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Experiences are different in different parts of the country. We know that the availability of bus drivers has a considerable impact on the reliability of services. If there are no bus drivers, that causes an issue. The situation seems to be improving slightly, but, again, it all depends on the wages and on operators’ conditions of service—indeed, the operators that want to keep and retain drivers have worked on that issue—as well as on really important recruitment drives in different parts of the country to try to get more people to train as bus drivers.

I want a strong, sustainable, reliable, affordable, accessible bus system, and that will rely on local authorities and bus operators being able to work in partnership. As Mr Doris, I think, pointed out, we face big challenges coming out of the pandemic, but we all need to work collectively to identify how to address them, given that, as we all know, bus services are frequently the issues that our constituents contact us about.

Motion agreed to,

That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the Bus Services Improvement Partnerships (Objections) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 [draft] be approved.

Good morning, committee members. Thank you for inviting me to discuss the draft Bus Services Improvement Partnerships (Objections) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 was designed to make Scotland’s transport network cleaner, smarter and more accessible than ever before. For bus services specifically, it provides an enhanced suite of flexible options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to local needs. The 2019 act offers wider powers for local transport authorities to run their own services, and it provides viable options for partnership working and franchising. Bus services improvement partnerships—or BSIPs, as they are known—provide a formal form of partnership working between local transport authorities and bus operators, with both sides working together to develop a partnership plan and related schemes to improve services in their area, and with both taking joint responsibility for delivery.

Once a bus services improvement partnership is in place, all operators in the area are required to meet the service standards that it sets out, regardless of whether they supported its development. As such, the objection process is key to ensuring that bus operators in an area are able to meaningfully engage with the BSIP, as it provides a mechanism for them to object to proposals. That ensures that the final partnership is based on mutual agreement and buy-in from both the transport authorities and operators so that they can serve the needs of local communities.

The regulations that are under consideration today prescribe who can object to a BSIP when it is being made, varied or revoked, and the minimum number of objections that are needed to pause or halt the proposals. A local transport authority can progress with a proposal only if a sufficient number of operators do not object. The regulations are intended to balance the right of a local transport authority to bring forward a BSIP against the right of operators to object to what is proposed.

In developing the regulations, we have sought to account for the significant variations in local bus markets across Scotland and have considered the wide range of possible scenarios in which a BSIP may be developed. We have also sought to ensure that no single operator is able to have undue influence in a BSIP. We have engaged closely with key stakeholders such as local authority transport officers and operators. Their involvement in the development of the mechanism and the regulations has been crucial in creating a practical approach that is designed to address local needs flexibly. The regulations are a key part of creating successful partnerships between local transport authorities and operators in order to improve services for passengers.

I am happy to answer any questions that members have.

There are three different models: the bus company, the partnership—the regulations that you have before you are about objections to setting partnerships up in a more formal way—and franchising. We expect to provide—this might help in relation to the previous question—more guidance and help, including by sharing best practice that will have been learned from elsewhere in relation to the different models. It is early doors when it comes to local authorities setting up their own bus companies. It is up to them; it is not up to us. We would keep a watching brief, as would the committee, but this is an issue that you might want to raise with the transport officers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities or the councils themselves.

There are different bus markets in different areas, and some are stronger than others. The patronage of buses has not recovered to its previous level. The vast majority of local authorities, apart from in Lothian, rely on private operators. There is a tension if councils want to set up their own bus company, which would then be in competition with those operators; there are also competition law issues in relation to bus operators. At the same time, although they are dependent just now on all the different operators and companies for the sustainability of bus services, some local authorities may want to take that step of setting up their own companies. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 allows them to do that, but they have to take the step themselves and have confidence that they are in a position to do that. That is for them; it is not for us.

We can keep a watching brief, and that is what we would do. When I visit local authorities—I have visited a number of them—they can share with me the state that they have got to and the steps that they are taking but, again, that is for them. It is not for me to account for them in this committee, because I do not want to misrepresent them in any way.

Buses would be bought through a capital fund. It is not necessarily our responsibility to fund local authorities to buy buses, but we have funded and supported them significantly to transfer buses within their local areas. As has been indicated, the operating model for Lothian Buses is different from that of others in relation to the transfer from diesel buses to electric ones. In the case of Aberdeen, the transfer is to hydrogen. That has happened through bids for capital funding.

