the next item of business is a debate on motion 3650 in the name of patrick harvey on delivering on active travel commitments i would be grateful of members who wish to speak in the debate where to press their request to speak buttons and i call on patrick harvey to speak to and move the motion up to 10 minutes minister thank you presiding officer and i'm genuinely delighted to be able to do so it's the first opportunity for us to debate to travel in this section of parliament and the first opportunity for me to set out my priorities since becoming the minister for active travel and doing that i want to highlight three themes around choice delivery and leadership over the last couple of years many many more people in scotland have chosen to walk wheel or cycle they've discovered new ways to see their neighborhood and interact with other people around them they've discovered the social health and well-being benefits of making those choices and they've discovered joy in less congestion quieter streets and cleaner air but the political choices that have been made over the last 60 years don't make it easy for them choices made in past decades about the location of shops or services the layout of streets the design of footways and junctions the sheer volume of traffic that we've generated and the car centered culture that we've allowed to develop all of these conspire to make the choice to walk wheel or cycle which should be the natural first choice for many many more people at times feel like a choice in the face of adversity so for everyone who said to me how much they've relished the freedom to walk wheel or cycle more someone else has said that they feel apprehensive about doing so as did i when i moved back to glasgow i had been a regular cyclist as a student in manchester with europe's busiest bus route as my daily commute but even compared with that my home city didn't feel safe to cycling then there are people who tell me they do need their car for certain trips but they would happily leave it behind in favor of active travel or public transport for the majority of their travel so active travel choices are not binary choices so my job and i believe our job as parliament is to make the political choices and the personal choices come together that's why i'm very pleased to be overseeing the biggest ever budget for active travel in scotland's history 150 million pounds next year and a big step on the way to our commitment to allocate 320 million pounds or 10 percent of scotland's transport budget to walking wheeling and cycling by 2425.
It's a level of investment equating to 58 pounds per person in scotland far above 10 pound ahead in england and 23 in wales in two years time our commitment will also outstrip the per capita spend of the netherlands now admittedly our dutch friends have been at it rather longer than we have illustrating how important sustained investment over a long period of time is and how investment in active travel needs to be part of a much bigger picture of how we plan our and design our streets towns and cities but this is about more than just money dutch levels of walking wheeling and cycling didn't get to where they are now simply by allocating budget it's how that money is spent that also counts so over this year i've set in motion a full review of how we deliver such a rapidly growing program i want to ensure that our delivery model for active travel makes the most of the scale of investment that we're putting in uh i'm not sure who i heard first uh mr whittle i think possibly brian whittle i think patrick harvey for teen intervention my colleague to let me do this i wanted to highlight did you be talking about budget there minister i wanted to highlight i've gone through this before a third sector organization in my area cycle station who over the last year have recycled and sold affordable bikes to tune up 650 bikes to the cost of nothing to the scottish government aren't they showing us where our money should be and how we should invest and how we should actually deliver on your uh on active travel minister there is a there is a huge amount of community leadership in places right across scotland we will get the greatest benefit from supporting that community leadership through scottish government policies and spending as well i want to maximize the role that active travel has in the wider transition to a sustainable transport system with fewer unnecessary journeys and there's there's really no time to wait so um i'm pleased to announce uh over 300 000 pounds to develop a national dashcam safety portal with police scotland with more and more of us using cameras not just on dashboards but on handlebars and even on our clothing will make it easier to report crimes that put people particularly cyclists and pedestrians in danger it's why we're also sustaining our headline places for everyone program and more than doubling investment in the national cycle network next year these programs will deliver the connected network that's so important so that we can talk just as meaningfully about a path and cycleway network as we do about the road or rail network a lot of that delivery will happen in partnership with local authorities which is why we're also increasing the capital funding program for cycling and walking and safer routes which goes directly to local authorities from 24 million pounds to 35 million next year that means over a period of four years direct local authority funding will have increased four-fold and i look forward to working with the newly mandated councils from may onwards on turning uh those pounds into projects now every part of our i'll take another yes lame care just on that point the minister will however i'm sure acknowledge kosler's point that local authority budgets have been cut by 100 million pounds in the last budget so how can they be expected to deliver on what we all want to see them do yeah minister i i think the member knows we'll always continue to debate local authority funding and i don't agree with the way that the conservatives interpret the figures but i but i do say but i do say that across the country we do now see examples not everywhere but examples where local authorities are giving their real leadership so they are clearly capable of doing so and our increased funding to them will support them i want to pick out a few specific strands of our program today the first uh which i'm announcing today is the new ian finley pass fund managed by pass for all it's named in memory of the past for all chief officer ian finley who very sadly passed away suddenly last year and was a passionate and hugely respected advocate for active travel this new 1.5 million pound fund will support small local projects to make improvements to existing path infrastructure and make connections where there are gaps in the network it'll demonstrate that transformation