 The next item of business is portfolio questions. I will try to get as many people in as possible in each part of the 40-minute, 20-minute session so that people could be aware of quite succinct questions and answers so that all their colleagues can get an opportunity here. Question number one on rural economy and connectivity is Alex Rowley. Presiding Officer, to ask the Scottish Government what support it gives for skills development in the rural economy. Fergus Ewing. The Scottish Government supports skills development in rural areas through developing Scotland's young workforce programme through modern apprenticeships, schools, colleges and universities. That activity provides opportunities for people living in rural Scotland to develop their skills and gain qualifications, including in traditional rural industries such as farming, forestry and land use. We committed in the programme for government to developing a rural skills action plan, and we will publish that in due course. Alex Rowley. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I recently had the pleasure of meeting young people who had completed a shared forestry apprenticeship scheme, delivered by Rural Skills Scotland, a not-for-profit sharing organisation based in Lochgelley. The land-based sector needs an injection of new and young talent to keep up with the growing demand for skills. However, the sector comprises mainly of small and micro businesses, and many of them find it difficult to employ apprentices through the existing model. Would the minister join me in congratulating Rural Skills Scotland for this piece of innovative work, and will he take the time to look at this successful project in order to provide sustainable mechanisms for the future delivery of apprentices in this sector? Fergus Ewing. Yes, I think that Mr Rowley makes a very fair point. I am pleased that he has raised the scheme. It is a good scheme. He did anticipate that he would raise it and looked into it. Through Forestry Commission Scotland, the Scottish Government provided £107,000 over the last two years towards the shared apprenticeship scheme. Six apprentices were employed by Rural Skills Scotland and placed with forestry enterprises, mostly in the public or third sector. Also, forest enterprise has subsequently provided eight young people with apprenticeships in the south of Scotland. I understand that there were more than a couple of hundred applications for that, namely quite a few who were unsuccessful. I certainly undertake, Mr Rowley, that I will look into those matters further. Good progress has been made, but more can be done. Short supplementary, please. Jamie Halcro Johnston Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I declare an interest as partner in the farming business of Jamie Halcro Johnston and Sons. I recently attended the national sheep association event and spoke with a young person who is looking at entering sheep farming as a profession and is facing a number of barriers to that. Those new entrants are vital to the sustainability of Scotland's rural economy. Can I ask the minister what update he can give to the Scottish Government's commitments to improve opportunities for new entrants and particularly what co-ordination there is with skills providers and rural businesses and communities to ensure that we are building rural skills in a way that meets the needs of those areas? Fagish Ewing Since 2015, grant schemes under the Scottish Rural Development programme have helped to kick start more than 250 new agricultural businesses with around £13 million of support, mainly to young farmers. In addition to that, we have set up farming opportunities for new entrants, such as the acronym that I devised, which seeks to maximise land opportunities for those seeking access to the first rung of the farming ladder by making available land from the public sector owned by local authorities, the Scottish Water Forestry Commission and, already, thanks to the good work of Henry Graham and others, we have created more than 50 new land opportunities through that initiative. Thirdly, we put in place a dedicated new entrance to farming programme under our farm advisory services, providing a network of support with advice and skills. However, there is more that we need to do. I acknowledge that. Mr Johnson's question is quite aposite, and I am very happy to work with him as we develop our plans further. To ask the Scottish Government what investment it has committed to transport infrastructure in central Scotland region. Hamza Yousaf. I continue to invest heavily in our transport infrastructure in central Scotland. Recent and on-going commitments include, for example, the £500 million that is spent on the MEM73-74 motorway improvement project, the EGIP rail project, SHOT's electrification, the refurbishment of Concardian bridge, continued investment in the canal network and continued investment in an active travel infrastructure through our community links and community links plus program. Mark Griffin. I thank the minister for that answer. The Twecker bridge over the Forth and Clyde canal is now out of commission, which means that my constituents who live in the Oconstarry marina can no longer travel west. The Twecker bridge might not be as grand as the Falkirk wheel, but it serves exactly the same purpose of opening the canal network to travel. I think that if the Falkirk wheel broke down, we would expect to see immediate action. When can my constituents expect to see the Twecker bridge being repaired and the central Scotland canal network, which successive Governments have committed millions of pounds to reopen on a permanent basis? Hamza Yousaf. I thank Mark Griffin for his question. It is an important issue that he is raising. Of course, just a couple of points to make. One is perhaps the obvious one, but it is worth reiterating. The reason for the closure is based