 Rwy'n rwy'n cael ei dweud i ddechrau'n mynd, ond sefydlu gwaith o ddarm weeklyddol yn eu cyflog o'i ddwylo a llwrs o'r Llyfridog. Os y peithio, mae'n mynd i ti'r fitfacol o ddarm 3443 o ddefnyddiant i George Adam heddiw yn viad Sir, ac ond yn ynddo i ddiddoriadau. Rwy'n ddych chi'n gwagol o ddarm o'i ddarm poetryn. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I'm just as well as here moved. Thank you Minister. Excuse me. No member has asked to speak on the motion, therefore, the question is the motion 3443 be agreed. Are we all agreed? Yes. The motion is, therefore, agreed. The next item of business is portfolio questions, and at question number 1 I call Mark Ruskell. Rwy'n cyfnodd i wneud gynyddu cwrsio'i sgolwyr ddymai ar frefoddiadau a chair mae angen ond rhesu i gweithio'r pwyd-19 lef 국wraedd cyd-deithasol oeddktorau sylwyr sg scrapu'r Druffin yr infaucianol meidch White Welsh yn iawn â g wedi'i nieu'n amtu裡wg sg Kelth Mh Rai. Mae'n fawr o'r amddai beryddiau yn 2008, wydd參 Yamwr Sёт-Gwaithchat i'r bobl gravellaad ydwy Go ang身om a dd Tryμη N作. A gyda'r genchfa Le fogom i'r newsil, hon, a ddonw'r new�로 i hiha hefyd gyda sex youth beidniad a'u rhai yn y Mh Rai oedd a wladwg tryings nagu feelongrách hwwell a ch çıkario ni datbyn Felly, we are currently working to increase the number of countries that this applies to. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I am wondering though if he is aware of an issue where people who have received first and second doses of their vaccines have been unable to update their Scottish vaccination record to reflect that. They have been advised by vaccination helplines that their record could be updated by their GP but were then subsequently told that their GP has only received vaccination records but cannot update them. Their boosters, which they received in Scotland, are now showing as their first dose on the vaccination app. It seems to be a bit of a garbled cabinet secretary and I am wondering if he can look into this matter and ensure that any solutions to the glitches in the way that vaccination statuses are recorded and updated can be resolved and communicated clearly to the public. As I have indicated before, I answered a question from Mr Rennie and one from Ms Boyack in the last portfolio questions on fairly similar territory of difficulties of updating vaccination status. I invited Mr Rennie and Ms Boyack to advise me of the details and we are working on those particular issues. If Mr Ruskell would like to do so as well, I will happily try to address those issues. In a programme of this scale, there will undoubtedly be individual cases. The vaccine certification process has worked very well for the overwhelming majority and for a huge number of cases, but I accept that there may well be individual cases. If Mr Ruskell would like to give me more details, I will happily pursue those issues. From Monday, the Covid certification scheme ceased to be a legal requirement, but the app remains available to support businesses that wish to implement a voluntary scheme. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that, while it is right to lessen restrictions as we cautiously move forward, such voluntary certification schemes are a valuable tool in maintaining our vigilance to Covid? There is a need for us to remain constantly vigilant in relation to Covid, although we are in a much stronger position today than we were. There are obviously dangers and risks out there for us in the prevalence of the virus. The strategic framework that the First Minister set out last Tuesday sets out the type of baseline measures that we will have to have in place on an ongoing basis to maintain that vigilance. There will also be testing infrastructure required. However, a helpful suggestion that Siobhan Brown makes is that businesses may decide to voluntarily use the certification scheme and, if they wish to do so, the strategic framework encourages them to take that decision. Last week, the information commissioner's office said that it had warned the Scottish Government on NHS last year that there were serious privacy problems with the Covid status app, but not all those problems were fixed before it was launched. The ICO's deputy commissioner said on Friday that, when Governments brought in Covid status schemes across the UK last year, it was vital that they were upfront with people about how their information was being used. The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland have failed to do that with the NHS Scotland status app. We require both bodies to act now to give people clear information about what is happening with their data. If they do not, we will consider further regulatory action. Can the cabinet secretary give us assurance that they are acting as requested by the ICO? I gave that assurance on the Government's behalf at the end of last week. It is important to have this in its proper context. The ICO has asked the Government to redraft the privacy notice to present the information in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form. That is an entirely reasonable request. Of course, and Mr Lums will not be familiar with this, there is enormous complexity around the issues relating to GDPR legislation. It is important that that is set out clearly and simply. The Government will do so. We welcome the engagement with the information commissioner's office, but there has to be an acknowledgement that there is a huge amount of complexity involved in wrestling with many of those questions. The Government tries to present that information as clearly and transparently as possible can be. I want to thank the Deputy First Minister for helping out with my constituent's case last month, because the issue was resolved, despite repeated attempts from the constituent to resolve it. There seems to be a particular problem with communication between Scotland and Wales that does not exist between Scotland and England on that issue. Has he got to the bottom of what that problem is, and do you think that he is going to be able to resolve it? I breathe the science relief that Mr Rennie was able to say that the issue has been resolved. I feared that we were having a rematch of the last portfolio question time. I am glad that that has been resolved, and I am grateful to Mr Rennie for his engagement on that question. There are some more straightforward information sharing agreements in place with England, compared with Wales. We are trying to resolve those issues. There is no difficulty in working our way through them. It is just taking time. I assure Mr Rennie that there are specific issues in relation to those agreements that we need to resolve, and we are working to try to do that. