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The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce agreed its remit and Guiding Vision at its first meeting on 11 November 2020, and discussed a first draft of its co-designed pathway to a fully zero-emission bus fleet in July 2021. The ongoing COVID pandemic has made progress slower than would have been ideal, and the Taskforce is expected to publish a final version of the pathway in Summer 2022. All meeting papers and minutes of the Taskforce are published on the CPT Scotland website.

The 2022-23 Budget allocated £1 million RDEL to the development of the Community Bus Fund. Allocations for future financial years will be informed by policy development and future budgets determined through the outcome of the Scottish Government's Resource Spending Review.

The Energy Investment Fund will close at the end of this financial year 2021-22. The Fund was established in 2013, (succeeding the Renewable Energy Investment Fund) with funding from the Fossil Fuel Levy, to address market failure in capital funding in specific renewable energy sectors. The Fund has been very successful over the years, however, the market for capital funding has changed since 2013. There are new investment mechanisms in place, through the Scottish National Investment Bank, which supports the Scottish Government's strategic priorities to achieving our net zero ambitions.

The purpose of the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is to bring together leaders from those sectors which most urgently need to work together on the challenges inherent in decarbonisation of the bus sector. These were identified as the bus operating, bus manufacturing, energy, finance and Government sectors, all of whom need to act in a co-ordinated way to remove greenhouse gas emissions from Scotland’s buses, and support a strong and diverse domestic manufacturing sector and supply-chain comprised of high quality green jobs; a key element of the Taskforce’s Guiding Vision. All meeting papers and minutes of the Taskforce are published on the CPT Scotland website. Scottish Ministers are committed to partnership working with the STUC and engage actively with the transport unions on issues of strategic importance.

At the most recent meeting of the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce, senior representatives from the manufacturing and supply chain sector confirmed that supply of zero-emission buses in the coming months and years would not be a constraining factor and confirmed an enthusiasm to rise to the challenge of decarbonisation. The Scottish Government is keen to ensure that opportunities for green skills and jobs from this work are realised to their fullest extent. The full minutes of the Taskforce meeting have been published on the CPT website.

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Transport Focus has recently published their ticket office opening hours consultation report along with ScotRail’s response. I will now consider these findings and discuss with the rail trade unions in the coming weeks before making any final decision on this matter.

The budget allocated to the Energy Investment Fund in 2021-22 was up to £13 million, no budget has been allocated for any future financial years. There are new investment mechanisms in place through the Scottish National Investment Bank which supports the Scottish Government's strategic priorities to achieving our net zero ambitions.

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is a short life group comprised of leaders from the bus operating, bus manufacturing, finance, energy and public sectors. Its remit is to explore the hurdles and opportunities in transitioning to a zero emission bus fleet. It is not a decision making body, it does not exercise any statutory functions nor handle any funds and its role includes helping to shape and inform relevant Scottish Government policy commitments.

The Scottish Government is investing £62 million, through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), to support 276 new battery-electric buses and charging infrastructure. 137 of the buses will be built in Falkirk, bringing the total number of buses being built in Scotland with Government support to 344. ScotZEB Phase 1 included a “community benefit” criteria that all bids were scored against. Guidance encouraged bidders to be creative and innovative in finding ways that their bid would deliver wider benefits, giving the example of creating jobs or enhancing economic development, including in the local area. The review of Phase 1 of ScotZEB will consider how this criterion might be strengthened in the future.

We are fortunate that one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emission buses, Alexander Dennis, is headquartered in Scotland. Alexander Dennis’s order book is typically comprised of about 25% of orders from Scottish operators, with the remainder coming from other parts of the UK or beyond, while the highly skilled, green jobs benefit the local community. Through the Falkirk Growth Deal, including £1 million from Scottish Government, ADL will lead on the creation of a Public Transport Net Zero Tech Cluster to focus on cost effective decarbonisation of public transport. This will include the creation of a campus with an R&D centre of excellence, a high-tech incubator and a dedicated flexible carbon neutral manufacturing space.

Up to 930,000 young people aged between 5 and 21 will be eligible for the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme. This is in addition to almost 60,000 young people in this age group who already hold National Entitlement Cards providing access to the existing Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons. The following table provides population estimates calculated by Transport Scotland on the basis of data published by National Records of Scotland.