I think that you are talking about the operation of buses. Local authorities have a responsibility to help when there is a problem. For example, some operators have pulled out of some areas. About £55 million has been spent by local authorities in that regard. That is part of the local government settlement.

On the development of the powers in the 2019 act, local authorities are interested in different models and are trying to take forward that work, which is primarily policy work. If they come up with their own solutions, they will have to take them to their own committees and so on. However, funding for the development and policy work is available, as it was previously.

With regard to your question about the 2024-25 budget and whether all the local authorities will do everything overnight and set up everything next year, I am not aware of the pace of the work being such that there would be major demands on the 2024-25 budget.

Ideally, yes, but the pressures in the bus market, particularly coming through the pandemic with the reduced number of people using the bus service, are challenging that. That is why it is more important than ever that our local authorities look at models that can help to provide a reliable, sustainable service in their area that is less reliant on subsidy because, over the piece, there is enough income. That also includes trying to increase patronage.

We have some estimates, but again we are working with SCOTS—that is, the transportation officers—and with local authorities on what they think that they will need. Obviously, it is part of the on-going discussion that we are having with COSLA and local authorities.

It would be a commonsense approach for a local authority to determine in its own local area whether it has such bays and what it needs. It is important to understand that you have in front of you the regulations for the enforcement and the penalties and so on. It will be a matter for local authorities to establish in their own local areas how, and the degree to which, the regulations are enforced and how the exemptions—as opposed to the areas that are already designated for parking—are treated.

Thank you for inviting me to provide evidence on the Parking Prohibitions (Enforcements and Accounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2023.

As members are aware, the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 prohibits pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs and provides for penalty charges to apply where those prohibitions are contravened. To support that, the regulations laid in Parliament last month provide local authorities with the procedure to follow when enforcing the parking prohibitions. That will enable them to issue penalty charge notices to those in contravention of those prohibitions of £100, reducing to £50 if paid within 14 days.

That brings to a conclusion a significant package of work that was progressed following the implementation of the act, including regulations that were brought into force in December 2022 that gave local authorities a procedure to follow to exempt areas of footway in their areas from the pavement parking prohibitions. We have also progressed commencement regulations to bring the relevant provisions of the act into force. Passing these regulations will be the final part of enabling those important parking prohibitions to come into effective operation.

Earlier this year, as part of the development of the regulations, a public consultation was carried out. Almost 500 responses were received from a mix of individuals, local authorities and community councils. The feedback from the consultation showed that the public are overwhelmingly in support of the regulations to improve accessibility on our roads and pavements.

My officials have been working closely with local authorities across Scotland to assist them in preparing for the regulations coming into force. The input received was vital in shaping the regulations that are now under discussion. In addition, my officials continue to work closely with local authorities and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to identify what further funding will be required to facilitate the implementation of the regulations and provide support to authorities in setting up back-office functions to enforce the regulations effectively.

The regulations and the subsequent parking standards guidance, which will go hand in hand with the regulations, are needed to provide local authorities with a procedure to follow when enforcing the parking prohibitions and will be in line with the powers that are provided in the 2019 act. They also set out the procedures to be followed in relation to the appeals process and the circumstances in which a penalty charge notice may be appealed. The regulations also lay out the procedures to be followed in respect of the keeping of accounts and the purposes for which any financial surplus can be used.

It is important to stress that inconsiderate, obstructive or dangerous parking can and does cause serious problems for everyone and puts the safety of pedestrians and other motorists in jeopardy. The parking prohibitions are aimed at promoting, supporting and advancing the rights of pavement users, to ensure that our pavements and roads are accessible for all. Transport Scotland will also launch an awareness campaign in the coming days to ensure that the public are aware of the new regulations and the fact that local authorities will have the power to issue and enforce penalty charge notices from 11 December, should the regulations be approved by Parliament.

The campaign will focus on changing the behaviour of drivers who park inconsiderately and on raising awareness of the impact that that can have on all pavement users. I am happy to answer any questions that the committee might have on the content of the regulations.

The guidance is being prepared and finalised. Mr Doris makes a very good point, and I am sure that, if it is not already shaped in the guidance, we could consider putting it in. It is a very good point; it is not about whether the regulations have either a mass impact or an impact on the quality of life for one individual, because both are important.