Mark Ruskell

31 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on Transport Scotland’s evaluation work to assess the impact of the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme on young people.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Transport Scotland are undertaking an evaluation of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme to assess whether the scheme is working as expected in achieving its objectives and benefits, and to assess any potential impacts of the scheme on other policy aims …

15 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full breakdown of its spend on Nature Networks from the Scottish Budget 2022-23.

Answer · Lorna Slater: In 2022-23, £200,000 was awarded to the Green Action Trust to support nature restoration and ecological connectivity across the Central Scotland Green Network. In addition, our Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) helps to support ecological connectivity including …

11 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will be evaluating the success of the H100 Fife trial project, including whether it plans to assess the (a) cost and (b) energy efficiency of the project by comparing green hydrogen heating with electrified heating.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The SGN H100 Fife project, which will help us understand the role hydrogen can play in decarbonising heat using the gas network, is currently under construction, with aims to fit 300 hydrogen boilers into homes in Leven. The project is scheduled to go live in…

11 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been allocated to the H100 Fife project to date, including through the Scottish Budget 2023-24.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The use of hydrogen for the provision of domestic heat using the gas network will be demonstrated over the next few years in Scotland as part of the SGN H100 Fife ‘neighbourhood trial’ and in the UK as part of the larger village and town trials. The H100 Fife…

10 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05651 by Maree Todd on 20 January 2022, whether sportscotland has allocated funding to support the development of a tennis centre at Park of Keir for the financial year 2023-24.

Answer · Maree Todd: sport scotland’s provisional allocation of up to £5m for the development of a potential tennis facility at Park of Keir remains in place. However, at this stage,a full application for a tennis facility at Park of Keir has not been received. Any decision on w…

9 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14072 by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on how many young people have now received a free bus pass through the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, broken down by local authority area, based on the …

Answer · Kevin Stewart: As of Sunday 30 April 2023, there were 619,900 cardholders under the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme. The following table shows the number of cardholders broken down to local authority level. Total 619,900 Aberdeen City 26,659 Aberdeens…

9 May 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-14071 by Jenny Gilruth on 31 January 2023, whether it will provide an update on how many journeys have been completed by young people using a free bus pass through the Young Persons' (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel scheme, based on the latest informatio…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: As of Sunday 30 April 2023, there had been a total of 62,176,512 journeys made under the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

3 May 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what it has learnt from the fisheries no-take zone at Lamlash Bay.

2 May 2023 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of Dr Church’s second report on the decarbonisation of residual waste infrastructure in Scotland on 3 February 2023, when it plans to publish its response.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The First Report of the independent review of incineration was delivered in April 2022. Having accepted all of its recommendations, we have already taken actions to deliver the commitments we set out in our response. This includes introducing new restrictions…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its commitment to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030, in light of the Friends of the Earth Scotland's latest report, On the Move: Investing in public transport to meet carbon targets and create jobs, which estimates that, in order to meet Scotland…

Answer · Kevin Stewart: We are committed to finding ways to make alternative travel modes more attractive, and supporting people to take fewer journeys by car. The Scottish Government’s plans to encourage the use of public transport and active travel alongside plans to reduce car us…

24 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Friends of the Earth Scotland's latest report, On the Move: Investing in public transport to meet carbon targets and create jobs, which found that increased investment in public transport could create 22,000 direct and 416,000 direct/indirect jobs in Scotland's …

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government welcomes this report and recognises that reaching our target of a 20% reduction in car km by 2030 will require a broad combination of interventions, including infrastructure, incentives and disincentives. I further refer the member to…

23 Apr 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of any climate implications of redefining the definition of deep peat from 40cm to 30cm in relation to the muirburn licensing provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There is no clear scientific consensus relating to muirburn on peatlands. A 2022 report by NatureScot has shown that there is limited and unclear evidence on the impact of muirburn on the total carbon budget. Therefore no specific assessment has been made o…

19 Apr 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on what progress it has made towards delivering the Bute House Agreement commitment to ensure that every child has access to mental health and wellbeing support, including counselling services, in primary school.

11 Apr 2023 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is supporting communities and local authorities to strengthen local bus networks across Scotland.