on safety. Safety has to be absolutely paramount. When there are issues with the assets or failures of the assets, we cannot risk anybody's lives at all. Therefore, that action has been taken because of safety and safety being paramount. The Government may increase the budget for Scottish canals in the most recent budget. There are, at the moment, restricted hours of operation for the Bony bridge in Tweckirk. The last time that bridge was opened, around half a dozen people took advantage of that. To give the member some reassurance, the Scottish canals are continuing work at the moment to identify any potential solutions to restore full operation of the bridges that he mentions. I will ask Mark Griffin to keep up the date if he has not met with any of the Scottish canals. Recently, I will make sure that we facilitate that meeting. It is worth saying that the vast overwhelming majority of users of the canal are still used by foot and by cycling and on active travel, and that will continue to be the case. However, I will notwithstanding that, I will make sure that Mark Griffin is kept up to date. We are getting a bit laborious in the questions and answers here. We are only at question 3, which is Jamie Halcro Johnston. To ask the Scottish Government what assessments it has conducted of passenger air links to Scotland's island communities. Following a discussion at the island transport forum, I assigned Hyal the task of looking at what air services in the islands and islands could and should look like in the future. Hyal will be carrying out a consultation shortly, seeking views on what the strategy should look like over the coming period. Given the level of dependence on a single operator in the island air routes and the effect that that has on competition, has the minister had any discussions with any other potential providers of services on those routes? Will he agree that competition would have the benefit on the level of service provided? It is interesting that the member will know that FlyB entered that market and the direct competition to Loganair. The market share of people using air services increased, but that no doubt came at an impact to Loganair and FlyB, who eventually ended up pulling out. From a Scottish Government's perspective, we are the more air services, the more connections to our islands, the better. Therefore, if there is an approach, certainly if it comes through Jamie Halcro Johnston, if it comes to me direct, I will continue to be open-minded about that. The main thing is that the sustainability of air services and connectivity to islands is first and foremost in my mind. A quick supplementary question from Liam McArthur. I welcome the minister's confirmation of the revelation that Hyal is going to engage in a prior consultation. In relation to internal air services within Orkney, he may be aware of capacity issues on what are lifelines to those small island communities. Will he commit to engaging with Orkney Islands Council about how that might be addressed as part of the overall discussion around lifeline, airline and ferry connections between the small isles in Orkney? I do not know if that is the opening salvo of another budget discussion around negotiations from those. I do not know if they were formally lived, but they are part of the group that voted in the budget to support the Scottish Government's budget on internal ferries. I will take up that discussion in my next conversation with Orkney Islands Council. It is worth saying on his point on consultation, although he laughed in scoffed, that Hyal did announce just yesterday—it was, possibly, the day before—that it will be extending its exemptions based on the consultation and the passenger surveys that it has had. That includes those that are travelling from other islands and that may be affected by those car parking charges. Last year, the number of passengers using Hyal airports was up 15.4 per cent. Does the minister agree that we should be doing all that we can to ensure that businesses, residents and tourists can continue to benefit from those lifeline services to the highlands and islands? The emphasis is not lost, and Gail Ross is right to emphasise that the importance of our highland and island airports. That is why, for example, sustainability of air services is so vital and so important. The car parking charges are being brought in to ensure that air services are sustainable for the future, whether it is for our island communities or our island communities. Question 4. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on farming of Brexit. Fergus Ewing. Numerous studies confirm the Scottish Government's position that Brexit is a major threat to farming in Scotland. Those include the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute, which is funded jointly by the UK Government and devolved administrations, SRUC, Quality Meet Scotland and the AHDB. All of those show that failure to replicate the current trade arrangements with the EU means that Brexit will have a detrimental impact on farmers and sheep farmers in particular. Farm incomes could be seriously affected due to Scotland's ability to export being reduced and the possibility of a reduced budget from the UK Government for farm support. In addition, businesses are already reporting problems with workforce availability. Colin Beattie. Can the cabinet secretary update Parliament as to what progress has been made on the review of convergence funding that was promised by the UK Rural Secretary, Michael Gove, last year? Fergus Ewing. Sadly, although Mr Gove did promise that there would be a review, a promise that was originally made incidentally by Owen Kelly in 2013-14, but broken by successive ministers until then, in that period, but made by the UK Government about five years ago. Eventually, Mr Gove decided that he would get around to implementing the pledge last November, and