 The next item of business is portfolio questions, and the portfolio is net-zero energy and transport. If a member wishes to request a supplementary, he should please press the request-of-speak button during the relevant question or enter the letter r in the chat function. 1. Jackie Denbâr middle to ask the Scottish sorted how it is supporting Aberdeen City council to meet its net zero ambitions. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with local authorities to tackle the global climate 양 emergency, including through the Scottish tertia lines we are supporting Aberdeen City Council in a number of ways, including as a full partner of the Aberdeen city region. The region deal we are contributing £125 million over 10 years alongside an additional £254 million which will help ensure economic transformation for the North East with inclusive growth, increased wellbeing and a just transition to net zero. This month we announced that our North East and Murray Just Transition Fund will provide 200 million o ddweud o ddweudoedd o bobl nifer 50 million o ddweud o ddweud o ddweud o ddweud o ddweud o dros euddownodochol ddweud o'r gweithio i net zero a i unrhyw o'r economiaid y regionaidd yn Aberdein, Aberdeinshire oedd Moray. Yn gyf challengef ar gyfer y Llo-Carbyn Ffastrodd green growth accelerator perddfyn nhw o pethon o pob noddau newydd yn Aberdein. Dysgu dwi'n ddweud o ddweud o ddweud o ddweud o rhwng 75 millionfion o'r ddweud o ddweud i ddim yn sylfaenol yw'r cyfleoedd cyflwyno a i ddim yn gweithio i ddweud y gweithio yma sy'n mynd i gweithio a'r cyfleoedd cyflwyno ar y Cymru yn 2045. Jackie Zinbarh. Thank you Cabinet Secretary, for his answer. Aberdeen City Council has an ambitious plan with the ultimate aim of becoming a net zero and climate-resilient council with six key strands focusing on mobility, buildings and heat, srtydillu, economi, cyd-energiadau, ymddad ymgyrch ymddag, sy'n gymwylo. Will the cabinet secretary join me in welcoming the ambitious plan for Averdeen, and he goes into further detail on how communities in my Averdeen donside constituency will be able to take action to help reach the net zero goal through community empowerment legislation? I very much welcome the work that has been taken for by Averdeen city councils ar ulyniadau amddangos, ac mae thermiigolod i'r bwrw sy'n golygu, mae'r bobl bwrw yng Ngheilwyr gynnig yn ddim yn gweithgareddau yn 245 am. Byddai'r cyfnod ar ei dewis iawn i'r bwrw i'r parrydynt wedi y dychydig ei gennych chi oedd mewn perffiniadau bwrw. Ar dweud, mewn bwrw amddangos i'r bwrw sydd yn gweithio ond dwi ar rageabaeth caduion gŷtwy letter yn 2015, a chi'n helpu mor c repay drew data o dar Motorola山 i ddych yn g fadeo cael ofod os ydych yn llygai'n ddych yn allaw fod yn lleogi, yn y gweithwad, yn sylfa yna, a'r maen yn gyntafolそして'r environment ei lautyr yn cael bwysigfa wneud ddych yn ôl ei gwneud casnig. Mae sefydlu £1 miliwe, i ddiwedd llwyffind mewn miau ac chewywyr, er Clyde iawn i meddeill ym phobledig blooming program i Aberdeen C Gem heb Aberdeinshire i Murrwydo, i ddim fydda i woffa i chi bod o modelINAUDIBLE hynny yn dyrexu yn howe funding rydyn ni wedi fynd i ymgeiswch ar progex i ddim yn unig o ddysgu i net zero. Transport remain the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases so one of the biggest barriers to councils delivering net zero. The SNP promised in the manifesto to remove fossil fuel buses in the majority from transport in Scotland by 2023. A promise repeated in last year's programme for government. Transform Scotland's research suggests that just 16 per cent of the fleet will be electric or hydrogen-powered by the end of next year. Can the cabinet secretary tell us if that figure is correct, and if not 2023, just when will the Government meet that target? We are taking forward a range of work in making sure that we decarbonise our bus network. Can the member be aware of the significant level of investment that the Scottish Government has already made in electrification of the bus network? However, in Aberdeen city, one of the aspects there is in relation to hydrogen buses, which we have been supporting as well, which has got the biggest hydrogen bus network in Europe, I believe, as a result of investment and support that is being provided by the Scottish Government. That is why, working with Aberdeen city council and other partners, we have been making sure that we help to continue the decarbonisation of the bus network. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The cabinet secretary mentioned the Just Transition Fund. There are about 120 applicants to the first £20 million of the fund, who are desperate to get going and start making investment decisions. We know that the Scottish Government has selected the successful bidders several weeks ago, but has failed to announce them. Given that constituents have suggested to me that the announcement is being delayed until the SNP conference, would you counter those suggestions by publishing the successful names now? I am sure that the member will welcome the commitment that the Scottish Government has made to take forward the Just Transition Fund for the north-east and Murray in particular. We have already identified the successful projects and those details will be announced by the Just Transition Minister, Richard Lockhead, as a result of the criteria that was applied in assessing these. I would also gently point out to the member that the north-east and Murray Just Transition Plan is a £500 million programme over the course of the next 10 years, which we have repeatedly called upon the UK Government to match, which it has failed to do. If the member was so keen to make sure that there was more money getting into the north-east and Murray, he might want to try and get his colleagues in Westminster to step up and match the level of ambition that the Scottish Government has to the north-east of Scotland. 2. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its announced £37.7 million reduction in the budget for concessionary travel. As part of our routine management of the funding for bus services, the Scottish Government continually monitors forecasted spend against budget. As a result of the demand-led nature of the concessionary travel schemes, we have reduced our forecast for the rest of this financial year due to lower than expected patronage. That change in the forecast will have no impact on access to the older and disabled person scheme and to the young person scheme. If patronage were now to rise above the forecasted levels, so would our expenditure on the schemes. In its justification for the cuts to concessionary travel, the Scottish Government's statement cited the forecast reduction in patronage numbers and fair levels. Given Scotland's commitments to net zero, would it not make more sense to address the reduction in numbers rather than using them to justify cuts? Is that not another false economy from the Scottish Government? It is worth pointing out that the reduction in patronage has been impacted, of course, than a slower than normal return to patronage than was previously the case. That has been reflected in re-forecasting going forward. Similarly, under the older and disabled person scheme, that remains around about 30 per cent below 2019 levels. We know that bus patronage has been slower than other modes of public transport to return to pre-pandemic levels. However, I recognise what the member has said. We provide support to the sector more generally. Earlier in the year, I extended the NSG Plus grant, which existed during Covid. That has been extended into next month. Next week, I will be reconvening the bus task force directly with the sector. I met with smaller and larger operators over the course of summer recess to talk about some of the real challenges that they face. To the member's point, in relation to pulling people back to public transport, he may be aware that only two weeks ago now we launched the marketing campaign for the young person's bus scheme, which has been really successful. We are now over the halfway mark, which is hugely important, and we will continue to encourage people to return to public transport, because that is vital in terms of our recovery from the pandout and, as the member has mentioned, in relation to our net zero ambitions and aspirations. I have some supplementaries, and the first one is from Paul MacLennan. Over 2.3 million people in Scotland, everyone under 22, everyone over 60 and disabled people and carers, can now benefit from free bus travel, free travel for work, education and leisure opportunities. That policy has been taken forward against a backdrop of the Scottish budget being cut by 5.2 per cent. Does the minister agree with me if Labour would rather not see the Scottish Government have to make tough decisions? It is time to join the SNP and Greens in calling for this Parliament to have the full range of levers to realise its aspirations rather than remain at the mercy of a UK Government. Yes, I agree with the sentiment of the member's question. We know particularly, I think, over the course of the past week some of the challenge that the Government faces, and of course we will be coming forward looking at potentially future support. That will be informed by the Scottish Government's emergency budget review, but it is really important now that, I think, any additional support we are able to give continues to adapt and to evolve to make sure that it remains fit for purpose. That is why I was really keen to reconvene the bus task force to speak to the sector directly to ensure that funding and support going forward is fit for purpose. I also think that I recognise the limitations in terms of the powers of this Government in relation to revenue. I hope that that is reflected in some of the sentiment from the members from other parties. I am sure that we are about to hear from the Presiding Officer. I am supplementary Mark Ruskell. Thank you. The free bus travel for under 22s was launched during the Covid crisis, so the fact that there have been 22 million journeys is pretty remarkable. I know from discussions with bus companies that those journeys have really helped to build services back coming from the pandemic. However, there is still a reluctance minister from over 60s to come back to public transport post Covid, which I think can affect the viability of some services. Can I ask the minister how the message can be sent out that bus travel in Scotland is both safe and free for millions of people who are eligible at both ends of that concessionary scheme? I thank the member for his question, and he is right to point out the reticence perhaps of certain groups in society to return to public transport, as I alluded to in my response to Mr Soudry. Of course, the Scottish Government continues to invest £300 million annually to give free bus travel to over 2 million people in the country. That includes children and young people under 22s, disabled people and everyone over 60s. In line with our long-term goal to encourage that modal shift