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how its Covid recovery strategy is aiming to support the most vulnerable in Scotland's communities. The Covid recovery strategy is focused on bringing about a fairer future, particularly for those most affected during the pandemic. Our actions will increase financial security for low-income households, enhance the wellbeing of children and young people, and create good green jobs and fair work. We are working closely with our partners to deliver that strategy. Alongside the President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, I chair the Covid recovery strategy programme board. The group will oversee the ambitious transformation of public services. Further details are available on the Government's website. I thank the cabinet secretary for that helpful answer. The pandemic has exacerbated long-standing inequalities and brought hardships experienced by many into the forefront of the public consciousness. As we all know, demand for support from organisations such as CFINE, a community food initiative in the north-east, which offers assistance to disadvantaged, vulnerable and low-family incomes has drastically increased during the pandemic. The pandemic has shown what it is possible to do when we work collectively to achieve those goals. Does the cabinet secretary share my view that we should all resolve ourselves applying the same energy to tackling hunger, poverty and inequality, as we have to tackling Covid-19? It was very clear to anyone looking at the experience of the pandemic that the inequalities that existed prior to Covid were exacerbated during Covid. The Government is determined to address that factor, which is why the tackling of inequality, the addressing of hunger and the work to eliminate child poverty lies at the very heart of the Government's Covid recovery strategy. I very much agree with the point that was advanced by Audrey Nicholl and assure her of the Government's determination that we will use the aftermath of Covid and the implementation of the Covid recovery strategy to ensure that we make the maximum impact on tackling inequality and eliminating poverty within our society. The cabinet secretary will be aware that our children and young people are a group that has been particularly impacted by the pandemic. Given the communication needs of children and young people who have been exacerbated by Covid-19, can the cabinet secretary advise how the Scottish Government plans to incorporate the recommendations of the equity for all children's speech and language therapy services in Scotland report into its wider Covid recovery strategy? I am very sympathetic to those issues because one of the fundamental points that was clear to me during all of my interactions as education secretary was that communications difficulties for young people lay at the heart of so many of the challenges and issues that young people who were perhaps isolated within our society or who were not able to fulfil their potential as much as they should have been able to came down to communication difficulties. The early addressing of those communication difficulties is utterly fundamental to the life chances of those individuals. I am wholly supportive of the point that I am walking and putting forward. As I indicated in my answer to Audrey Nicholl, the Covid recovery strategy is designed to tackle fundamental inequalities and that inequality of access to services to overcome difficulties is one of those that we are determined to make sure is anchored at the heart of our strategy. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact on Scotland's Covid recovery strategy due to the UK Government's decision to end the legal requirement to self-isolate for people who have tested positive for Covid-19. In Scotland, self-isolation has always been set out in guidance for the general population. It is for the United Kingdom Government to decide how to tackle Covid in England. However, currently the Scottish Government will continue to ask those who test positive for Covid-19 to isolate for the recommended period and will continue to make self-isolation support payments available to those who are eligible whilst isolation remains in population-wide guidance. We will publish a detailed transition plan for test and protect in March, setting out our priorities in more detail. As with all Covid interventions, all decisions, including those on the future of test and protect, will be informed by the latest scientific and clinical advice, as well as careful consideration of the four harms. Colin Beattie I thank the cabinet secretary for his response. The Scottish Government's rightly plotted its own distinct course in navigating through this pandemic, but does the cabinet secretary share my concern that the end of self-isolation in England from 1 April could undermine the hard work and sacrifices that we have all put in to get us where we are now? As I indicated in my answer, it is up to the United Kingdom Government to decide self-isolation policy in England. The point that I would make in response to Mr Beattie's question is that we all have to proceed with a great deal of care. Obviously, the point of self-isolation is to try to break the circulation links of the virus. If we do not do that, if we do not do that effectively where the virus is still a very significant presence in our society, then we run the risk of cases increasing and the burdens on our national health service increasing as a consequence. The Scottish Government intends to proceed listening to clinical advice, listening to the epidemiological information and taking actions that we believe to be appropriate for Scotland and the application of guidance to continue self-isolation and the support arrangements is, in our view, appropriate at this time. Mr Beattie's question highlights again the fact that there was never any legal requirement in Scotland for people to self-isolate, except in the limited case of international travellers, yet nevertheless people have adhered to the rules by exercising personal responsibility. Does that not give us a model for the way forward where we should be relying upon people's personal responsibility, given that they have demonstrated that they will adhere to public health guidance, and we do not need to make the draconian emergency powers permanent as the cabinet secretary proposes? I fear that we are going to be going round the houses at this particular point on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. The issue comes down to fundamentally whether our statute book is equipped to deal with all the eventualities that come our way. That is why we are doing this. On any other day, the Conservatives could be criticising the Government for not taking enough steps to prepare for scenarios that may come our way. I have heard the Conservatives do that on countless occasions in the past in my service in this Parliament. We are simply preparing the statute book for difficulties that may come our way. I hope they do