he promised to have it. Indeed, a Tory MP claimed credit for it, but, since then, Mr Gove has said that matters rest with the Treasury. As I have explained to him when I met Mr Cunningham, I explained that this is a very serious matter indeed. It is money that the EU intended to go to Scottish farmers and Scottish farmers alone because only Scottish farmers qualified for the particular convergence funding. Therefore, my recommendation to Mr Gove is that he implement his promise without further delay that he persuaded the Chancellor, Mr Hammons, to bring it up to the top of his entry and that we get on with this review, which was promised so many years ago and is still not being implemented by the UK Government. I very much share the cabinet secretary's frustration over the lack of progress in the review, but does he agree that one of the frustrations of Scotland's farmers is what he perceives as a lack of detail from the Scottish Government on their vision for the future of agricultural support post Brexit? Organisations such as the NFU and the Scottish Environment Link are leading the way, exploring alternatives to CAP and setting out clear principles behind what that support should look like. Can the cabinet secretary say that when he will do the same and set out clearly the Scottish Government's vision and views on what post-Brexit support should look like in Scotland? I do not accept that. The reasons I do not accept that are twofold. First of all, we have repeatedly sought out meetings with Mr Gove and Mr Eust as clarity about what precisely the powers of the Parliament will be. We have no absolute clarity over that. Secondly, about funding post-Brexit and we absolutely know nothing about that. Can any member tell me any business plan—I have been in business—which has no figures in it? It is ludicrous to suggest that anybody could come up with a detailed plan as long as the UK Government completely failed to ob-temper the promises that they made during the Brexit referendum when they said that funding would be at least matched. No wonder that people voted for Brexit when they were told that they were going to get the possibility of more money and now we know nothing whatsoever. The second reason why I disagree with Mr Smith is that we expect a report from the agricultural champions on the future of agriculture and very shortly a consultation document from the National Council of Rural Advisers with its final report in September. That report, incidentally, is a report that was commissioned from the council that was set up directly in response to Parliament's wishes. We are doing exactly as the Parliament has requested. John Scott will have a quick supplementary question and a quick answer, please. I am notwithstanding the cabinet secretary's answer to Mr Smith, can he tell the Parliament today when the Scottish Government will outline their plans for future support for agriculture and what his priorities might be in that regard, declaring an interest? As soon as the UK Government says what the funding will be, it is possible to produce a plan. I do not know if—I used to run a business and you had figures of estimated income and expenditure. There are no figures at all post-Brexit from the UK Government, not one. However, you and your party promised that people would be better off. We shall shortly see the publication of the agricultural champions proposals that are for independent experts. Instead of the opposition carping and making political points, they would be well advised to study carefully the recommendations from our agricultural champions, which we expect to be published shortly. Question 5, Joan McAlpine. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is giving to the food and drink industry in the south of Scotland. Fergus Ewing. Presiding Officer, direct investment and support to the food and drink sector in Scotland from the public sector equates to approximately £100 million per annum across a range of areas, including skills, education, research, industry development, standards and capital investment. This funding is provided on a national basis and is available to companies throughout the south of Scotland region. Joan McAlpine. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Many of the food and drink companies in south Scotland are micro-businesses and need a local approach. Can the cabinet secretary explain when Connect local will hold a workshop in Dumfries and Galloway and what monitoring will be put in place to ensure geographical parity of awards from the new regional food fund? Fergus Ewing. Yes, the member is correct to point to Connect local and the work that they do. The funding of three million pounds from the Scottish Government enables them to provide in the four-year period to 2020 an advisory service. My understanding is that it is expected that there will be a local event in response to a question of Collect local. I can write to her regarding the details and the timescale of that. I conclude by saying that Dumfries and Galloway has outstanding reputation and excellence in the production of high-quality food and drink. I work closely with the new south of Scotland vehicle, led by Professor Russell Griggs and Rob Dixon. I think that there are enormous opportunities for those businesses to be even more successful. With Young's expected to announce bad news at Pinnies later today, can the cabinet secretary set out for me what support will be available to the workforce? Will he reaffirm that the Scottish Government remains 100 per cent committed to ensuring a new operator continues production on that site? Fergus Ewing As the member knows, my colleague Paul Wheelhouse is leading on this matter. It is extremely important to us that we get the best possible outcome. I have been involved in meetings and discussions there and then. We are absolutely determined to get the best possible outcome, as