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The Scottish Government provided £223 million of support to bus services throughout the Covid pandemic. The Network Support Grant Plus was always a temporary fund put in place to support bus services as patronage recovered following the Covid 19 Pandemic. Travel has changed following the pandemic with amended service levels and new passenger travel patterns, therefore it is important that the support we give transport operators continues to evolve as the network adapts and make sure it remains fit for purpose and is sustainable long term.

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of bus services and is committed, in conjunction with operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of improving services. The Scottish Government continues to invest in the bus network to support long term growth The Network Support Grant, which keeps fares more affordable and networks more extensive than would otherwise be the case, continues to be available in 2023 - 2024 and the Scottish Government is providing extra funding to support a marketing campaign to encourage people back to bus.

The Scottish Government will publish the commissioned demand management research in the coming months.

The Scottish Government welcomes the recognition of the need for urgent action in order to deliver our climate policies and deliver a net zero Scotland by 2045. As outlined in our route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030, jointly developed with COSLA, the scale of the climate challenge means that we need to take forward a broad combination of interventions including infrastructure, incentives and regulatory actions, taking into account the needs of people on low incomes to help ensure a just transition to net-zero.

A key interdependency of the Scottish Government’s approach to demand management and car use dis-incentivisation is the position of the UK Government on the future of motoring taxes. The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are reserved to the UK Government, who acknowledged in their Net Zero Review that revenues from existing motoring taxes will decline sharply this decade as we transition away from fossil fuels and the taxes based on them. However the UK Government has so far consistently failed to set out how they will address this.

The development and publication of the demand management framework by 2025 does not, however, preclude earlier action. Existing legislation provides a suite of options for local authorities to implement according to their local needs and circumstances and Transport Scotland will continue to work with local and regional partners as part of its collaborative approach.

Transport Scotland is taking an evidence-based approach to what might work to discourage unnecessary car travel including learning from what others are doing across the UK and in other countries. We have commissioned research on equitable options for car demand management, referred to in S6W-15653 on 21 March 2023. Using the findings of this and other research, we will work with local and regional partners to develop options and proposals to support the 20% car km reduction target for inclusion within the Demand Management framework. We are now looking at the most appropriate way to review the existing powers conferred on local authorities which can support this objective, to ensure they are fit for purpose for use in the future.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The demand management research referred to in S6W-16545 considers carefully the analysis of possible equality impacts of demand management options including road pricing, along with potential mitigations such as exemptions, allowances and complementary measures which may be applied to those on low incomes and those living in remote rural areas. Monitoring of potential future road pricing schemes is not possible until if and when such schemes have been developed together with appropriate monitoring and evaluation approaches.

Freight works on a commercial basis so the decision to move products by rail is a decision for the customer and its logistics provider.

However, I can confirm that a dedicated express rail logistics service is currently running into Scotland. This service which runs between Birmingham and Mossend, started with a trial period on 17 October 2022 followed by a full operational service running five nights a week from 9 January 2023, is operated by Varamis Rail.

(a) Transport Scotland received the following number of applications for the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme since 2018:

2018-19 2 applications for support in Scotland and contributed to 6 cross border flows.

2019-20 2 applications for support in Scotland and contributed to 5 cross border flows.

2020-21 2 applications for support in Scotland and contributed to 5 cross border flows.

2021-22 2 applications for support in Scotland and contributed to 6 cross border flows.

2022-23 2 applications for support in Scotland and contributed to 7 cross border flows.

(b) Transport Scotland received the following number of applications for the Freight Facilities Grant scheme since 2018:

2018-19 - 0

2019-20 - 1

2020-21 - 1

2021-22 - 0

2022-23 - 2

The Scottish Government recognises that overstay fees have a role to play in ensuring the public charging network is used efficiently and that bays are not occupied by a single user, and therefore unavailable to others, for extended periods of time.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and overstay charges lies with charge point owners. A shift towards a public charging network largely financed and operated by the commercial sector is necessary to grow the network at pace and improve the customer experience overall. To support that, it’s vital that the public charging network has tariffs and fees which are fair, sustainable and which enable the growth and maintenance of the network. There are 680 public charge points out of 2475 on the ChargePlace Scotland network where an overstay fee applies.

Evidence over the last 6 months shows a continued growth in usage across the ChargePlace Scotland network with increases of approximately 25% in new driver account registrations, 8% in charge sessions and 13% increase in Kwh being drawn. Statistics published by the Committee on Climate Change in 2022 highlight that the share of total new car sales in Scotland which are electric rose from approximately 8% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency. To help incentivise this shift, Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have since 2011 invested over £65 million to support a range of organisations – including local authorities, other public bodies, businesses and third sector organisations – to install public charge points across Scotland. These organisations own the charge point infrastructure, and many of them use back-office services provided by ChargePlace Scotland, which is funded by Scottish Ministers.

A shift towards a public charging network largely financed and operated by the commercial sector is necessary to grow the network at pace and improve the consumer experience overall. To support that, the Scottish Government recognises that it’s vital that the public charging network has tariffs which are fair, sustainable and which enable the growth and maintenance of the network.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and overstay charges on ChargePlace Scotland lies with charge point owners. In considering whether to set a tariff, owners may consider a range of factors including local circumstances, utilisation levels and running costs. ChargePlace Scotland routinely provides charge point owners with data relating to the utilisation of their assets. ChargePlace Scotland do not advise charge point owners on tariff levels or overstay fees, however, they may signpost owners to the EV Association of Scotland (an independent group who represent the interests of EV users) website where tariff guidance can be found.

The shift to electric vehicles is an important part of responding to the climate emergency. To help incentivise this shift, Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have since 2011 invested over £65 million to support a range of organisations to install public charge points across Scotland.

Responsibility for setting tariffs and determining the terms of when tariffs and overstay charges are levied lies with these charge point owners. In considering whether to set a tariff, owners will consider a range of factors including local circumstances, utilisation and cost. ChargePlace Scotland implements the tariff set by the owner and manages the reimbursement of tariffs from the driver to the owner, including any overstay fees incurred.

The table below sets out the number of charge sessions where an overstay fee has been applied over the last 6 months, and the total value of such fees. If the member wishes more historic data, I would ask him to specify the time period and my officials will be happy to provide this.