not, because we want to avoid those difficulties, but, if they do, I want us to be prepared and ready for them. I do not think that that is an unreasonable thing for even the Conservatives in their most grudging afternoon to come to terms with. To ask the Scottish Government what cross-government strategies have been identified as part of its work on Covid-19 recovery to support any communities and businesses in the Highlands and Islands that have not received any or substantial help throughout the pandemic? The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a fair recovery from the pandemic, including for businesses and communities in the Highlands and Islands. Since the start of the pandemic, businesses in Scotland have benefited from £4.5 billion in support from the Scottish Government, and we have engaged extensively with businesses to ensure that our support is effective. Last week, we announced a new £80 million Covid economic recovery fund that will target support for businesses and communities as we move into a new phase in the pandemic. Subject to parliamentary approval, councils in the Highlands and Islands will receive more than £8 million from the fund, and they will have flexibility in how to best use funding to support local businesses and low-income households. I welcome that flexibility, but the cabinet secretary will be aware that the funding that was made available during the first lockdown left many businesses behind. Despite the time that I lapsed, it was the same funding that was issued subsequently. That is extremely frustrating for those businesses that receive no funding on either occasion. Some of those are very close to going under, so can he look at ways in which he can help businesses that have missed out from substantial funding over the piece to enable them to start up again and to survive and go forward to help the economy to recover in the Highlands and Islands? I am very happy to engage in that question. If Rhoda Grant wishes to supply me with further examples or areas where she believes that to be appropriate, I would happily consider those. The Government took and designed a whole host of different business support schemes, some of which applied to a particular sector, such as hospitality. We tried to design those as broad-reach as we possibly could, but I accept that there would be some businesses that would not be neatly caught by any of those schemes. That is why we put in place discretionary relief funds for local authorities to do exactly as we are envisaging with the £80 million fund that was announced a week past Monday by the First Minister, which is designed to give local authorities the ability to address, frankly, the issue that Ms Grant puts to me, that there may be businesses that have not been reached by discrete funds that could be supported by more general provision. I would be very happy to receive some further information and thoughts from Rhoda Grant on that question, but I would encourage her to also point businesses in the directions of local authorities who have been given substantial discretionary relief funds to try to address exactly the circumstances that Rhoda Grant puts to me. Before we move on to question 5, I just ask colleagues to ensure that questions and responses are succinct. Question 5, Christine Grahame. Always seems to happen just before I get up. To ask the Scottish Government what resource impact Covid-19 has had on the timetabling and delivery of legislation and other proposals that are set out in its programme for government. It used to happen to me when the member used to be in that chair as well. To answer Ms Grahame's question, the programme for government, published in September 2021, sets out the Government's priority of leading Scotland safely through the pandemic. All programme for government commitments, including the delivery of legislative programme, are monitored. That ensures that any delivery risks are highlighted early and mitigations put in place. The enduring pandemic has certainly caused the Government to rightly divert attention and resources from those plans to keep people safe and protect the NHS. Can the minister share whether funds had to be diverted from other budgets to support the efforts to combat Covid-19? If he can share that with us, what is the wall part figure? Does he share my view that Opposition parties should take cognisance of the scale of the effort and the cost involved in getting us to this stage of the pandemic when asking questions about delays to policies or indeed asking for additional funding? As always, I agree with much of what Ms Grahame said. Our spring budget revision last month confirms that our total Covid-19 allocation since the pandemic began to exceed the UK Government Covid funding received by around £300 million. With that additional amount made up from our central reserves and re-protiatisation. In discussing issues that have not had the prominence because of Covid and other matters, the business minister will know that Scottish Conservatives have asked on a weekly basis for a statement about maternity services in Murray. I have also tried to get urgent questions. That was in the SNP's manifesto to restore a full consultant-led maternity service in Murray. Can we have a statement or for the Scottish Government to lead a debate on their response to the independent inquiry and rapport into maternity services? We have now had a case of a Murray mum, Alexandra Naylor, giving birth in a labai. Can we get time in this chamber to debate this crucial issue so that no more Murray mums have to give birth in labais or have to have the fear of giving birth in a labai? As always, I will say to the member that there is a process within place that we work within the Parliament. Your business manager comes to the bureau every week and we negotiate. We come to a decision of what has been put forward only this week on that very issue. We said that we would look at that issue and I will contact his business manager in the normal manner. To ask the Scottish Government what additional support and resources it will provide for actions across government to recover from Covid-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government recognises the unequal impact that the pandemic has had on our communities, businesses and public services, and we are providing significant investment to support recovery, such as the £80 million Covid economic recovery fund that was announced just last week and, of course, the investment in the NHS recovery plan of more than £1 billion. Can I take this opportunity to highlight a serious problem that has been encountered by businesses, including a number of gyms that have missed out on vital funding? Do Fifeas and Galloway Council advise businesses that, if they had been in receipt of the strategic funding, they would be contacted? That happened in