isn't just about big city or town center changes it's as much about connecting remote communities and making our neighborhoods better places to live in move around and relax in and i hope that ian who would have turned 61 today would approve the second aspect of the program that i want to pick out uh just now is to highlight that active travel is inclusive travel walking wheeling and cycling should be choices for the maximum number of people through our development and rollout of street design guidance and through the projects we fund i want to see that acted travel as a choice for everyone i i need to make some some progress i'm afraid that's why for example i was pleased to announce a further 825 000 pounds uh to support 36 innovative e-bike projects across scotland to the e-bike grant fund this fund includes support for non-standard and adapted bikes and the third delivery arm that i wanted to pick out today is the work that we're doing with children and young people the uh the impact for example uh of the under 22 free bus travel policy that's been implemented this year will be even greater alongside the work that we're doing to make it easier for young people to walk wheel and cycle in the last year we've invested 1.3 million pounds in bike ability training for schools in 31 local authorities that's supporting 47 percent of schools to deliver on road training and next year we'll more than double our grant funding to living street scotland to over half a billion pounds for programs including walk once a week involving over a hundred thousand primary school children and their families in 26 local authority areas to encourage them to walk to school i know just how passionately young people care about the climate emergency and about the future of our world they challenge us to respond to that passion so our job is to give them the choices over sustainable travel that rise to that challenge and it's the full package that's going to make the difference supporting active travel choices and delivering projects also comes down to leadership at every level i don't doubt that over the next hour and a half we're going to hear sincere and powerful arguments in favor of active travel all political parties in this chamber went into the last election with significant commitments on active travel in their manifestos and i hope that we're going to have a debate that echoes that sincerity and that significance but too often sadly that support both at local and national levels can disappear when it comes to projects on the ground it's not enough to support active travel in principle and then stand in the way of project after project actually happening and too often what we see is delay dilution and disruption even the opportunism sometimes of those who complain about an imaginary war on motorists clear and consistent leadership is so important in order to ensure that people can choose to walk wheel and cycle more often we also have to choose so presiding officer we make choices on who gets priority for finite road space choices on speed versus safety choices about changing our car culture and achieving a sustained reduction in traffic levels choices about what we want our future uh to look like and our places to feel like i'm afraid i'm just closing so in in winding up presiding officer choice delivery and leadership scotland can be a nation where walking wheeling and cycling are the first and natural choice for so many more people we can deliver transformed paths roads streets and communities more swiftly and more inclusively over the next 90 minutes let's demonstrate that we have the vision and the leadership to make that happen and move the motion thank you i now call on graeme simpson to speak to and move amendment 3650.3 up to eight minutes please well thank you very much presiding officer this is the first transport debate that patrick harvey's led on in his portfolio since he was elevated to the heights of becoming a government minister so it was with eager anticipation that i prepared for it i imagine that the de facto deputy first minister would be spelling out a list of his achievements and laying out specific actions to come with delivery dates and costings you would expect that the new kind of politics promised by mr harvey and miss slater would usher in a waffle-free era where vagueness is banished to the dustbin or the incinerator for this is an s p green scotland where there is still no moratorium on them it is with some exasperation therefore that i discover that mr harvey has very quickly settled into his new role by reading the snp ministerial rule book rule one turn up for photo calls that projects that you've had no hand in but take the credit anyway we had that at bowling rule two talk big but don't deliver rule three consultations and buzzwords please but no promises the electors won't notice then we have mr harvey's own personal rules harvey rule one don't change how you act now you're a minister that's actually it and we saw that when he refused to wear a helmet when turning up for a ministerial photoshop for a bikeability event now i've listened to the minister's speech and i have to say i am disappointed he and i do share the same ambitions on active travel but let's be clear there's a huge gap between what the government says is its ambition and the actual delivery on the ground and that's been the case for yours now mr harvey may wish to take credit for getting the snp to agree with our own position that 10 of the transport budget should be spent on active travel but he's now responsible for making sure that it happens and i do wish him every success and he may wish to work with other parties to achieve that if he wants to reach out for me i'm all ears and i will reach out to him now let's work together on this one area of policy where we agree travel of all forms as you know presiding officer is interlinked so i won't just talk about active travel the scottish government wants to see a 20 reduction in car miles by 2030 so within eight years they want to see us all using cars a fifth less than we do now how that's going to happen we don't actually know i don't think anyone in transport scotland knows and i suspect the minister doesn't know either yes stephen grateful to graham says for giving way i mean the minister said that his party is not responding but there's nobody from his party he rather than the minister actually that's point worth making but he says he's not conducting a war on motorists but he's actively supported have actually supported the glasgow greens who wish to ban all drive-throughs in glasgow i mean i mean is that not a war on motorists graham simpson well i i do think there's a war on motorists going on and i think what the government wants to do is to make it diff it's so difficult to own and drive a car that you just give up what they don't have is a plan to