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The Scottish Government’s Aviation Statement, which will be published shortly, will set out actions that the Scottish Government will take to help achieve our aviation emissions reduction targets. Our Hydrogen Innovation Scheme previously provided £150,000 of funding to Glasgow Airport for a study to explore the feasibility of a hydrogen production, storage and distribution hub that would support zero emission transport at the airport. The Scottish Government has also provided grant funding to Edinburgh Airport to support its low carbon energy system.

The Scottish Government’s Aviation Statement, which will be published shortly, will set out actions that the Scottish Government will take to help achieve our aviation emissions reduction targets.

Additionally, we have already set out 45 recommendations for future investment in Scotland’s strategic transport network in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review, published on 8 December 2022. Within these recommendations we have considered airport access in our strategic transport planning considerations. These have been considered in the recommendations for mass or rapid transit systems for the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen City Regions, in the form of Clyde Metro, Edinburgh and South East Scotland Mass Transit and Aberdeen Rapid Transit. These recommendations can provide a transformational change in the service provision, focusing on strategic routes and / or corridors where bus and rail provide the most effective service. This will improve access to an affordable and reliable public transport system within these City Regions.

National Planning Framework 4 is also now in effect. Policy 13, ‘Sustainable Transport’, has a clear intent ‘to encourage, promote and facilitate developments that prioritise walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport for everyday travel and reduce the need to travel unsustainably.’ It promotes the National Transport Strategy 2 and places the climate emergency at the forefront of decision making.

The Scottish Government will consider whether to buy low emission aircraft for use on the Glasgow to Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra air services, to replace the current Highlands and Islands Airports Limited owned aircraft, when such aircraft become commercially available. Our consideration will take into account such factors as the Scottish Government’s budgetary position and the reduction in emissions that available aircraft could likely deliver.

The Scottish Government’s Aviation Statement, which will be published shortly, will set out actions that the Scottish Government will take to help achieve our aviation emissions reduction targets. As noted in the Climate Change Committee’s report, aviation decarbonisation will require UK-wide co-operation and progress across all aviation emissions mitigation solutions.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee and remains fully committed to delivering net zero by 2045. As published alongside the statement to the Chamber on the Climate Change Bill, we will develop measures to accelerate the switch from ICE to zero emission vans and other vehicles in order to help reduce ICE van kms, with the intention of achieving early progress with the largest companies while ensuring appropriate support mechanisms for smaller businesses and independent traders.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations in relation to van traffic and provide a response in due course.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee. We have always been clear that meeting the legislated 2030 target – agreed by Parliament on a cross party basis - will be extremely challenging, and may not be feasible. Scotland is already half way to net zero and continues to decarbonise faster than the UK average.

On the 18th of April, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, outlined plans for a package to accelerate our actions to achieve net zero by 2045, which include a timeline for implementing demand management, to help us achieve our much needed target to reduce car usage.

We will carefully consider the report’s recommendations and provide a Scottish Government response in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26543 on 17 April 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The nature of Scottish Government funding for bus and rail sectors is fundamentally different. Funding provided to the bus sector is primarily through reimbursement for concessionary travel schemes which provides free bus travel for eligible passengers, and the Network Support Grant to support local bus services. This makes fares more affordable for the public, whilst supporting bus operators. Funding for rail provides subsidy to ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper which is necessary to provide services, with the majority of funding supporting Network Rail Scotland to operate, maintain, renew and enhance the rail network infrastructure.

Almost one half of all bus journeys in 2022-23 were made under the National Concessionary Travel scheme, 12 percentage points more than in 2021-22. In early 2022, the scheme was expanded to include those aged under 22.

The Scottish Government’s vision and priorities for Scotland’s transport system, including bus patronage, are set out in the National Transport Strategy which was published in February 2020. The Scottish Government will continue to explore opportunities to make bus, and public transport more generally, a more attractive option for existing and new users.

The Fair Fares Review, published in March 2024, sets out our aim to ensure Scotland’s public transport system is more accessible, available, and affordable, with the costs of transport more fairly shared across government, business, and society. The Review highlights the need to prioritise measures to grow bus patronage and sets out a number of recommendations and actions specific to bus to deliver on our vision for the Future of Public Transport. This includes a commitment to develop a bus service improvement plan and delivery framework, over the next 18 months to improve future availability of bus services across Scotland.

The document referred to in the question is intended to provide guidance for English Local Transport Authorities (LTA), outside London, in updating their Bus Service Improvement Plans, in line with the National Bus Strategy for England. This strategy, originally produced in 2021, sets out a mission to rebuild bus patronage and mode share first to 2019 levels, and then to go beyond.

In Scotland we have empowered local transport authorities with the flexible tools they need to respond to their own transport challenges, by delivering all the bus powers within the 2019 Act. This approach enables them to determine what actions are best for their local areas, allowing them to revitalise bus services according to their needs.

The Scottish Government will develop implementing actions to deliver our in response to the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommendation.

The implementing actions will be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders who share responsibility for delivering public EV charging across Scotland to deliver the right charge points in the right locations to meet the needs of communities across Scotland, including rural and island communities.