mid-January, but, as an example, the deadline for leisure businesses was 31 January, literally only a 10-day period. The council, who to date have a million pounds unallocated left in their funding pot, admits that turnaround was tight and has been informed by the Scottish Government that it will not allow any leeway on the deadline date. Surely, if businesses who receive strategic funding money and the council were aware of them, they should still be entitled to the money that they so desperately need, would the cabinet secretary look into this and intervene to ensure that businesses get the funding that was allocated to them? It is, after all, not the council's money or, indeed, the Scottish Government's money, but money that has been promised to those businesses. If Mr Carson would like to say any further details on that example, I will certainly look into it. He will appreciate that there are financial rules that have to be followed and that there has to be an appropriate scrutiny of grant allocations. With all those caveats, I am very happy to look at that issue. I know that there are a number of local authorities who are sitting on unspent allocations of resources for Covid purposes. I would obviously encourage them to make those prudential decisions to make sure that financial support is available to fund recovery in the way that Mr Carson puts to me. To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to local authorities to ensure that disabled and partially sighted people are able to participate in the 2022 local government elections. Minister George Adam, I thank Miles Briggs for the question. Stuart McMillan asked a similar question last month, and I would refer the member to my answer on this topic in Parliament in 2 February 2022—PQ reference S6O 00696. Returning officers have a statutory responsibility for running local government elections. Under the law, they have to make certain provisions for voters with disabilities and sight loss, including tactile voting devices. However, much wider support is typically offered. I am committed to working in partnership with the community to take forward improvements on accessibility. Miles Briggs. I also ask the minister whether local authorities will be asked to publicise that order candidates will appear on the ballot paper ahead of the elections. That is often a key piece of information that blind and partially sighted people are looking for and have not been previously provided. Given that the Northern Ireland Assembly is providing voter kits, including audio devices, at the elections to blind and partially sighted members of our community, what plans does the Scottish Government have to review that and look towards trialling voter kits here in Scotland? Basically, on your first question, I went to a recent visit with the CPG on visual impairment, and the issue was brought up. It is an on-going issue, and it is one that we are willing to look at and try to find solutions to help many of the individuals that the issue cares for. However, with regard to how we are moving on in the future, with regard to whether we are looking at any pilots or anything else, delivery of elections, like many other public services, has been a real challenge under the pandemic. I have been very open with colleagues and with the stakeholder community that we have not made as much progress as we would have hoped to on the issue at this time. However, as I have set out in my previous answer, progress has been made by the Government and our partners in the local government, and I am trying to entrive the agenda forward in the coming months and years. The minister referenced the cross-particle and visual impairment meeting last week, and I want to thank him for his engagement with that. I also want to thank the event that took place last October with the secret ballot box proposals that were put forward. Does he share my belief that, as a society, we must all do more to support blind and vision impaired voters to allow them to vote in confidence and also in person, because they deserve to have that right to vote the way that they want to vote in person? I strongly agree with the member on improving the accessibility of elections with particular focus on people with sight loss as a programme for government commitment. I am in regular contact, as he knows, with the sight loss community on his vital agenda, and, like the member, I found the event that we attended last year in the Forth Valley Sensory Centre valuable and instructive, and attending the cross-party group and visual impairment last week was another good opportunity for me to share everything and listen to the members of the community from their perspective. All the members in here, when I commit towards this, as when it comes to accessibility voting, they will understand that I have some reason to do this, with my wife also having a promotability problem herself. I will confirm that I will work as hard as I can to make sure that we can make things better. To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates any disruption to administration of forthcoming local government elections as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. Minister. I got myself slightly mixed up here. Returning officers are responsible for running elections. Preparations are taking account of guidance with the electoral management board and the electoral commission and will reflect the strategic framework. Running the local government elections, returning officers will draw on their previous experience in delivering last year's Scottish parliamentary elections safely and securely. David Torrance. I thank the minister for that answer. Councils from across all political parties work extremely long hours and are dedicated to helping their local communities, with many putting their careers on hold to do so. Yet the relative lack of financial protection for local councillors, being the only one of the only paid public roles, do not have financial protection or entitlement to redundancy could pose difficulty in attracting people to take up the role of a local councillor. Does the minister agree with me that this issue may need addressing to ensure that we can continue to attract people to participate in this vital aspect of our local democracy? As a former councillor myself and aware of council colleagues who have difficulty when they end up in a situation where they are no longer a councillor, I recognise that councillors of all political affiliations work incredibly hard to improve the lives of people in their communities. The Minister for Social Security and Local Government recently announced in partnership with COSLA that an independent review of councillor rumination will take place as a step towards supporting an increase in diversity of councillors in Scotland. I will explore whether the issue raised by the