Mr Mundell knows. That remains unchanged and will continue to be the case. 7. George Adam To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making with the roll-out of fibre broadband, including ensuring that all new-built homes have access. Fergus Ewing The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband roll-out has passed its 95 per cent fibre coverage target. The independent commentator Think Broadband reports that superfast coverage of 30 megs and above now stands at 93.4 per cent in Scotland. New investment, gain share funding, will increase those figures even further through 2018. Beyond that, we are investing £600 million in the initial phase of R100, which will extend superfast access to every home and business in Scotland. George Adam I thank the cabinet secretary for his answer and I welcome this, particularly the benefit families and businesses in Paisley will have. Can the cabinet secretary advise what funding is being provided by the United Kingdom Government to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to all premises in Scotland, including those in Paisley, as it is, after all, a policy responsibility that is entirely reserved? Fergus Ewing Well, yes, the UK Government did contribute more than £400 million investment for the DSSB programme, and I acknowledge that less than the Scottish Public Sector contribution, but nonetheless a reasonable size of contribution. However, in respect of R100, the funding is £600 million for the whole of Scotland, and it is the biggest funding of any single broadband project ever in the UK. I am very sad to say that the UK Government is contributing of that £21 million. We are contributing £579 million, and the UK Government is putting in £21 million—3 per cent. I think that that is a disgrace, and what I do not understand is why, when the Scottish Tories say that they are standing up for Scotland, not one of them has criticised the pathetic contribution of £21 million. Not one of them here or in Westminster has had the guts to say that this is the reserve function and that we should be making our fair contribution. I think that that is truly sad and pathetic, but we are seeking to obtain a proper commensurate contribution from the UK Government, and obviously we will not let this matter rest. That concludes questions on the rural economy and connectivity, and we will now move on to portfolio questions on environment, climate change and land reform. I will give just a moment or so for people to get in their places. We come to question number one, Anas Sarwar. To ask the Scottish Government how it will meet its carbon emission targets and lower air pollution in Glasgow. Our climate change plan sets out the actions needed to continue to drive down Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions. Many of those will have additional positive impacts, such as improvements in local air quality. For example, the plan includes the introduction of low emission zones to Scotland's four largest cities. The first of which, of course, will be Glasgow by the end of this year. The Scottish Government is also working closely with Glasgow City Council as it implements its measures containing the council's air quality action plan. It is providing practical and financial assistance to both monitor air quality and support the delivery of measures. On top of that, of course, we are looking to see how we can move more freight from road to rail, increase electric vehicle uptake and, of course, continue to invest in our public transport in Glasgow and wider Scotland to help to reduce our carbon emissions. We all agree that carbon emissions need to fall. There are clear health benefits, as well as climate change considerations. Before London introduced the congestion charge, huge investment was made to deliver and improve public transport and active transport and active travel opportunities. Can the minister outline what additional transformative investment will be made in public transport and active travel opportunities in Glasgow before any charging is introduced? There is not a charging scheme as such, although I should say that it was Labour councillor, Matt Kerr, who brought forward an amendment to the recent city administration proposals, which would introduce congestion charging. I would be wary of that, and we will have conversations in and around that, of course. I would say that he is absolutely right that investment in public transport is absolutely vital to go hand in hand. It is not either or, I think, here. We will continue to invest in Egypt, which was the faster journey times between Glasgow and Edinburgh. We will continue to invest in new rolling stock, which will, of course, attract more people to our railways. On other investment, if he is in the south side of Glasgow and Victoria road, he will see the south city way that we are investing in for better active travel between the south of the city and, indeed, into the city centre and many other projects that are active travel as well. However, I would like to emphasise that it is not either or that we have to invest in, of course, the low-emission zone, which is pioneering in Scotland, and then also invest in a public transport network as well. If we are going to achieve the targets that the minister has spoken about, then surely when there is money to spend on investing in the built environment, it needs to be directly achieving a reduction in the volume of polluting transport and making it safer and easier to use active travel. Like the standard of bike lanes that the minister just praised on Victoria road in the south side, it would not be a missed opportunity if Glasgow City Council continued with its plans for buyers' road, one of the most polluted parts of the city, without including mitigating measures to reduce through traffic and proper, safe, physically separated cycle space so that people can cycle