Parliamentary questions

Graham Simpson

867 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons it has learned from the launch of Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) enforcement, and how it plans to share these with Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen ahead of their LEZ launches in 2024.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) was the first of its kind in Scotland and a landmark in tackling harmful air pollution, and protecting public health in this country. Glasgow’s pioneering LEZ is also informing the delivery of similar schemes in Aberdeen, Dun…

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the paper, The governance of smart mobility, outlining concerns regarding unregulated commercial shared-mobility transport services, what legislation it is considering to mitigate the externalised costs described in the paper.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The paper referred to in the question, published in 2018, lists a number of externalised costs including climate change, air quality, congestion, social exclusion and inequity. In the National Transport Strategy, published in 2020, Transport Scotland recognis…

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, as part of setting a national carbon budget, whether it has discussed or reviewed what a "vehicle kilometres travelled" budget might look like for Scotland and how this might be implemented.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In line with international reporting practice and independent advice from the UK Climate Change Committee, Scotland’s statutory climate change targets are set on the basis of long-term reductions in total net territorial emissions, and also include a share of…

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23449 by Mairi McAllan on 12 December 2023, what its position is on whether Fuel Duty and Vehicle Excise Duty would need to increase in order for it to achieve its target of a 20% reduction in vehicle km driven by 2030.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: As outlined in the answer to S6W-23449, fuel duty and vehicle excise duty are wholly reserved to the UK Government. The UK government have acknowledged in their Net Zero Review that revenues from existing motoring taxes will decline sharply this decade as we …

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the roll-out of the recommendations by the Electricity Networks Commissioner will have implications for (a) regional spatial strategies, (b) local development plans and (c) local place plans in Scotland, and, if it will, what communication it will have with local authorities to e…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We are supportive of the strategic approaches for the co-ordination, design and delivery of electricity transmission infrastructure recommended in the Electricity Network Commissioner’s Report and are currently engaging with the UK Government on plans for the…

13 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23449 by Mairi McAllan on 12 December 2023, what information it is gathering to inform the transport demand management options described, and how it is gathering it.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is taking a systematic approach to gathering information on transport demand management options. This includes reviewing relevant reports and evidence, tracking developments across the UK and abroad, and commissioning our own research …

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities currently operate Demand Responsive Travel schemes, and how it monitors the success rate of any such schemes.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: We do not hold information on which local authorities operate Demand Responsive Travel Schemes or how they monitor the success of such schemes. The provision of local authority Demand Responsive Transport schemes is a matter for individual local authorities t…

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the bus industry receiving funding of £329 million from local and central government in 2021-22, what its response is to the Scottish Transport Statistics 2022, which show that, aside from the COVID-19 pandemic years, a historic low of 234 million journeys were made by bus i…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Bus travel in Scotland and the UK was profoundly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with emergency funding to support the industry continuing in 2021-22. Although lockdown measures had eased, restrictions on travel and daily activity remained in Scotland for …

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it (a) monitors passenger numbers on local bus services and (b) assesses whether any local bus service routes are at risk due to low passenger numbers, particularly in light of any changes in passenger numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Department for Transport publishes data and statistics about the local bus sector in Great Britain, which includes passenger journey numbers. This is used in the Scottish Transport Statistics publication, and the Scottish Government currently has no plans…

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to systematically monitor bus ticket prices.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Department for Transport publish a bus fares index for each region within the UK, which tracks changes in ticket prices. This is used in the Scottish Transport Statistics publication, and the Scottish Government currently has no plans for further monitori…

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it has considered the mobility needs of older people in its design of low traffic neighbourhoods and low traffic measures, including modal filters such as (a) bollards, (b) bus gates and (c) one-way streets.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is not responsible for the design of low traffic neighbourhoods; local authorities are responsible for management and maintenance of local roads and paths in their area under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Low traffic neighbour…

12 Dec 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring the progress regarding the introduction of 20-minute neighbourhoods across Scotland.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) policy delivery is at an early stage and early action is focusing on how policy is being interpreted and used in decision making. Scottish Government is developing a monitoring framework to support the delivery of NPF4. Th…

5 Dec 2023 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the first meeting of the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board, what progress has been made towards introducing a national smart ticketing scheme.

29 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what expressions of interest there have been from local authorities or transport authorities to utilise bus franchising powers under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government has now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (the 2019 Act) and encourages all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them, to ensure that everyone has accessible p…

29 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation there has been of the CAVForth project, and how any lessons learned from any such evaluation will be cascaded across Scotland’s transport authorities.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Transport Scotland's involvement in Project CAVForth demonstrates the Scottish Government's belief that a modern transport system is fundamental to sustainable and inclusive economic growth and has the potential to deliver economic and societal benefits. Tra…

29 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to understand any impact of future private technology mobility solutions on the viability of local authority bus franchise arrangements, and whether any legislative safeguards are required.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Prior to the introduction of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) all relevant impact assessments were conducted, and no significant issues were identified as part of this process. All the bus powers in the 2019 Act, including franchising, are d…

29 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to explore the potential for a national roll-out of a fully digitised real-time ride-share scheme.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Digitised ride-share schemes were included in some of the projects successful in obtaining grants from our £2M Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Investment Fund, which aims to test the viability of one-stop digital journey planning, booking and payment services fo…

29 Nov 2023 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what transport demand management systems it is considering for national roll-out.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: As outlined in the draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km by 2030, published in January 2022, the Scottish Government intends to publish a demand management framework by 2025, which will set out our approach to transport demand management opti…