member can be considered as part of this on-going work. Parliamentary candidates are entitled to one item of free post literature to each elector. Candidates in local government are not free posts to ensure that all candidates can get their message out to electors even if public health restrictions return. Does the minister agree with me that it is regrettable that this disparity has not been addressed in time for the council elections in May? I thank the member for that question, and this has been an on-going debate. It is actually one of the questions that was asked in two portfolio questions ago by Mr Briggs. I ask a similar question with regards to this. This is a debate and an issue that we can talk about in the future, but it was one that at this stage was when we started talking about it with COSLA and others that it was far too late for us for this election. I am willing to talk to people, but we have to be very careful with the consequences when we get to that situation. Thank you. That concludes that portfolio, and we move on to net zero energy and transport. At question number one, I call Russell Finlay. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce emissions produced by its ministerial cars. The Scottish Government is fully committed to the decarbonisation of its vehicle fleet, including vehicles used in the Government car service. The GCS fleet is currently made up of 28 vehicles, of which 100 per cent are ultra-low-emission vehicles. The Scottish Government has made the commitment to phase out the need for petrol and diesel cars for the wider public sector fleet by 2025. That includes the Government car service, and to support that, a replacement strategy has been implemented to replace end-of-life vehicles with fully electric alternatives wherever possible. Russell Finlay. Sitting in a stationary vehicle with the engine idling can result in a £20 fine, yet in most days ministerial the most can be seen doing just that in the Scottish Parliament car park. Even worse, they are frequently in disabled bays. Will the minister commit to stopping the abuses? I thank the member for his supplementary question. Let me give him an assurance that I will raise this matter with the Government car service and get back to him in more detail. I understand the point that he has made. He will also recognise that there is a need for a Government car service and all that we do in Government. I take on board some of the points that he has made there. I am not aware of Government cars regularly waiting for long periods of time in the car park itself, but I am happy to take those points up with the Government car service directly and get back to him. Will ministers benefit from Government cars, hard-pressed commuters or facing the prospect of a new tax on going to work? Will the minister not agree that the best way to reduce emissions whether it is from Government cars or commuters is to back alternatives to car dependency, like buses under public control and a restoration of pre-pandemic rail services? I thank the member for his supplementary question. I assume that he is referring to the workplace parking levy and that that would be a matter for Edinburgh City Council to arrive at a decision on because this is power for local authorities and then for employers to decide whether or not, including the Scottish Government, they pass that on to their employees. He makes a point regarding buses and public control. We have the community bus fund in Scotland that helps to support local authorities and there will be further powers coming to local authorities through the 2019 Transport Scotland Act and with regard to public control of our railways, of course. I am sure that he will welcome that on 1 April, Scotland Rail will come into public ownership. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government how North Lanarkshire Council and other local authorities are supporting the roll-out of free bus travel for under 22s. Like the long-standing older and disabled person scheme, the new young person's free bus scheme went live on 3 January and is delivered through the national entitlement card. The improvement service is responsible for processing online applications, including through the online portal. Offline applications are handled by local authorities and many councils have dedicated staff on hand to help applicants who might need particular support with the application process, including care experience young people and asylum seekers. In some council areas, schools are coordinating applications on behalf of their pupils and will contact parents or guardians and pupils directly. North Lanarkshire Council, I know our coordinating applications via schools for those pupils moving to secondary school. I thank the minister for that response. I hope that, like me, she is looking forward to her visit to Coatbridge next week, where I will give her a Coatbridge in Christen welcome. She will be aware of the high levels of deprivation and low income in my constituency in the North Lanarkshire area more generally, which means that many children and young people may not have access to the internet, a passport, a driving licence and so they need to apply for the entitlement to free bus travel offline. Does the minister share my disappointment that it would seem that the Labour Tory administration in North Lanarkshire is not doing more to enable more of those young people to get their entitlement through council offices and facilities like libraries, particularly when they stand to benefit the most from being able to access the free bus travel scheme? I would share some of Mr MacGregor's reservations there. Although I have to say that local authorities are really keen on the delivery of the scheme, I wrote to local authorities a week before the scheme launched to ensure that those mechanisms were put in place. The collective efforts of the Scottish Government, the Improvement Service, local authorities and the National Entitlement Car Programme Office, Young Scot and bus operators will be crucial to those organisations working together to deliver the landmark policy. I look forward to the welcome that I will receive next week. I recognise and understand that some people have found the online application process pretty complex and hard to undertake at times, not least because of the identification requirements. I have met the Improvement Service on this who managed the online application process to discuss those issues, and they are currently reviewing the application process to make it as straightforward as they can. Given the importance of the offline application channels that Mr MacGregor spoke to, particularly for the people whom he mentioned who might not have internet access or the required documentation, on 31 January, as I mentioned, I wrote to all local authorities. It is really important that