focus on promoting the benefits of lower speeds and encourage behaviour change pre and post implementation.

As of the end of the day on 21 November 2022, there had been a total of 34,018,746 journeys made under the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

The following table shows the number of cardholders under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme as of the end of the day on 21 November 2022, broken down to local authority level.

This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data. The table includes travel products collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application.

We are in discussion with the UK Government and Devolved Administrations on what action is required for the UK to meet the pledge.

Within Scotland, methane is emitted from a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources; agricultural activities, landfills and oil and gas systems. Laid out below are the actions we are currently taking to reduce methane emissions. However, the next Climate Change Plan will include new policies on reducing all greenhouse gas emissions.

The bulk of methane emissions come from agricultural production, and action is being taken to bring these down. Feed additives have the potential to reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle and sheep and we are continuing to work with the industry. The First Minister announced at COP26 more than £100m investment by Royal DSM in Scotland , focused on reducing methane emissions from farming while Scottish Development International (SDI) has also supported the investment of DSM Nutrition in Scotland for the manufacture of its EU-approved methane-reducing food additive. Alongside the UK Government, Welsh Government and NI Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs we have just completed a call for evidence on the potential role of methane supressing livestock feed products, which will allow us to explore further opportunities for methane reduction in this area.

Currently the majority of Waste Management sector greenhouse gas emissions come from the degradation, with time, of biodegradable waste in landfill sites, which produces methane. Although landfill greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 72% from 2005 to 2020 (in line with a 63% reduction in the tonnage of waste landfilled), we know we need to go further to decrease this more. The actions set out in the recent Waste Route Map are therefore key to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. These include current actions like the ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill by 2025, expansion of the existing landfill gas capture programme from 2023; and proposed new actions, including the development of a Residual Waste Plan to ensure the best environmental outcome for materials and set strategic direction for management of residual waste to 2045.

Offshore oil and gas is reserved to the UK Government, meaning reducing methane emissions in that area sits with them. As regards onshore oil and gas refining, large industrial, gas and petrochemical sites have a requirement in their Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Permits for regular Leak Detection and Repair programmes for fugitive gases (which would include methane, where appropriate). Reviews of methane emissions from National Grid sites regulated by SEPA under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012 are undertaken with the Operator.