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The draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km by 2030, published in January 2022, outlines over 30 interventions across all parts of government to support people reduce their reliance on cars for a fairer, safer, and greener Scotland. The route map is designed to be as inclusive as possible for disabled people’s mobility and access needs, but it recognises that there will be some who cannot reduce their car use, or for whom it will be more challenging.

Just transition considerations run through the route map and reducing the volume of private vehicles on the road can have a number of wider benefits, including helping to create space and improve journey times for those where travel is more car-dependent, such as blue badge holders, buses, the emergency services and freight. Supported by the Transport Just Transition Discussion Paper , published in June 2023, engagement is being undertaken over the Summer, including with disabled people, to co-design the forthcoming draft Transport Just Transition Plan, embedding evidence of protected groups in order to tackle existing inequalities.

I further refer the member to the answer to questions S6O-02079 on 29 March 2023 and S6W-20314 on 28 August 2023.

The answer to the Oral question can be found on the official report and the link can be accessed here: Meeting of the Parliament: 29/03/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

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

There have been no power purchase agreements put in place so far for the sale of self-generated renewable energy to the grid under the current national framework agreement for the supply of electricity for the Scottish public sector. However, the new framework agreement which commences in April 2024 contains provisions for various type of PPAs.

Latest information from the Annual Population Survey (April 2022 to Mar 2023) shows that there are 28,300 people in Scotland who are unemployed for 12 months or more and therefore are long term unemployed.

Through No One Left Behind, we are transforming the employability system to be more responsive in meeting the needs of people and adapting to rapidly changing labour markets. The number of people starting support through No One Left Behind has continued to increase year on year, from 2,818 in year 1 (April 2019 – March 2020) to 17,667 in year 4 (April 2022 – March 2023).

From 1 April 2024, following the end of referrals to Fair Start Scotland in March 2024, employability support for disabled people and those at risk of long-term unemployment will also be provided through No One Left Behind. This is a key step to simplify the employability system in line with ambitions set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation to eradicate structural barriers to labour market participation. Learning and evaluation continues to underpin our ambitions. The Implementation Evaluation of No One Left Behind and the Young Person’s Guarantee was published on 10 August, which offers valuable insight on how we continue to build upon the strengths of local delivery and good practice.

The policy rationale relating to the current age cap for access to living cost loans is to ensure a 5 year gap between the age cap and the UK State Pension Age. This allows students sufficient time to complete their studies, enter repayment and pay back some/all of their student loan.

General and technical information on private water supplies is available on the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland’s website at Technical Guidance and Information (dwqr.scot) and on the Scottish Government's website at Private water supplies (mygov.scot) .Further guidance on protecting private water supplies from developments, in particular forest activities, is available at Guidance documents (confor.org.uk) .

The Scottish Government recognises that social prescribing can be an effective method of improving an individual’s physical, mental and social health. It plays an important role in helping us achieve our commitment to prevention, holistic care and Realistic Medicine. Our Primary Care Community Link Worker programme has been in place since 2014 and a 2017 commitment to create 250 Community Link Worker posts in general practice has been achieved.

Due to the wide range of activity which is described as social prescribing, there are many Scottish Government policies and resources which play a role in supporting its delivery. For example, we recognise the important role played by local organisations in supporting the health and wellbeing of their communities and we are working with the community and voluntary sector to look at how we can enhance the capacity of the sector to help those organisations address the challenges they face. The ongoing development by the ALLIANCE of the ALISS online database helps to provide information on community resources and our Green Health Partnership programme led by NatureScot helps to promote the connection between health and the natural environment.

The Scottish Government has invested significantly in social prescribing through Community Link Workers within general practice. Funding for Community Link Workers in general practice is included within the Primary Care Improvement Fund. Health and Social Care Partnerships decide how to use their Primary Care Improvement Fund allocation to develop local Multi-Disciplinary Teams which incorporate link worker roles.

The Scottish Government also provides funding to Voluntary Health Scotland to manage the Scottish Community Link Worker Network. The aim of the network is to create a space for community link workers in primary care settings in Scotland to come together to share learning and to develop, network and support each other in order to improve outcomes for their patients and communities. Funding is also provided to the Scottish Social Prescribing Network to support those who are undertaking link worker/social prescribing roles in other local schemes.

Vehicle standards remain a reserved matter for the UK Government.

Electric vehicles (EV) have come under scrutiny in regards to the lack of noise emission at lower speeds. Although when driving above 20 mph the road noise from tyres and wind mean that EV noise to pedestrians is virtually identical to petrol/diesel vehicles, but they are far quieter in operation at low speeds than traditional vehicles.

The UK Transport Research Laboratory published a research paper regarding whether adding in additional noise at low speeds for EV’s would be a positive move. Within the research paper it was noted that the audibility of EVs presents a very small risk to pedestrians specifically those who are vision-impaired. More specifically when in urban environments where tyre/ road noise is potentially masked by general background noise.

However ‘added sound’ to improve the audibility of EVs needs to be given careful consideration. There is many factors to take into consideration such as environment, speed and background noise which can all mask the audibility of the vehicle. This makes moves to impose minimum noise limits on vehicles challenging.

The Scottish Government does not collect this type of data.

The Scottish Government regularly publishes data on wealth from the Office for National Statistics Wealth and Assets Survey. The most recent report can be found at Wealth in Scotland 2006-2020 (data.gov.scot) . More detailed analyses are available on the Office for National Statistics website at Household total wealth in Great Britain - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) . The Wealth and Assets Survey includes gifts transferred within a period, but does not measure lifetime intergenerational wealth, or attribution of current assets to intergenerational help.

Analyses looking at intergenerational sources of wealth across the UK have been carried out by various other organisations and the academic sector, for instance Who gives wealth transfers to whom and when? Patterns in the giving and receiving of lifetime gifts and loans | Institute for Fiscal Studies (ifs.org.uk) and Intergenerational Income Mobility in the UK: New evidence using the BHPS and Understanding Society .

I refer the member to the question S6W-20602 on
‎ 29 August 2023. 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