Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes. What happens if you are—

I think that that would be a better way to pursue the matter.

I would like to be able to answer your question, but I think that it would be inappropriate for me to do so at this committee meeting.

Yes.

Colleagues might be able to update some of my figures, but 46.2 per cent of journeys under 2 miles were made by walking or cycling in 2022, and the figure for journeys under 5 miles was 2.1 per cent. However, statistically, those figures were not much different from the figures in 2019. I acknowledge that performance might not be as strong as we might expect or want, given the level of investment that we have made, but if we do not have investment to encourage people and make those options available, that is obviously an issue in itself.

I am sure that we will have the figures for 2023 at some point, but I do not know when that will be—perhaps one of my colleagues can tell me.

I do not know the details—I am sure that the committee’s researchers can look into this—but the hands-up survey is conducted annually in schools to get an understanding of who travels to school by walking or cycling. That information is available. I do not have it at my fingertips, but we can follow up with the committee if you are interested in that.

There are still challenges in how we get the best use of our walking and cycling infrastructure. However, the more people use public transport, the more they will walk. When I commute by rail, which I do frequently, I spend more of my journey time walking than I spend on the train, and I know that people who use buses will walk more in order to use them, so we need to look at these things in totality.

One of the big benefits of the Levenmouth rail link, which opened just last week, is the active travel part, which will help to connect communities across the Levenmouth area, not just from end to end.

Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to have been asked to continue as Cabinet Secretary for Transport by the First Minister. It is a privilege and an honour to be asked to serve in John Swinney’s Cabinet and to play a part in delivering on his Government’s core priorities.

As members all know, transport is vital to every aspect of our nation’s economic and social wellbeing. It plays a key role in all our lives. It helps to build and maintain relationships with people who are important to us; it helps businesses to get the goods and services that they need to thrive; and it helps communities to become and stay connected, which enables everyone who lives there to get around.

This weekend, I was delighted to join the celebrations with local communities at the reopening of the railway to Levenmouth. The railway forms part of a multimodal investment that will open up more access to leisure, economic, employment and educational opportunities, alongside improving the connectivity to and from the area for residents, visitors and businesses.

We have recently extended our ScotRail peak fares removal pilot until 27 September. The removal of that cost is helping many individuals and families to cope with the on-going cost of living crisis, and it is a financial benefit that really matters to people. However, I am also keen for cheaper fares to be available at all times of the day, and I am keen for such a move to encourage more people to use the train. We have listened to the many positive benefits that the removal of peak fares has had so far, and to continue with that, we need more people to choose to travel by train, not least to help cut transport emissions.

In the past few days, enforcement of the low-emission zones has commenced in Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Although air quality in our cities has improved over recent years, there is no safe level of air pollution, and those zones will help to save lives. Recent research highlights that improving air quality and measures such as LEZs remain essential to keeping children safe and protecting public health.

We are making good progress on the A9 dualling programme. We are on track to award the Tomatin to Moy contract in early summer, and we launched the procurement for the Tay crossing to Ballinluig dualling project as planned.

We have also published the recommendations of our fair fares review to help us to move further forward towards an available, affordable and accessible public transport system, and we have published our islands connectivity plan.

I am proud of the Government’s track record on transport, not least because of our investment in vital infrastructure such as road improvements, the new Queensferry crossing, new railway stations, low-carbon buses and new ferries. There is more to do, but our ambition is hampered by the cuts to the Scottish capital budget that have been made by the United Kingdom Government. In addition, the 2025-26 budget settlement is one of the toughest that we have faced in recent years. I hope that members will at least acknowledge that, and I would welcome the committee’s support in pressing the case for more capital funding from the incoming UK Government for transport and wider Scottish needs.

I am focused on maintaining the assets that we already have, to keep our essential transport network operating for Scotland. Rail investment priorities will focus on fleet decisions, while work will continue on expanding the electric vehicle public charging network and supporting the procurement of zero-emission and ultra-low-emission vehicles and buses.

I am committed to the reform of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service contract, and good progress is being made on the construction of major ferries for the Little Minch. I will continue with bus sector reform, while maintaining Scotland-wide concessionary bus travel schemes, which help people who are in the greatest need.

As everyone is aware, we are in a pre-election period. In that context, issues of some sensitivity may be under discussion today, but I will attempt to answer the committee’s questions as transparently as possible. I look forward to continuing to work with committee members and to hearing your questions this morning.

The £500 million in support of buses is a long-term funding commitment. That was made before there were a lot of the fiscal pressures that we know all of Government faces in different areas.

In a previous appearance before the committee, I think that I said that I was frustrated that we have had to pause the bus partnership fund, because it is a helpful enabler to give confidence to the bus sector, which is really important, and to provide access improvements. When people see that they can travel more readily, we can see improvements. The experience in Aberdeen, where there has been a 25 per cent reduction in journey times by bus—that has benefited 600,000 people—shows the attractiveness of travelling by bus and switching from car, not necessarily for all journeys but for some of them. That can make a difference.

How do I transparently express that in the current circumstances in which we find ourselves? I am actively pursuing finding ways to reallocate funding or jointly fund with other projects that might help us to move forward in that area. I cannot give you a direct answer to the question, Ms Lennon, but I reassure you that I am trying to unlock that so that we can unpause the fund, because it is a vital connection. In tight fiscal circumstances, a lot of climate change and transport improvements that are not legally or financially contracted have been difficult for us to advance in the past year.

In all those projects, not least on trunk roads, it is clear that there are issues around making sure that planning purposes and processes are robust so that you do not get challenges and so on. I heard about the experience in Aberdeen, for example, when I visited to hear about the trunk roads there.

I declare an interest in relation to using the motorway network, convener, because I represent a central Scotland constituency and have been pursuing park and ride at constituency level for precisely those reasons. I declare that I am recused in my ministerial listings.

That funding has been paused. It is a process issue as well as a funding issue, and I know how important considering bus lane access to Glasgow and Edinburgh is for constituencies in the central belt. The committee will know that there are more advanced issues around bus lanes in Edinburgh, particularly in relation to coming over from Fife, but there are more opportunities there. I want to be careful in what I say, because I have a personal interest as a constituency MSP in those areas, so I defer to Alison Irvine, or whoever might be more appropriate, as she might be able to say things more safely.

Yes, indeed.

I will also say that ScotRail’s public performance measure is currently at 90.4 per cent, compared with the average of 87.1 per cent for Great Britain. In terms of how we drive that forward, passenger satisfaction is currently sitting at 89 per cent for ScotRail, compared with a GB average of 85 per cent. I want to press ScotRail to do more. Following the meeting with ScotRail and Network Rail, perhaps I can return to the committee with their assessment of performance and how they want collectively to drive forward the performance figure.

Am I allowed to ask a question, convener? We have previously discussed that the committee will probably have quite a key role in oversight of delivery of the A9 project. I am quite interested in understanding how the committee wants to work on that. I think that committees had similar functions in relation to the Queensferry crossing, which was another major exercise. It would be helpful to know, perhaps after the meeting, how the committee plans to do that.