Chamber and committees

The Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Programme (BEAR) Phases 1, 2 & 3 has made available £12.2 million funding to support the costs of retrofitting of 762 mid-life buses and coaches to Euro 6 standard in Scottish Air Quality Management Areas from 2018 to 2021. A further £5.7 million is being made available in Phase 4 of the scheme. This launched on the 31 st of July and closes for applications on the 26th of August 2021.

Proposals to the Bus Partnership Fund are assessed against criteria which focus on the climate benefits of mode shift from private car to public transport. The criteria and weightings are as follows:

• Evidence of congestion and ideas to reduce congestion, through improved bus services (40%)

• How the proposal fits with the partnership area’s overall strategy for integrated transport, to encourage a modal shift from cars to more sustainable transport and reduce emissions (25%)

• Partnership strength and demonstrated commitment, which will include match in kind (20%)

• Deliverability: the ability of the lead local authority and its partners to deliver the proposed developments, including local political buy-in (15%)

Successful bidders to the fund are required to submit monthly progress reports to Transport Scotland. Each subsequent tranche of funding will be dependent upon their passing gateway reviews, which will provide further assurance that the funded infrastructure developments support action on climate change.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02055 on 24 August 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 .

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector continues and decisions have still to be taken in relation to the prospective sale of the business. We have committed to updating Parliament on the sale process at the appropriate stage and to protect the integrity of the process we will not be making any further comment at this time.

No. Ministers do not intervene in the commercial discussions and agreements between Glasgow Prestwick Airport and any third party. The business is required to operate on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government in compliance with our obligations under the Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the UK and the EU.

Discussions between Glasgow Prestwick Airport and parties interested in purchasing the business are commercially confidential. Any interested party will, however, be aware of all the sources of the airport’s revenue through their due diligence process with the airport.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is operated on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government. These discussions are commercial matters for Prestwick Airport’s senior management team. As is common practice with other airports across Scotland, commercial agreements between the business and other windfarm developers are already in place.

a) Scottish Government set targets for forest creation and for native woodland creation within that. In the current year, 2021, the woodland creation target is 13500 ha and of this 4000 ha will be new native woodlands. Scottish government and its agency Scottish. , do not pre-determine the type of trees that will be planted by landowners that are supported by the Forestry Grant Scheme. There are a number of grant options provided for applicants and landowners in order to help achieve Scottish Government targets and policy priorities. For example, a grant option is provided to enable applicants to create new native woodlands in order to promote biodiversity and meet the targets under the Biodiversity Strategy.

The FGS does not guide applicant’s schemes based on carbon sequestration and species choice. Each scheme is guided by the principles of sustainable forest management as set out in the UK Forestry Standard.

The existing forestry grant scheme works to support the three principle objectives of Scotland’s Forestry Strategy. As of May 2021, conifer and diverse conifers accounted for 58% of the woodland creation programme, broadleaves and small farm woods, 4%, native broadleaf woodlands including native Scots pine, 32% and natural regeneration, 6%.

The Scottish Government is working with key business sectors, Scottish Water, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and other stakeholders to make sure water is used efficiently through conservation measures.

We continue to invest in the public network, reducing leakage and increasing water efficiency which helps conserve water in the environment, and we are working to develop technologies and other approaches to enhance resilience. Scottish Water encourages its customers to use water efficiently. In the last year alone, Scottish Water Business Stream has helped its business customers save over £14 million through water efficiency savings, and since 2008 it has saved £213 million and conserved more than 38 billion litres of water.

Our policies continue to support suitable hydrogen projects and proposals of smaller scale Schemes of this funding scale may fall under the banner of local energy systems, in which case support may be available through:

• CARES which may be able to provide funding support: https://www.localenergy.scot/funding/ . This scheme has supported projects such as the Huntly hydrogen project in the north east: https://www.localenergy.scot/projects-and-case-studies/case-studies/community-owned/huntly-hydrogen
• The Local Energy Systems Scottish Industry network (LESSIN) can also direct towards funding whilst providing other types of support - https://es.catapult.org.uk/impact/projects/local-energy-systems-scottish-industry-network/

Where there is clear economic benefit (jobs, regional growth etc.) and a contribution to net zero and in particular Scottish Enterprise’s Hydrogen Economy national programme ambitions, Scottish Enterprise’s place team may be able to become involved as a partner on projects and provide support for certain activities such as strategy development, market and economic research, meetings and events, facilitation of workshops & appraisals

Any prospective hydrogen production project owners in the North East are also encouraged to contact Scottish Enterprise’s hydrogen economy national programme team ( [email protected] ) so that they are aware of the project and can connect it to other relevant projects, companies and initiatives.

If the project involves buses (including mini-buses for smaller projects), Transport Scotland’s Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge fund ( https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/buses/scottish-zero-emission-bus-challenge-fund/ ) could help with the cost of the vehicles, but also associated infrastructure (e.g. hydrogen refuelling stations at a very attractive 85% intervention rate).

Additionally, the Hydrogen Policy Statement published on the 21 December 2020 sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for Scotland to become a leading Hydrogen Nation with an ambition to generate 5GW’s of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030, committing to £100 million funding to accelerate the hydrogen economy in Scotland over the next five years.

The framework provided by the Hydrogen Policy Statement is informing the development of a Hydrogen Action Plan in 2021 which will provide further detail on the planned approach and necessary actions to assist the growth of a Scottish hydrogen economy.

In the development of the Hydrogen Action Plan, the Scottish Government is considering a wide range of options and actions to provide financial support to companies investing in the Scottish hydrogen sector to assist the Government in meeting the ambition to reach 5GW’s of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030 as set out in the Hydrogen Policy Statement.