make the alternative to cars better councils are finally going to get the powers to run bus services but the regulations won't be through until next year and it's not clear whether they'll get financial help we must assume not so it'll be some years before anything worthwhile happens if at all and if we talk about active travel walking cycling and wheeling here we have to pin our hopes on some speedy delivery where better to turn than stpr2 still in its draft stage it talks of active travel freeways which is an american word they're described as segregated active travel routes on main travel corridors all sounds good but no one i talk to seems to know what is meant and where the first earmark for 2025 will be now by 24 25 at least 320 million or 10 percent of the total transport budget should be allocated to active travel and that is a major increase in a very short space of time and i welcome it but it will be councils that deliver on it and apart from glasgow and edinburgh they don't have the resources to deliver at scale this is a serious issue and i would ask what the minister intends to do about it you can as the minister has recognized see good and bad schemes across the country some of the infrastructure that's been put in in glasgow is very good in my view edinburgh which jeremy balfour will talk about has been less impressive it's steamrolled schemes through by bypassing troublesome counsellors and communities and making frankly a right pig's ear of it on some things now in my own town of escobride i've seen spaces for people money spent on a particular short route which took months and is a confusing dodge breakfast of weird lines and colours nobody can work out what it's about we need sensible national standards that people can work to and where and where councils don't have the staff the time and the money then help them out that's what needs to happen our amendment which i move talks about the need to train children how to ride bikes and that's where bikeability which i mentioned earlier comes in there are still too many schools more than half which don't offer on-road training and we need to do better and i know as a former counselor who's taken part in bikeability sessions that actually sometimes it's teachers that need the training to deliver the schemes electric bikes are becoming more and more popular but just like electric cars they need to be recharged and currently there's no network for that if you're out and about and doing a longer journey so can i suggest the minister looks at that stpr2 is a typically woolly document you don't really know what it means but it needs needs to align with other policies for instance planning the cpg on sustainable transport which i chair is doing a piece of work on what the government needs to do to achieve its ambitions and our conclusions when they're made could be challenging for us all but i'll share them with the minister and it will be good if i could bring them to the chamber my own conclusion is that we need we need less naval gazing less word spin and more wheel spin we need substance and we need it fast thank you and now call on neil vivee to speak to move amendment three six five zero point one up to five minutes please thank you design officer and just at the outset the phrase a water motorist has been used in this debate already so far there is a war happening at the moment in ukraine and mainland europe and i really think members need to reflect on the language they are using all parties today agree on the principle that at least 10 percent of the transport budget should be invested in active travel that investment represents an opportunity to help more scots live active healthier and longer lives as sustrans have told us physical inactivity contributes to nearly 2 500 deaths and only 39 of adults do 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 days per week president obviously it's barely six months since cop 26 and active travel must be a part of our move to net zero so in the principle of spending 10 percent of the transport budget on active travel the government will find no disagreement here there are serious questions however regarding the best use of that money we need to channel funds effectively and ensure money is spent in a way that is joined up and thought through and is not just spent on any projects but the right projects otherwise you do end up with situations such as in johnston where a newly installed cycle lane has had to be removed due to serious safety concerns from the public local authorities need time to plan sensibly i do not believe short windows for funding contribute to the best decision making it appears that too often rush decisions are made to access time limited funding that's not just an issue in renfrewshire but in other parts of scotland too so i would ask the minister to consider that going forward and help councils with long-term planning and also long-term funding consultation is also vital to better decision-making far-away planners cannot have simplistic build it and they will come mentality we should ask communities what they what would make the biggest difference to their communities and invest accordingly design officers liam kerr said this is obviously takes place against the backdrop of long-term cuts to council budgets by this government the accounts commission confirmed last week that once emergency covered funding is accounted for local authorities have faced a 4.2 reduction in funding local government has been hit harder than any other devolved spending area even accounting for movement in the budget for the coming year council still faced 251 million pounds of core funding cuts and cuts have consequences scottish labor revealed that the weekend there is a local roads repair backlog of at least 1.7 billion pounds this is not just of concern for motorists but it's a concern for cyclists too in fact a pothole is likely of greater concern to cyclists than a driver and is unquestionably a factor in the levels of cycling there is also a serious issue of transport positivity presiding officer not everyone can afford to buy and maintain a decent bicycle wonderful charities like onya bike in ferguson park and paisley in my own region do so much to help you on your bike offers free classes to kids on bicycle maintenance and repair and a range of services for more mature cyclists too the snp and greens promised before the election free bikes for all children of school age who cannot afford them so the question is where are those bikes just last month apparently only 1000 have been given out as part of a pilot scheme there are 145 000 families in scotland entitled to a school uniform a grant yeah not only not only do we know how few bicycles have been given out but they cost a thousand pounds each new baby well there's only a thousand a thousand and bikes have been given out so far and