on that busy road without being in danger constantly from the volume of traffic there. I say when it comes to particular schemes, there is, of course, the local authority's decision to take those ones forward. I am sure that, again, he can engage directly with Glasgow City Council. I think that he will agree with me, though, that the leadership being shown by Anna Richardson councillor and Anna Richardson from City Council and indeed officials like George Gillespie and indeed others, there is a real step change and a cultural shift from Glasgow City Council recently with the new administration into more active travel. We can see that with their projects that they have committed to in both community links and community links plus. On the buyers' road scheme, he would do best to take that up directly with Glasgow City Council. To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to farmers to prevent riverbank erosion. The rural payments agri environment and climate change scheme contains a number of funding measures aimed at the restoration and protection of riverbanks. Oliver Mundell. I thank the minister for that answer. There are a number of constituents across my Dumfrieshire constituency who are struggling to access funds that are urgently needed following severe weather over the winter. There are banks that have broken and huge quantities of land are disappearing. Is there anything that she can do to look into that and accelerate payments to those who need it most? Roseanna Cunningham. We are aware that there are some customers who are experiencing difficulties at the moment in submitting applications for various IX options. We have identified the applications that are currently in draft. I do not know if those are the ones that he is discussing today. Will, for those cases, particularly allow the submission of late applications after 31 May? We understand that that is likely to affect around 20 applicants, and I would be happy for the member to bring to me the names of individual constituents to see if that marries up with the information that I am being told. We will see if we can help to put things on to a better queue. Supplementary from Alex Rowley. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As the Cabinet Secretary knows, as well as erosion pollution is also a major issue for our rivers. Inmure Dean run off from a farmer spreading industrial waste has created an environmental incident with polluted water and an extreme noxious smell for the residents of Dumfemlen. A smell so bad that it was making people physically sick. What assurances can the Government give me that its agencies have the powers to stop people when they deliberately damage the environment around them by dumping or spreading pollutants? Broadly related, but if the Cabinet Secretary is content to answer— As it happens, Presiding Officer, the member was raising some related issues at the committee that he is a member of on Tuesday morning, so I am conscious of his concerns around the way some issues are being handled. If he cares to write with detail about the incident to which he is referring, I will be only happy to investigate. Question 3, David Stewart. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to bring forward a clean air bill. We are continuing to make good progress in delivering the actions set out in our Clean Air for Scotland strategy, including the establishment of Scotland's first low emission zone in Glasgow by the end of this year and in Aberdeen Dundee in Edinburgh by 2020. We have committed to a full review of Clean Air for Scotland by 2020. Any requirements for further policy or legislative changes will be considered as part of that process. David Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It has been a quarter of a century since the Clean Air Act was passed. Is it not time for a new Clean Air Act that adopts the World Health Organization's principles on air quality guidelines? For example, research from the British Heart Foundation at the University of Edinburgh has shown that diesel exhaust produced tiny nanoparticles that can injure blood vessels and contribute to cardiovascular disease. Will the cabinet secretary provide an update on the activity that the Scottish Government has undertaken to reduce air pollution and minimise exposure to harmful diesel fumes? I have just indicated that we are in fact undertaking a review of our Clean Air for Scotland strategy, which was only published in November 2015. I think that a review as quickly as that indicates the urgency with which we understand that this is being taken. Once that review has been undertaken, we will look very carefully at that. If there are legislative changes required as part of that, we will think very carefully about that. However, I just say that Scotland is leading the way on delivering Clean Air, and we have already adopted several of the proposals that are in DEPHRA's current draft strategy. I do not think that we want to allow an impression to develop that somehow we are lagging behind. In 2016, we were in fact the first country in Europe to adopt the World Health Organization's guideline value for fine particulate matter. I think that that is something that the UK Government is only beginning to look at. A short supplementary please from Kenneth Gibson. Given that, according to Cancer UK, cigarette smoking was responsible for 5,736 people being diagnosed with cancer compared to 288 cases due to other forms of air pollution, will new clean air policy include action to further reduce cigarette smoking and its deadly impact on Scotland's health? Legislation on smoking and enclosed public spaces is already enforced. The Parliament is further legislated for smoking in cars. The Government has also legislated to bring in no smoking areas around hospital buildings, and many local authorities already have restrictions on smoking around play areas