to get people out of their cars and back into sustainable modes of transport like bus, we will continue to engage with operators, as I mentioned in my responses to previous members, but also with delivery partners and other key stakeholders to promote public transport as an attractive way to travel, as more people begin to return to the workplace and travel for leisure purposes more often. The concessionary travel budget is not the only source of funding that bus operators are set to lose. The network support grant plus is due to end in 10 days time. If that happens, routes will go, fares will rise, and the frequency of services will drop. England's bus recovery grant has been extended to April, so will the minister commit to doing the same here? The member raised the matter with me prior to the summer recess, and he knows that I did extend the NSG plus grant at that time. It is important that the support from the Government adapts to where we are in the current context. We have heard from other members previously today about some of the financial challenges that the Government faces. We budgeted to give £93.5 million from April this year to support the bus network as we recovered from the pandemic, and there was also an additional £20.5 million funding already given to extend recovery until October, as he mentioned. That is in addition to around £210 million that we have already provided during the pandemic to ensure that operators are well positioned and at the forefront of our green recovery. However, it is worth mentioning to the member, as he raises the point in relation to the challenges faced by the sector, that there are a number of other challenges that do not sit with my responsibilities as a minister in this Parliament. There are challenges in relation to Labour in terms of Brexit—I have discussed this with the sector—and there are challenges in relation to fuel costs. Again, there are limited actions that we can take in this Parliament in that regard. Many of those matters are reserved, of course, to the UK Government. He may be interested to know that I have invited the UK Government to take part in the reconvened bus task force next week, and I very much hope that it will take part in the task force, noting the reserved competencies that neither the member nor I have responsibility for. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had discussions with Ofgem regarding reported higher standing charges for energy in the Highlands and Islands. The increase in energy prices in recent months remains a huge worry for many consumers. That is especially true for those in the Highlands and Islands, where the additional costs of distributing energy are higher than in other parts of the country. The structure of customers' energy bills, including standing charge levels, is reserved to the UK Government. That means that we have no option to intervene directly. We continue to provide consumers with as much support and advice as we can, as well as raising specific issues of concern with the UK Government and Ofgem. It is clear from this and so many other penalties that the Highlands and Islands face for being a net exporter of clean green energy that the UK Government will never work for the communities that I represent, instead leaving them to suffer extreme fuel poverty. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we could and should do much better in Scotland and call for energy policy to be devolved? I recognise the specific concerns that the member's constituents have and the higher costs that they face in rural and remote islands in meeting their energy charges. The existing mechanism, to some extent, penalises individuals who live in these remote and rural areas as a result of the way in which Ofgem and the UK Government regulate the process. I can say to the member that where we have scope to take action, we are. For example, through our area-based schemes, we provide funding to deliver energy efficiency improvements in areas where there are the highest levels of fuel poverty. We have committed to continuing our spend to spend more per head in our remote and rural areas because of the significant higher levels of fuel poverty there and the additional costs associated with the works that are necessary. However, I think that the member hit the nail on the head. Given the absolute shambles that we have had with the UK Government over the management of energy policy over an extended period of time, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that an independent Scotland will be able to manage our energy policy in a much more effective way that reflects the constituents' needs in areas such as Highlands. Supplementary Liam McArthur Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. As Emma Roddick suggested and as the cabinet secretary has acknowledged, there has been a particular issue of late in relation to the standing charges for the lifting of the cap in April, so a one pence per day increase for gas per a doubling to 45 pence per day for electricity. Does he agree that in justifying that, there has been a suggestion that this is to pay back the monies lost from companies going bust over the past couple of years, many of which could not be used by customers in the Highlands and Islands to switch because of the total heating total control mechanism? Will he agree to engage directly with Dai Alexander, chairman of Highlands and Islands Housing Association, a form of affordable warmth, about the sorts of representations that can, I think, quite legitimately be made to Ofgem and to UK Ministers about the unfairness in the way that those standing charges have been structured? On the member's final point, Mr Alexander wants to write to me about his proposals. I'm more than happy to share that with my officials in our representation that we've made to the UK Government on this matter. