Seòmar agus comataidhean

Thank you, Malini. I am really pleased that you mentioned the climate assembly. I believe that the Scottish Government will be responding to its recommendations next month.

I am very proud of the role of children and young people in the lead up to COP26—as I am sure most of us are. I want to pay tribute to the Children’s Parliament and the Scottish Youth Parliament. It was lovely to see young people involved at the GLOBE summit at the Scottish Parliament.

We have talked about the role of the Parliament and there has been good public engagement during COP26. Not everyone is an avid COP watcher—if Professor Skea is not, what chance do the rest of us have? What happens next for those citizens who have been paying attention—perhaps not to all the details—and want to see progress? How do we ensure that the public does not lose heart, get disappointed and feel that there is no point if certain countries are not playing their part? What must happen next to ensure the participation of all our constituents and that they have a role in holding all our feet to the fire outwith election times?

The issue is important. Citizens Advice goes on to say that many more people will face fuel poverty this winter and could face

“turning off their fridges and freezers, relying on hot water bottles for warmth and requesting support to buy extra duvets and blankets.”

None of us wants to live in such a society.

Energy companies and charities have called for the introduction of a social tariff—that is different from what Anna Rossington has talked about—for those who are already in fuel poverty, which would offer a tariff below the price cap. How could that be implemented to ensure that the most vulnerable households are protected from the recent price increases? More generally, given our interest in net zero, how can we be sure that the journey to net zero will not push households further into fuel poverty?

I would like to bring us back to the UK energy crisis. A report that Citizens Advice published last week found that consumers who are moved to a new supplier typically pay £30 a month more than before.

Jonathan Brearley said that all of Ofgem’s work is about supporting the consumer. How can Ofgem ensure that effective competition is promoted in the wholesale and retail markets while ensuring that energy is affordable to all consumers?

Good morning to the panel and to Professor Turner’s cat, who made a nice appearance a moment ago.

I return to your report, Professor Docherty, about which Mark Ruskell has asked questions already. You were modest about the attention that the report has received and some of the headlines that it prompted, but you are a former non-executive director of ScotRail and Transport Scotland, so you are a person of influence.

Your report is correct in saying that Scotland’s rail network has a central role to play in our meeting Scotland’s climate change targets, and you made an important point about making the shift from car to train. I am not sure, and the public is confused, about how the proposed service cuts, closures of ticket offices and job losses will help us to meet those climate change targets. Surely, those measures will make that objective more difficult—making people feel less safe and secure, and making train travel less accessible to them—and run counter to the race to net zero.

There are also concerns about the equality impact of some of those proposals. We are hearing a lot in the media now about women’s safety and about the rise in hate crime against disabled people and people of colour on our railways. If we want to change behaviours and give people the confidence to get on the trains, how will all those cuts help?

Thank you, Professor Docherty. I have found my notes from earlier, when I was scribbling down what you were saying in response to Mark Ruskell. You talked about having a plan for doubling the number of rail passengers. I am not sure whether that plan exists yet, but I am interested in what you think it should include.

Going back to public confidence and mood, during the pandemic, people were advised not to use public transport and, if they were travelling by car, not to car share. How do we use public messaging to shift that advice? I have not heard a lot of new advice telling people to get back on the bus and train. Morale is very low among key transport workers including rail workers, there is an industrial dispute and the number of strikes might increase during COP26. How do the Government, Transport Scotland, ScotRail and the trade unions cut through all that and find some agreement, so that we can get the travelling public back on to public transport and out of private cars?

I have questions for Zero Waste Scotland and for SEPA. I will start with Zero Waste Scotland.

According to the latest SEPA data, progress on recycling has slowed and reversed. Less than 45 per cent of household waste in Scotland was recycled in 2019, and there are huge variations across the country. In East Renfrewshire, which is at the top of the league table, almost 60 per cent of household waste was recycled; in South Lanarkshire, where I live, the figure was 46 per cent; in Glasgow, which is hosting COP26, it was 25 per cent; and, in Shetland, it was only 17 per cent. Why are we not making more progress on recycling rates in Scotland? What needs to be done to rapidly improve the situation?

As well as the ability to access buses for free, we need to make sure that everyone, including young people, has access to bus services in the first place. On Friday, I joined some of the thousands of youth climate strikers in Glasgow, who are marching ahead of COP26 and who all want sustainable travel. One issue that was raised with me was reductions in bus services. Having the free bus pass is great, but if there is no bus to get on, it is not much use to anyone. With regard to that holistic approach, what is the Government doing to make sure that communities, including students, have proper bus services? My area has lost the X1 bus and, on Friday, students from the University of the West of Scotland also told me that the special bus that was put on when the campus moved stops running at 5 o’clock, and that is not much good to students in Lanarkshire. Can the minister and his team take that away and look at it as well, please?

Thank you.

I hear what you say about other metrics, other measurements and different ways to benchmark. However, a national target was set to increase household recycling to 60 per cent by 2020. We are way off the mark. The figures are worrying and, in part, embarrassing. Are we measuring the wrong thing entirely? If so, why do we have those targets in the first place?

Thank you. I wish the Children’s Parliament well with the launch of the Climate Changemakers scheme.

I have a question for Liam Fowley. Earlier this morning, we took evidence from the transport minister, and I am pleased that the committee supported the statutory instrument on increasing the national bus travel concession scheme to include 19 to 21-year-olds. I know that many people would like that to go further, so that it includes people up to the age of 25, and I know that there is a wider campaign to go further again. From the point of view of the Scottish Youth Parliament, how important is it that those under 25 have access to that scheme? You talked about some of the challenges in rural areas about access to bus services. How much of a problem is that? If we do not have good public services, can people really play their part in decarbonising transport and helping to address climate change?