The Islands Connectivity Plan Strategic Approach paper and the updated Vessels and Ports Plan were published for public consultation on 1 February 2024.

One of the Priorities of the Plan is Low Carbon and ensuring that ferry services take action to reduce the negative environmental impact of their operations and help to achieve Scotland's net-zero targets.

The documents highlight that Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan sets a target that 30% of the Government (CMAL) owned fleet should be low or zero emission vessels by 2032 and that the successful delivery of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme will enable that goal to be met.

Following the public consultation period, the feedback received will be used to inform final versions of both documents by the end of 2024.

The UK Government’s equivalent to Bus Services Improvement Partnerships (BSIPs) in Scotland are “Enhanced Partnerships”. Both models take a similar approach to partnership working, ensuring that operators and local transport authorities collaborate to achieve improved bus provision, but there are some key differences which reflect the Scottish context.

For instance, while both BSIPs and Enhanced Partnerships allow for the setting of requirements in respect of service frequency and timings, they take different approaches to addressing overprovision of services.

Also, BSIPs specifically allow for the setting of maximum fares which is not included in Enhanced Partnerships.

BSIPs schemes are required to include either facilities or measures to be provided by the Local Transport Authority (LTA); Enhanced Partnership schemes may include facilities or measures but these are not required.

Both BSIPs and Enhanced Partnerships have an operator objection mechanism based on the number of operators in an area and the registered distance they operate. The objections mechanism allows operators to object to the proposed making, variation or revocation of a plan or a scheme. The criteria for being excluded from the objection mechanism varies between the two models. The thresholds used to determine what constitutes a "sufficient number of persons" for the purpose of the objection mechanism also differs between the two models, to account for network variations across Scotland.

Furthermore, the Enhanced Partnership model allows, and in certain circumstances requires, the traffic commissioner to delegate to the LTA their registration functions as regards the services within the Enhanced Partnership scheme area. That is not included in BSIPs.

It is important to clarify the difference between Bus services improvement partnerships (BSIPs) in the Scottish and UK context. BSIPs in Scotland are partnerships between local transport authorities and bus operators to improve bus services in their areas, and are equivalent to the UK Government’s Enhanced Partnerships.

In England a Bus Service Improvement Plan or BSIP is a public document prepared by every Local Transport Authority in England, outside London, which sets out the vision and plan for improving bus services and growing bus patronage in their local area, in line with the UK Government’s National Bus Strategy aims. The document referred to in the question is intended to provide guidance for these authorities in updating their BSIPs for 2024.

In Scotland, as stated in the recently published Fair Fares Review, Transport Scotland, working with local government, industry and other stakeholders, will develop a bus service improvement plan and delivery framework, over the next 18 months to improve the future availability of bus services across Scotland.

As the framework is still to be developed, the Scottish Government has not rejected any approach at this time. As we develop the framework we will consider actions taken in other parts of the UK, to determine the most appropriate approach for Scotland. This includes the UK Government’s National Bus Strategy and supporting documents, such as the one mentioned in the question.

The Scottish Government wants a just transition to a fairer, greener transport system for all in Scotland. The final version of the route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km will be published in the coming months. The draft route map recognised the need for its implementation to be flexible to adapt to emerging and changing evidence and it committed to setting out a monitoring and evaluation framework alongside the publication of the final route map. It does not expect car use to reduce equally for all, including some businesses using cars rather than vans, those in rural areas, and those who rely on cars for mobility or other reasons. But for those who are able to change their travel behaviour (travel less; stay local; switch mode and, where those options are not feasible, share or combine a journey) we want to recognise and enable that. Our next Climate Change Plan will also set out our approach to continuing delivery of Scotland’s net zero targets through a just transition.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the latest advice from the Climate Change Committee and remains fully committed to delivering net zero by 2045. We will provide a Scottish Government response to the Climate Change Committee.

Our 2023 Programme for Government included a commitment to publish a final version of the route map to achieving the 20% car kilometre reduction this year, and we look forward to publishing this in the coming months.

The Scottish Government will develop implementing actions to deliver our Vision for Scotland’s Public Electric Vehicle Charging Network in response to the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommendation.

The implementing actions will be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders who share responsibility for delivering public EV charging across Scotland to deliver the right charge points in the right locations to meet the needs of communities across Scotland, including rural and island communities.

The Community Bus Fund is intended to support local transport authorities to improve local public transport in their areas. This can include exploring the full range of options set out in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including Bus Services Improvement Partnerships.

In 2023-24, the Community Bus Fund provided £750,000 in resource funding for transport authorities to complete initial feasibility and preparatory work required for the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. A further £5 million of capital funding was allocated to local authorities, with greater levels of support for rural areas facing different challenges to those in cities.

Since 2011, Transport Scotland has invested over £65 million, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, to support the installation of over 2,800 public EV charge points across Scotland as part of the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) EV charging network. These public EV charge points are owned and operated by over 400 separate public, private and third sector organisations.

As a direct result, Scotland has over 4,880 public EV charge points and the best provision of public charge points per head of population of anywhere in the UK, outside of London, and the most rapid charge points per head of population of any region in the UK.

Overall reliability across the CPS network is typically very good, with all charge points on the network up and running around 95-98% of the time each month . The reliability of EV charge points will soon be regulated following the introduction of new UK-wide Public Charge Point Regulations , which were introduced under powers reserved to the UK Government, and came into force in November last year. All public EV charging networks in Scotland must comply with these new regulations, with the charge point owner and operator responsible for compliance.

The Scottish Government launched a new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (EVIF) in January 2022. Through a partnership approach with Scotland’s local authorities, it aims to leverage £60m of public and private funding to double the network to 6,000 charge points by 2026. A greater commercial sector involvement underpinned by fair, transparent pricing will help to drive up reliability standards across Scotland and encourage more drivers to make the switch to EV

Transport Scotland, through its four Trunk Road Operating Companies and five Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Transport Scotland specify requirements for regular surveys and inspections to ensure that the trunk road network is safe and fit for purpose, and to provide appropriate information to support maintenance decisions. Transport Scotland commission contractors to undertake annual machine-based surveys on trunk roads using specialist vehicles to gather information on the surface integrity of the road; the friction characteristics of the surface; and the structural capacity (strength) of the underlying road construction. This is supplemented with a series of targeted inspections to obtain specific information about the road asset undertaken by Operating Companies under the term maintenance contract. The combined information is used to determine future maintenance programmes and investment requirements.

In addition Operating Companies have a contractual obligation to inspect the trunk road network at 7-day intervals. These inspections are primarily to identify defects that require prompt attention because they present, or could present, an immediate hazard to road users. The Scottish Government fully funds the inspection and repair of all such defects, and the term maintenance contract sets out strict timescales for their repair.

With regard to local roads, local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic. Neither the Scottish Ministers nor the Scottish Government would become directly involved in their day-to-day duties.