for children in parks. Our forthcoming tobacco action plan also includes proposals for restricting smoking in other places, such as in communal stairwells. We have no proposals to include smoking at the moment in any clean air legislation that might emerge from the review that I have just mentioned in my earlier answer. Question 4 is from Kenneth Gibson. Kenneth Gibson indeed. To ask the Scottish Government what the environmental impact is of using wholly recycled retread lorry tyres compared with new ones. The reuse of tyres that are retreaded to the required British standards of quality and safety clearly has a positive environmental impact by extending the life of the original product, decreasing the amount of used tyres being sent for disposal and reducing the amount of new tyres required for the market. That fits in with our circular economy strategy making things last, which encourages materials to be kept in high value use for as long as possible and thereby minimising the need for the use of virgin material. Kenneth Gibson. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Every wholly recycled retread lorry tyre saves 85 litres of oil. Such tyres also last up to 150 per cent longer, which is no doubt why at least 15 Scottish local authorities use them. Will the cabinet secretary encourage other local authorities, the wider public sector and indeed the private sector, to do likewise, given that tyres are not only more friendly to the environment but retreaded in Scotland, sustaining Scottish jobs, whereas new tyres are wholly imported? Roseanna Cunningham. Indeed, the benefits are considerable. The Scottish Government supports all forms of reuse and remanufacture, particularly when Scottish business and economy is benefiting. Scottish waste legislation is underpinned by the waste hierarchy, and the high-quality reuse of materials is key to its application. Although the important thing is that all retreads reach the required standards, I would certainly encourage all stakeholders who use tyres to consider their merits and, more generally, how a more circular approach can be good for the environment and for business. Bill Kidd. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I should be William Kidd. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a further update on progress in developing the low-emission zone in Glasgow. Roseanna Cunningham. Nope, that should be coming up. Sorry, the look of shock on the cabinet secretary's face. How was I used to have? I can see how you can get us confused. Glasgow City Council published an update report on 20 March in relation to progress with developing the Glasgow low-emission zone with a further update that is expected to be published in June. Bill Kidd. I thank the minister for that reply. Emissions and fumes from traffic affect everyone and need to be tackled, obviously. Of course, those on lower incomes are not only most affected by pollution but also by any potential fare increases. Can the minister say how grants to bus companies for retrofitting can help to avoid fare rises? He is absolutely right that we are committed to helping to fund retrofitting or the mission abatement measures for bus operators. We are also giving substantial funding towards the low-emission zones across the four cities. Therefore, I would see no reason to use the low-emission zone as any excuse to raise fares at all. Of course, the last time there were fare rises in Glasgow, I took that issue up directly with the first Glasgow. There is no reason why the implementation of the low-emission zone, which has a lead in time and is phased over a number of years, should give way to fare rises. The minister will be aware of the friends of the earth reports that have warned of the significant possibility of ozone events across Scotland this week. With that in mind, what arrangements does his Government have in place to protect vulnerable people with pre-existing lung conditions from illness, bought about by the low-air quality and ozone events such as this, if they occur in Scotland? Forgive me, I will have a look at the friends of the earth report that she refers to. The Government is taking a range of measures that the cabinet secretary has outlined in the most ambitious plans that we have for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Transport has to play a really key part in that. In fact, we are. Transport is not a good thing at all. Of course, it is the largest emitter of emissions at the moment. Transport has to be a key part of that. Low-emission zones act of travel, uptake of electric vehicles, and of course we have ambitious targets on all of those, plus more. Clearly, there is a cross-government responsibility here, and I intend that the Minister for Transport to play my part in that. To ask the Scottish Government how its environmental policy and its climate change commitments are informed by active travel. Just as my previous answer, the act of travel and building an active nation is very much at the heart of the administration's thinking when it comes to our climate change plans. Indeed, commitments are double the act of travel budget, as he knows from £40 million to £80 million. That funding is providing cycling and walking infrastructure across the country, segregated infrastructure, for example, in towns and cities, and greater access to bikes, I hope, including electric bikes as well. Education and training programmes for adults and children learning to cycle and making our towns and cities generally safer, friendlier but also greener places to live and to work. Brian Whittle I thank the minister for that answer and welcome the projects that he is doing. I point out that there are some projects where I think that there has been missed opportunities. For example, in the Queen Elizabeth hospital, there is a lack of cycle racks, for example, bike racks. There are some major infrastructure projects being designed without cycle routes and capacity on rail carriages for bikes. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary can impress on his colleagues in other portfolios that active travel considerations need to be paramount if environmental targets are going to be met. Humza Yousaf My point is a fair one. When it comes to projects on the ground in various local authority areas, we have more than doubled the community links project. That is the project that helps to build some of those infrastructure projects that he refers to, from £15 million to £36 million. The first round of that will be announced shortly, but there will be some money for round 2 and subsequent round, so I would encourage him to speak to partners where he thinks they can make the benefit of that very important funding. In terms of cross-government working, there is very good and collaborative cross-government working on that agenda. For example, I meet on a regular occasion with the public health minister with Aileen Campbell to talk about our commitment around active nation commissioners, so there is good cross-government working. The very last point that I would make is that, although he welcomes the doubling of the budget from £40 million to £80 million, it would have been nice to have the Conservative support for that budget, of course, and the increase in that budget. Short supplementary from Stuart McMillan. Stuart McMillan I thank the minister for his comments a few moments ago, but what further actions can the Scottish Government undertake to encourage people to change their behaviour? Can this particular piece of work take place with some type of campaign, or further work with local authorities? Hamza Yousaf I think that behavioural change is hugely important. One is that, if we look at our younger generation—I know that Mike Rumbles has a particular interest in that, too—we offer as many young people the opportunity to get psychotraining in their school, but also, hopefully, on-the-road practical training as well, which is hugely important. Is then looking at those who perhaps have not had the confidence to cycle previously, who might have had some sort of mobility issues, even disabilities or, indeed, other chronic health conditions. I think that that is where, perhaps, the exciting opportunity around e-bikes might well present themselves. I am looking very hard at how we can use some of that doubled active travel budget to not only affect behaviour change, which is important, but also make cycling and active travel more accessible for more people and as many people as possible. We were a little late starting this section of portfolio questions, so question number eight, Jeremy Balfour. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce plastic pollution in the furth of forth. Presiding Officer, you would probably disapprove of me embarking on a very long list of the things that the Government is doing, but within our marine litter strategy, many policies are already under way to target the particular issues faced in the furth of forth, namely sewage-related debris and pre-production plastic pellets, also known as nerddles. Scottish Water is currently investigating the problem of litter entering the estuary area through sewage systems. It will report this summer and will identify solutions. Obviously, two of the plastics are being dealt with, microbeads and plastic stem cotton buds. With regard to nerddles, we do support the plastic industries operation clean sweep scheme, which encourages responsible handling of pre-production plastics, however more needs to be done. Jeremy Balfour. Can I thank the cabinet secretary for her answer? Surveys over the years across the furth of forth have found anything between 200,000 to more than 2 million plastic nerddles. People have been keen to clean up in Malorian beaches and last autumn 450,000 nerddles were removed from the shore with close to bonus by volunteers. Can I ask the Scottish Government if it would consider localised plans for the worst plastic policing hotspots? I would, in fact, consider anything that I thought would actually help this difficulty. Nerddles are a major problem. I have been following some of the local activity on social media, and I think that it is one of those things, however, that needs to be dealt with across countries. It is a global problem. Nerddles are an absolutely essential part of the production of plastics, and the difficulty is managing them at source, because we cannot produce plastic items without them. One way we can help, of course, is to reduce that reliance on plastic in the first place. The last supplementary decision to Ivan McKee. The Sunnyside ocean defenders are doing amazing and inspiring work across Scotland. They are based in Glasgow Proven, a constituency that is not noted for having a coastline. Does the cabinet secretary agree that as valuable activity is tangible proof that this is an issue that affects everyone, not just those with a shoreline? It is fair to say that the children of Sunnyside primary have worked tremendously hard to highlight the problem of single-use plastics. They have supported us in introducing our deposit return scheme with the Have You Got the Bottle campaign, and they are now promoting the message of Nesdra or Taw. Despite being landlocked, they are working very hard with the Marine Conservation Society to do a variety of beach litter surveys at Prestwick South, and they are involved in cleanser air and arycar, which Jackie Baillie might be interested in. They clearly show that the issue concerns us all regardless of age, whether on the coast or inland, and I applaud all their efforts and the efforts of children the length and breadth of Scotland concerned about the impact of plastic on both land and sea. That concludes portfolio questions, and we will now move on to the next item of business.