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that the member rightly highlights the impact that standing charges have on those who live in our remote and rural communities, including on our island communities such as Orkney. That's why the system needs to be reformed, as it is presently calibrated in such a way that it actually penalises those who live in our remote and rural communities. On the member's point about the issue of whether some of those costs are associated with the market failure, what has happened here is that quite literally the companies who were unhedged in their energy purchasing have gone bust. As a result of that, the taxpayer is having to pick up the tab. The reason that has happened is because the UK Government's regulator allowed unhedged companies to operate in the market. It should never have been allowed in the first place, and the billions of pounds that consumers right across the country are now going to have to pay back as a result of this falls squarely at the UK Government's door and their failure to regulate the energy markets properly on behalf of consumers. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its peatland restoration plans. In recognition of the huge importance of our peatlands in the fight against the climate and nature crisis, in 2020 we set out ambitious plans to invest more than a quarter of a billion pounds over a decade to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peat by 2030. We published updates against those targets in our annual climate change plan monitoring reports. The latest of those was published on 26 May this year, and it is available on the Scottish Government website. Restoring peatlands will help us, as the minister said, to fight climate change, support biodiversity and provide good green jobs in rural communities. Those are words lifted straight from the Scottish Government website. I repeat what the minister said, and on page 70 of the SNP's 2021 manifesto is a promise to restore, as she said, 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030. However, the Government is failing dramatically, falling short of those targets. Instead of that, it is almost halving its 22 million commitment to peatland restoration. To meet its targets, the Government will need to restore, on average, 31,250 hectares of peatland per year until 2030. How does it intend to do so? I might have thought that nearly 60,000 hectares of peatlands, once degraded, once emitting carbon, now restored, now sequestering carbon, would be a good thing, in something that even the Tories could welcome. However, I do acknowledge that peatland science is in its infancy, and the peatland industry is in its infancy. That is exactly why the Scottish Government is doing everything that we can to support the industry to provide that quarter of a billion pounds of funding over 10 years. Why peatland action, part of Nature Scotland Nature Agency, has been working since 2012 to support restoration projects throughout the country. That is an industry in its infancy. It is only a few years old. Contractor capacity is limited, the number of technical advisers is limited, but the Scottish Government is working at pace to bridge that gap and to meet our ambitious targets. I declare my role as Scottish Environment, which links Nature champion for Scotland's extraordinary blanket bogs in Scotland to create a third of the carbon that is held in the Amazon rainforest. With that extraordinary resource at our disposal, does the minister agree with me that those lands must be systematically restored in order to help Scotland to reach its climate change targets? Will the minister commit to work closely with industry partners, including, for example, onshore renewable electricity companies, to ensure that peatland restoration is a prime consideration of permissions and ensure that NPF4 planning guidance ensures renewable energy generation on these lands deliver peatland restoration in partnership in a sensible and pragmatic way to protect this vital asset, as well as delivering net zero targets? Yes, I absolutely agree with Fiona Hyslop. Peatland restoration is an absolutely essential part of the length challenge of climate and nature crises, and it has the quite unique opportunity to provide co-benefits across our environment, our economy and our society. I commit to continuing to engage closely with the renewables industry as we work to transition to net zero. That includes how the industry can balance the actions that it can provide for greenhouse gas mitigation and for protecting our natural world. The member is absolutely correct that Scotland's planning system is going to play an absolutely vital role in responding to climate change, encouraging nature recovery and in helping to deliver that crucial infrastructure that is needed to achieve our ambitions. I should not like to pre-empt the outcome of the final NPF4, but it will signal a turning point for planning. We have been very clear that responding to the twin challenge of climate change and nature loss will be central to it. 7. Mark Griffin, who is joining us remotely. To ask the Scottish Government how many households it has written to promoting