23 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations in the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission Report on the Welfare of Beavers in Scotland.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) Report on the Welfare of Beavers in Scotland made a number of recommendations including:The urgent need for comprehensive guidance for landowners etc for non-lethal control which does not require licensing;No lice…

21 Mar 2023 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s recommendation that no further new greyhound tracks be permitted in Scotland. 

1 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13240 by Mairi McAllan on 5 January 2023, what consideration it has given to alternative sewage treatment options to UV treatment, outside of bathing seasons.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Wastewater Treatment Works provide appropriate treatment to sewage year round. The methods used to treat sewage is a matter for Scottish Water to consider to ensure regulatory standards are met in an efficient manner. As noted previously, UV treatment is ener…

1 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any recipients of the Network Support Grant Plus have been penalised for not meeting the grant's terms and conditions regarding bus service provision.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: To date, no operator has been penalised for not meeting the terms and conditions of the Network Support Grant Plus. All operators who claim Network Support Grant Plus must sign up to specific conditions and terms set out, or will have no entitlement to the …

1 Mar 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £126 million budgeted for support for active travel in the Scottish Budget 2022-23 has been spent, and how much of it has been allocated across public bodies.

Answer · Patrick Harvie: The Scottish Government’s budget of £126m is available to grant recipients to draw down until the end of March 2023. This means that there is still time for spend to be incurred, including grant funding to our delivery partners which we may need to accrue for…

24 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the announced £170 million for multi-disciplinary teams in NHS Scotland will be dedicated towards supporting people living with myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Answer · Humza Yousaf: We are providing £170m to support the delivery of extended multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) making it easier for patients to see the right person, at the right time, in GP practices and the community. Whilst the fund does not have direct provision to support l…

22 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs are being created by the Deposit Return Scheme, and where these jobs will be located.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Circularity Scotland is delivering major inward investment to Scotland and protecting and creating jobs in recycling and logistics. Circularity Scotland has recently announced 140 new jobs for the scheme at a recycling plant in Motherwell, 70 jobs have alread…

21 Feb 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking, in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service, NHS boards and others, to support the health and wellbeing of people in prison and prevent deaths by suicide.

20 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its independent report on the future prospects for the North Sea, as referenced in the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, including (a) the pathway for oil and gas production projected for the basin, (b) Scotland’s energy requirements, (c) alignment of S…

Answer · Michael Matheson: The analysis was published on 3 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis/ . This publication is an independent report, reviewed by an independent panel, which provides a significant volume…

15 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards delivering the National Dashcam Safety Portal initiative, led by Police Scotland with financial support from the Road Safety Framework Fund.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government recognise the significance of National Dashcam Safety Portal initiative and its potential positive impact on road user behaviour and therefore the road safety outcomes for communities across Scotland. I met with Police Scotland on 9 F…

15 Feb 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards achieving its commitment to "work with the private sector to deliver £60 million of public and private investment to double the size of the public charging network to at least 6,000 electric vehicle charging points over the next 4 years", as announced …

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has invested over £65 million in the ChargePlace Scotland Network that now has over 2,400 publicly available electric vehicle charge points, meaning that Scotland already has by far the greatest number of charge points per head of popu…

14 Feb 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made toward increasing the availability of longer-term housing options for displaced people from Ukraine using the £50 million Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund.

6 Feb 2023 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on whether oil and gas companies are investing enough of their profits to support a just transition in Scotland.

2 Feb 2023 · Inspired Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity extending Dr Colin Church’s position as chair of the independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy, following his first report, Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? Independent Review of the R…

Answer · Lorna Slater: Dr Colin Church submitted his Second Report on the Decarbonisation of Residual Waste Infrastructure in Scotland to Scottish Ministers on 16 December and we have published the Report today. The Report is available at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805254942 …

31 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on developing an open data service for bus travel similar to the Bus Open Data Service in England.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing information of public transport to improve, awareness, accessibility and support modal shift. That is why the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 includes provisions to set regulations with regards to the sharing of…

26 Jan 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many sites Forestry and Land Scotland has identified as suitable for the translocation of beavers, and by what date it anticipates that beavers will have been successfully translocated to these sites.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) have identified eight sites on Scotland’s national forests and land where within range translocations of beavers are considered to be ecologically feasible. We anticipate beavers to be moved to these sites after the kit depend…