Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will publish the final Heat and Building Strategy in due course, which will set out next steps in its delivery following the recent consultation; this included our intention to publish a public engagement strategy which is essential to supporting the delivery of this Government’s decarbonisation agenda.

The options selection work will be concluded by Transport Scotland, Network Rail and ScotRail by summer 2022. In accordance with the Rail Enhancements Capital Investment Strategy each of the options will be appraised to identify which offer the most benefits and also represent value for money.

Network Rail recently confirmed that positive progress is being made on the project with ground investigation works starting in October 2021.

Transport Scotland expect Network Rail to produce the final programme for delivering the project during autumn 2022.

All projects, including the A96 Programme, are subject to detailed review and assessment work to ensure we deliver the right schemes and keep impacts on the environment to the absolute minimum. The decision to commit to a review forms part of a wide range of transport commitments set out in the cooperation agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

The Scottish Government has maintained a rolling programme of rail electrification, unlike other parts of the UK. In line with our Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan it remains the expectation that the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen will be fully electrified.

We will confirm investment decisions will be made in an appropriate manner following due appraisal, necessarily having regard to the capital funding available to the Scottish Government in the light of UK Government budgetary decisions, however positive progress is being made with Network Rail confirming ground investigation works for the Aberdeen to Central Belt project are starting in October 2021.

In the December 2020 update to Climate Change Plan we committed to publishing a route map by the end of 2021 to outline how we will meet the 20% reduction by 2030, assuming the Covid-19 pandemic moves to a phase to allow this. The pandemic is still creating significant uncertainty for transport, with future trends and people’s work and lifestyle choices difficult to forecast at this point in time. Subject to this uncertainty, we will publish the route map by the end of this year.

Transport demand derives from other factors – where people live work, learn and access goods and services are all key to their need to travel. Meeting the commitment will involve reducing people’s need to travel with more local access to goods and services, digital connectivity and flexible and remote working approaches. The measures that are therefore required are across sectors – not all the policy levers and answers rest in transport. For example, the commitment is supported by our commitments on 20 minute neighbourhoods – where people can meet their needs within a 20 minute walk, and work and learn in communities close to home (further detail on which will be included in the NPF4 this autumn) – and the Work Local Challenge Programme to support flexible, remote and local working choices. We also recognise the vital role that digital connectivity will play in meeting Scotland’s world-leading climate change ambitions. This is why we made our commitment to extend superfast broadband access to 100% of premises in Scotland, regardless of location.

The Climate Change Plan update covers a range of measures across transport modes which will contribute to the reduction, and we have built upon these in the 2021-22 PfG. It should be remembered, however, that the most direct levers on the attractiveness of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are reserved to the UK Government.

We recognise the challenges associated with rural and remote communities or areas where there is not an alternative to cars. This will require local and regional solutions as well as national ones and we will continue to work with partners both nationally and locally to identify what works best.

On achievability, the 20% commitment comes within a range of car use reduction scenarios proposed by leading researchers. The recent government-commissioned ‘Decarbonising the Scottish Transport Sector’ report from Element Energy also evidences how the 20% reduction can be encompassed in transport’s contribution to our net-zero pathway. Progress will be tracked by the Climate Change Plan monitoring and evaluation framework, published annually.

My response did seek to answer your question (S6W-01453) regarding the introduction of water conservation measures, however here is some further explanation.

To date, water usage has been controlled through SEPA abstraction licences, by Scottish Water investment in reducing leakage from its public water supply system, by the provision of advice and guidance to business and domestic water users, and via Scottish Water media campaigns . However more is required to encourage consumers to use water more wisely.

Leakage from the public water supply system has been reduced by over 55% since 2006 and Scottish Water achieved the economic level of leakage in 2013. This equates to a reduction in leakage from over 1,100 mega litres per day (ML/d) in 2006 to 463ML/d in 2021 (down from 495ML/d in 2016/17).

Work with Scottish Water’s non-domestic customers has been ongoing since long before 2014/15 to raise awareness of the importance of water efficiency and promote efficient water use to generate environmental and financial savings. The total reduction in volume of non-domestic water delivered between 2014/15 and 2019/20 was 7,961 mega litres (5.4%) and between 2015/16 and 2020/21, and 15,569 mega litres (10.7%) partly due to the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses.

The EU recast Drinking Water Directive, which we have committed to transpose by 12 January 2023, will provide an opportunity to look closely at water efficiency measures and leakage targets with a view to conserving water.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02823 on 24 September 2021. 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 .

In 2016 the Scottish Government committed to invest up to £125 million in the Aberdeen City Region Deal, matched by the UK Government. Alongside the Deal, the Scottish Government announced an additional £254 million of investment in the North East’s Infrastructure.

This includes £200 million to help improve journey times and increase capacity on key rail links between Aberdeen and the Central Belt, and £24m for a new grade separated junction at the Laurencekirk A90/A937 south junction. The rail improvement project is on course to conclude option selection by early next year and we expect to complete the project by the end of 2026. We also continue to push forward with the statutory authorisation stage for the A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement scheme. Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory procedures, at which point a timetable for the construction phase can be set.

In addition, up to £10 million was committed to help extend digital infrastructure across the City Deal region and the City Network Extension project, which is delivering full fibre connectivity to a number of public sector sites across the city of Aberdeen, is expected to complete later this year while the Full Fibre Project in Aberdeenshire is expected to complete next year.

To date no eligible housing infrastructure projects have been submitted as part of the £20m indicative allocation referred to in the 2016 agreement.

The Scottish Government and all associated agencies, are currently working towards the targets set out in the 2019-20 Programme for Government, where we outlined our commitment to phase out the need for all petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

The Scottish Government’s policy is to replace vehicles when they reach the end of their operational life cycle, with fully electric replacements, wherever possible.

During the last 3 years we have procured 63 Ultra Low Emitting vehicles (ULEV’s). 40% of the purchases were zero-emission electric vehicles.

This replacement strategy allows us to increase the number of electric vehicles on the fleet, year on year, implementing the targets set out in the 2019-20 Programme for Government, where we outlined our commitment to phase out the need for all petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.