the warmer home in Scotland scheme since the start of the cost of living crisis. Households can obtain free help and advice through various routes, including direct mail to households living in or at risk of fuel poverty. For example, local authorities write directly to property owners in areas targeted by our area-based schemes, but may also refer them to Home Energy Scotland and our warmer home Scotland service. We do not keep a central record of those activities. Yesterday we also launched our one-stop cost of living website, which provides a wide range of advice, including schemes to tackle fuel poverty. I draw members' attention to my register of interests as an owner of a rental property in North Lanarkshire. I thank the minister for his answer. In recent parliamentary questions, the minister has advised that Home Energy Scotland is meeting its targets to speak with low-income, potentially fuel-poor clients with £42,000 offered support in the past financial year. However, the number of installations as a result of those interactions was just 5,300. If the Government has targets for interactions and advice calls, what would the targets be for the number of installations under the new contract? Does that new contract allow enhanced promotion of the scheme, with local delivery teams on the ground able to make referrals directly? I will be happy to engage with members across the chamber in the development of the new contract. However, as things stand, the warmer home Scotland is a demand-led scheme, while it was impacted by the Covid pandemic more than 5,300 households were supported in 2021-22. That is among the highest figures since the scheme began. We are leading the way within the islands in supporting households in fuel poverty. In fact, Andrew Warren, chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, recently wrote that, my advice to Whitehall is simple. Whether you take the high road or the low road, you had best be copying Scotland's initiatives. We will continue to develop and seek to go further, but we are making excellent progress in supporting people in energy during those difficult times. I have three requests for supplementaries. I would like to take all three, but I would need to appeal for succinct questions and answers. Over the past five years, home installation schemes have been completed in fewer than 1,000 projects in my Northeast Fife constituency. That is 1,000 out of 40,000 homes. In the middle of a climate emergency, there is now a cost of living crisis. I have to say that that level of support is pathetic. How is the Government going to get more homes insulated and quickly? I am sorry that Mr Rennie chooses to denigrate the work of not only the Government but our partner agencies, which, as I said, have supported among the highest numbers in 2021-22 since Warmerhomes Scotland began. I do not think that there is any need for that kind of language about the work that people are doing right throughout this country to support people with the cost of living crisis, including the cost of energy. There is a huge amount more to do not only in the current context but throughout this decade to retrofit our homes not only for energy efficiency but for zero emissions heating. I hope that in future we will see political parties right across the chamber joining with us in making sure that we pursue that as ambitiously as we can. To ask the minister if the Scottish Government has assessed how many households are excluded from receiving external wall insulation through the Warmerhomes Scotland scheme due to living in non-traditional steel-framed houses and what financial support might be available to those who do not qualify for this essential work but would like to improve insulation of their homes to save energy? Warmerhomes Scotland provides a bespoke package of energy efficiency and heating improvements that are suitable for each specific property. £55 million is allocated in 2022-23—that is the highest ever. Of over 70,000 fuel-poor households that are benefited from external wall insulation as part of the area-based schemes, that includes non-standard construction and steel-framed properties. We have allocated £64 million to local councils for those schemes to support the improvement of hard-to-treat properties. I encourage everybody, whatever kind of property they live in, to contact Warmerhomes Scotland to explore the support that is available to them. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I refer members to my register of interest. Minister, there are 530 plus social houses in WIC that require to be upgraded to EPCC. I estimate that that could cost in excess of £20 million. If you extrapolate that across the highlands, the cost of getting social housing up to EPCC could be in excess of £100 million. Is the Government going to help those houses to get up to EPCC? We absolutely do what closely with the social housing sector not only to understand the scale of the challenge that confronts them but to support them through it. We will continue to do that both in terms of energy efficiency and the critically important role that registered social landlords can have in developing heat networks that are relevant in both rural and urban settings. Just today, we launched the heat network support unit, which will be an excellent support for the development of those local projects in the years to come. Thank you, Minister. That concludes portfolio questions, and there will be a very short pause before we move on to the next item of business.