they put in place those measures to help to support the offline application process. In that letter, I pointed out to local authorities the importance of that. I think that using that school mechanism to better identify young people who do not have access to the internet and to ensure that they are signed up to benefit from the under-22 scheme. Alongside those options, I also welcome yesterday the launch of the Transport Scotland app. I think that it is targeted at young Scot card holders to enable them to migrate their existing cards over to the new under-22s entitlement. Can the minister say a little bit more about that and how many people that will benefit potentially? Mr Ruskell is correct to point out that, on Monday, we launched the Transport Scotland pass collect app. It lets existing card holders, who are aged 16 to 21, download the free bus travel app on to their current card. That will make it easier for up to 140,000 existing card holders in this age group to start enjoying the benefits of free bus travel. By close of business on 1 March, the Improvement Service reported that the national entitlement card programme office had dispatched 144,377 NECs or young ScotNECs with free bus travel. That includes more than 100,000 applications that were submitted online and just over 40,000 that were produced via offline routes. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase bus usage across the country. The Scottish Government is investing more than £500 million during this Parliament for bus priority infrastructure. From April, the network support grant will provide an additional £40 million to support services as demand recovers from Covid. We are implementing the powers in the Transport Scotland Act 2019 to help local transport authorities to improve services in their areas and introduce the community bus fund to support them to do so. To encourage children and young people to travel sustainably, we have also recently launched the free bus travel for under 22 in Scotland. That complements our continued support for existing free bus travel for disabled people and for over six years. Alex Rowley Minister, for that answer, I recently found myself in a position where I'm unable to drive and I've become much more dependent on public transport. From my home in Kelty to my regional office in Loch Gilley, it took me about 10 minutes in the car. Now, to do it by bus, and this is the only way to public transport I can, it takes me at least an hour to my journey. I have to get two buses and for the return ticket, I would need a day ticket and that costs £6.50. The comparison we public owned loading buses is that I can get from one end of the city to the other end of the city for £1.80 and I can travel all day with a car of £4.50. So how can the Scottish Government address the disparity that exists between different bus companies in different parts of the country and what's stopping the Scottish Government from joining the trailblazers like Estonia and Luxembourg in expanding free public transport for everyone? Minister. I thank Mr Rowley for his question. A couple of points to unpack there. I think there's a challenge here in terms of rural provision first of all and I do recognise the critical importance of bus services in rural areas in particular and it would be difficult, for example, to compare his experience in Fife with those for people who live in Edinburgh, for example, where there are differing provisions and I recognise some of the challenges there. However, with regard to his further point on powers for local authorities in this, we did consult on us in the Transport Scotland Act 2019 and we're working again with our local authority partners to help ensure that we can give them the opportunity to better serve their local area. The community bus fund that I mentioned in response previously is going to support local transport authorities to improve public transport in their areas and it will include a million pounds that has been allocated to the community bus fund. We'll work with partners on the design of that fund but to his wider point about affordability, I've mentioned today some of our investment around about the under 22 scheme. Additionally, I would point to the fair fairs review that is being undertaken at this moment in time and that will look at transport across all modes. I think as well to his wider point about joining up journeys across different modes of transport and affordability, which I recognise is a really, we're in challenging times just now with regard to the cost of living. I do understand that and I hope very much that the fair fairs review will give us some answers to some of the points that Mr Rowley's raised today. Can the minister please detail how Scotland's young people are benefiting from the free bus travel scheme? The extension of free bus travel to all under 22s will make public transport more affordable, helping to improve access to education, leisure and work while supporting the adoption of sustainable travel behaviours early in their lives. And affordability, as we've heard, is a key issue for many young people. So giving that initiative on bus, which is the widest network of public transport provision across the whole of Scotland, will help in delivering our commitment to a just transition. Student who was alarmed to discover that the night buses in Edinburgh are not covered by that scheme. Given the challenges that young women are facing in the UK just now in relation to gender-based violence and the commitments from this Government on that matter, will the minister consider extending the scheme to night buses? I hope that Mr Rowley will understand that I'm not going to give him an assurance on that point right now in the chamber, but I will take it away because he may be aware that, during a statement that I gave to Parliament in the last week of term before February recess, I launched our plans to consult on women's safety on public transport. I think that that's a much broader issue than just looking at night buses, but I do think that it probably falls into the same area that I'm keen that we explore further because I recognise there's a challenge here. I can't give my direct answer apologies on the provision of the car, but I can undertake that this will be looked at and considered through the consultation because I recognise some of the challenges here very much so in terms of women's safety. Question number four, Murdo Fraser. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects to complete the programme of dualling the remaining sections of the A9 between Perth and Inverness. Determination of the optimal procurement approach for the delivery of the remaining sections of the A9 dualling programme is on going. This is a complex exercise that is considering a pipeline of work in a form that can be delivered by the industry that puts the economic recovery post Covid and minimises disruption to years of this lifeline route. It is expected that the work in progress will complete in the coming weeks to inform decision making on our procurement approach at which time an update will be provided. Murdo Fraser. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. We were originally supposed to have this programme completed by 2025. I appreciate that Covid has got in the way, but I am concerned that we still do not have any definitive timescales for completion of this work given the amount of interest that is raised in communities along the A9 on seeing what is one of Scotland's most dangerous roads completed. We also have an issue with owners of properties along the A9 route, whose properties are effectively blighted at present, because until definitive plans are published for the new route, they do not know whether their properties might require to be compulsory, purchased or not. The need for certainty around the issue is acute. Can the cabinet secretary be more definitive as to when Parliament will be told when the next deadlines will be set? Cabinet secretary. I recognise the point that the member is making. He did acknowledge that Covid-19 has had an impact on the timetabling for the completion of the A9. The design work for the remaining eight sections is well advanced. The statutory process is commenced for different sections, and four of which have already completed made orders. They are already at a very advanced stage in determining the route that the road will take. Once we have completed the procurement approach exercise, which has been undertaken at present, that will help to inform the development of the finalised timeline for taking forward the remaining sections of the road. At that point, we should be in a better position to inform what the final delivery timescale will be for the completion of the road. To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the procurement of new ferries. The Scottish Government announced investment of £580 million in ports and vessels as part of our wider five-year infrastructure investment plan in February 2021. The investment is in addition to the delivery of MV Glen Sannocks and Hull 801, which are under construction. Caledonian maritime assets limited is currently assessing bids from four shipyards for two new major vessels on the Islay routes, and CMAL is also progressing design work for the small vessel replacement programme, considering up to seven vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides route, and for Gwyrruch to Dynun Angyl-Cregan. I thank the minister for that answer. In February 2021, Michael Matheson admitted to me that the Scottish Government's purchase of the existing ferries operating on the northern Isles routes had made the target of 30 per cent of public ferries to be lower mission by 2032, more stretching. Can the minister tell us what the Scottish Government has done over the last year to make achieving that target more realistic and initially confident that that target will still be met? Can she confirm to me when they are completed that the two long overdue vessels that Ferguson Marine will meet the latest standards for lower mission technology? On the first point, Mr Halcro Donson raises around about 801 and 802. Both of those routes are really important. The latest update from the Yards turnaround director indicated that the hander of 801 is now planned for summer 2022 and 802 for summer 2023. Following handover to CalMac, it is estimated that a further three months will be required for testing, training and familiarisation before the vessel is able to enter service. He asked a very specific question with regard to emissions. I do not have a note of that in front of me, but I am happy to write to the member and give him an update on that in due course. Does the minister agree that a smaller vessel replacement programme, which is essential to enhance services to islands such as Cumbria in my constituency, should be expedited given the increasing number of breakdowns suffered by older smaller vessels' impact on lifeline services to some of our most fragile island communities? I thank Mr Gibson for that question. Yes, I very much recognise some of the frustration in our island communities regarding resilience at this moment in time, which has not least been compounded by poor weather recently. I know that it is hugely important for the communities in particular that he serves. I am also pleased to reiterate that what I have just said, which is that good progress is being made on the small vessel replacement programme with design work well underway. I know that Mr Gibson and I are due to meet very soon and I am sure that we can discuss it in further detail at that time. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The state of lifeline ferry services in Scotland is unacceptable and islanders have, frankly, lost faith in this Government's handling of ferry procurement. Only last week, Cumbria Community Council told me that the latest technical faults meant that children's missed school, patients' missed medical appointments and businesses were unable to open. What will the minister do to upgrade the CalMac fleet to ensure that their new fit for purpose ferries are serving islands such as Cumbria because islanders are fed up waiting? Can the minister confirm that she is also willing to meet Cumbria Community Council to hear directly their concerns? I did not catch the first part of Mr Bibby's question, but to the second part on Cumbria Community Council, yes, more than happy to do so. I met Angus Campbell, who chairs the ferries community board, this morning, and we had a wide-ranging discussion on some of the points that Mr Bibby has mentioned this afternoon, including, of course, the resilience of the fleet, looking at contingency plans but equally on that community engagement, which is where I recognise some of the tension's play out. I will be meeting Mr Bibby tomorrow, I think, and I'm more than happy to meet with the community council. Can I just ask Mr Bibby, would you like to put the first part of your question again? No, it's okay, Presiding Officer. I'm satisfied with that response. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its action to decarbonise buses. On Monday, I announced grant awards worth £62 million to support bus operations to acquire 276 new zero-emissions buses and associated charging infrastructure. That means that the Government has now supported the acquisition of 548 zero-emissions buses, of which 344 have been or are being built in Scotland. Those have been well-split across the country and include investment in the bus fleet in Dundee, which I'm sure that Mr Fitzpatrick will have noted in his constituency. The most recent funding has included support for several smaller and more rural operators, which is vital for a just transition to net zero and will be the priority for future funding. Thanks to the substantial Scottish Government funding, a dozen brand new zero-emissions electric emerald buses have been deployed across Dundee by Explore on the number 28 route, which includes Roll Locky Road in my constituency, the fourth most polluted street in Scotland. Does the minister agree that the SNP can be proud of the support provided to drive forward decarbonisation of buses in Dundee, delivering clean, green and free public transport for young people in my city? Absolutely. Dundee City Council is a great example of what can be achieved when the SNP is in charge, both at national and local government levels. The Scottish Government supported the dozen electric buses with £2 million award to explore Dundee in 2021. Under the bus partnership fund, we have awarded Tayside bus alliance with £586,000 to support appraisal work, covering improvements to strategic bus corridors in the region. On top of that, the council is advancing a project to deploy 12 hydrogen buses for operation in Dundee, supported by the Scottish Government and Scotland's hydrogen accelerator as well as the Michelin Scotland innovation park. The park serves as a key hub to supporting sustainable zero-emission mobility in Scotland, including the technology and skills that are needed to support a fair and just transition to net zero economy. 272 buses supported by the forerunner Scottish ultra-low-emission bus scheme, nearly a quarter were imported from a Chinese manufacturer at a cost of over £11 million. The minister said earlier this week that fewer than half of the new buses supported by the zero-emission bus challenge fund will be built in Scotland. Can the minister then say whether the rest of them will be built in the UK? Will those orders go abroad as well? First, I would like to point out that 137 of the buses are being built in Falkirk, which means that they are creating local skilled jobs. He asked me to give an assurance around the future of the scheme. The scheme is now launched, the first part of Scotland that was launched on Monday. We will then evaluate the first impact of that scheme and look to learn lessons from the future, but he is right. We should be investing in sustainable green jobs in Scotland, and I agree with him on that point. To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to rural households to transition to net zero heating. Rural households can face challenges in the transition to zero-emission heating, challenges such as generally higher costs of insulation, often older buildings and fuel poverty. In recognition of that, our area-based schemes provide enhanced support to rural households, and the warmer home Scotland scheme supports those in or at risk of fuel poverty. We are making £3 million available this year for Scotland's most remote off-grid communities who upgrade their energy systems. As we develop the island's energy strategy, we are considering options for an island's up-left across our delivery programmes to provide additional support in island areas. I thank the minister for the answer. How will the Scottish Government ensure that households in the rural and isolated areas will be able to keep their homes warm in the case of power cuts that last for multiple days, such as the Storm's Unis two weeks ago and Storm Irwin last November? The answers to that partly lie with Scottish Government programmes and partly with action that we need from the UK-regulated energy system to ensure that we have upgrades to the electricity grid to make them more resilient. That factor is one that is recognised in the Scottish Government's heat and building strategy and in our on-going work and engagement with the UK Government. However, it is worth recognising that even existing fossil fuel boilers will suffer if there is an electrical power failure. People cannot necessarily rely on existing systems, and some of those challenges for the resilience of the electricity grid apply to existing systems just as they will to net zero heating systems. 8. Graham Simpson To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with rail unions regarding the nationalisation of ScotRail. Engagement with staff and trade unions began in early January, and I am pleased to confirm that arrangements for the formal transfer of ScotRail staff to Abellio ScotRail Ltd to ScotRail trains Ltd are progressing as planned. I personally met the rail trade unions on 10 February and welcomed their open and frank discussions on several topics. I have also arranged to meet each trade union individually over the coming weeks starting tomorrow. I thank the minister for that answer, and I also thank her for meeting the unions and for her on-going engagement. She will therefore be aware of their view, which I share, that freight by rail should be increased. The rail delivery group believes that there should be trebling of rail freight in England and Wales by 2050. That would mean a reduction of CO2 emissions of 4.2 million tonnes a year. Meeting that target would require a 4% annual increase and 22% in the next five years, but Transport Scotland's target is just 7.5% in that period. Does the minister agree with me that Transport Scotland's target should be far more ambitious and will she set out how she plans to increase freight by rail? I do not want to prejudge the outcome of the meetings that I am about to undertake with the trade unions, which will cover a range of issues that were rehearsed in the debate that we had before the end of term, but also in the parliamentary statement. He touched upon the issue regarding freight, and he is absolutely correct that we need to facilitate that modal change from the road on to our railways. I am keen to support that work, but equally I want to speak to the unions first and not to prejudge it. He has asked me to give him an update today in terms of the freight targets with Transport Scotland. I cannot give him it right now, but if he will allow me to combat him on the specifics of that point, I would be more than happy to do so, because I do recognise the challenge here, and I am keen to support the work additionally. I can take a question from John Mason, if the question and response are very brief. Can the minister confirm that considerable extra funding was provided by the Government to the railways for both Covid and nationalisation, and can she confirm if Labour and the Tories acknowledged this or supported it in the budget? Well, since disappointingly they did not support the budget, I would reiterate that since 2007 this Government has made over £9 billion of investment into our railways, helping to reconnect communities, improving services and the rail infrastructure all over the country. Thank you. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before the next item of business.