there's 145 000 um families in scotland they're entitled uh to school uniform grants so there's clearly a big gap in provision so far and i think this is a test for the government are the government still committed to this policy if so when will it be delivered or will this be another broken promise yes certainly minister i very much hope that the the member will welcome the fact that the scottish government is continuing with this policy it would have been wrong just to crash ahead without designing it properly that's why we have a pilot phase many different approaches being taken including those that don't necessarily lead to ownership of a bike but access to a bike and the ability to change bikes the those range of pilots will be evaluated by the autumn and will will continue to roll out the national program as a result of what we learn from conducting those pilots i think it is right to obviously evaluate the pilot projects absolutely agree with the minister on that but in terms of the the time skills of this obviously the scottish greens previously said that grants for school children's bikes should have happened by august 2020 so if they are truly committed to this then surely they will implement this by the end of the year after the pilot schemes come to an end presiding officer there has been a lack of meaningful consultation with pedestrians and disability groups too active travel is about walking and wheeling as much as about cycling we must always ensure we're getting the balance right there should be good safe clean well-lit and secure places where all people and especially women can feel safe to walk as well as young people the 1.7 billion pound repair backlog i referred to earlier does not include food waste many of which are a disgrace after years of council cuts our walkways footpaths and pavements need serious investment to turn active travel into a reality but that won't happen until we start to restore the funding councils have lost in successive budgets preside officer sustainable journeys are often multi-modal journeys our active travel network should be integrated with our public transport network and let me take the opportunity to say to the scottish government again that they must stop cuts to one in ten scott rail services they cannot reduce car dependency in scotland while simultaneously shrinking scotland timetables and cutting services present officer we welcome investment in active travel invest wisely and we can make scotland greener and healthier but we cannot view active travel in isolation promoting sustainable and active travel requires coordination it means falling through on the commitments that have been given it means investing and walking and wheeling not just cycling and it means multimodal journeys on our transport network should be easier to make for those reasons i moved the labour amendment in my name thank you and i'll call on beatrice wishart thank you presiding officer had my amendment been picked this afternoon it would have asked the scottish government for an update on how many schools currently offer cycle training this would have followed up the scottish liberal democrats motion passed in this chamber in the last session which called for every school child to have the opportunity to benefit from cycle training when i asked for the recent figures on this in a written question i was informed that the scottish government did not hold that information i was told that psych annual school cycle training performance figures for 2021 22 included delivery data from all participating local authorities and would be available in september twenty twenty two i note that bikeability scotland briefing states that thirty seven percent of primary schools were offered on road training in twenty twenty twenty twenty one despite national school closures local restrictions on external instructors and staff pupil absences through illness or isolation it would be good if the scottish government could confirm this figure and i also note the latest sustrans data for 2020 shows 3.8 percent of people cycle to school down slightly from 2019 investing in cycle training for young people is an investment for all our futures if we can get the conditions right we will have a generation of cyclists who would sooner walk wheel or cycle for short journeys rather than hop into a private car our infrastructure needs upgrading to tackle the obstacles which breed a reluctance to cycle on roads alongside cars cyclists need to be safe on our roads and feel as safe as possible research by sustrans and edinburgh council in 2015 found that just 62 percent of city residents felt safe riding a bike during the day falling to 34 at night the figures for driving a car were up towards 90 percent potholes add further safety concerns do you swear to avoid a pothole do you move towards the car or the pedestrians meanwhile we have cuts the council budgets on the way and 1.7 billion worth of potholes to fix as many more of us return to work to office blocks we should do what we can to make an active travel commute possible comfortable and a safe endeavor we've called for funding to be made available to help businesses and others install showers and changing rooms in workplaces and community facilities we need a new vision on cycleway planning ensuring routes take commuters where they need to go keeping up the maintenance of paths and providing signage along them further work is needed to join up existing cycle paths and ensure they don't end abruptly there are significant challenges to improving active travel in rural remote and island areas where natural barriers sheer distance and inclement weather make active journeys difficult for these locations the scottish government needs to do more to ensure public transport is a realistic alternative to private cars i hope the government will take on board our plan for buses empowering local communities to have a significant voice on routes and not allow routes to only go where profits lead but for some in scotland particularly those in ireland and rural communities the car is the only option to travel so we need to support those people to transition to the most sustainable private cars available active travel is and should be a key plank of plans to net zero targets like other plans these require significant investment thank you presiding officer thank you we now move to the open debate and i call on paul mclennan to be followed by jeremy balfour thank you president officer can i thank the minister for bringing forward this debate this afternoon following the scottish government green party cooperation agreement i'd like to begin to commend in the scottish government for the record investment and active travel over the next year and it's referred to 320 million pounds dedicated to travel by 2425 will bring us even closer to reaching our net zero targets the new tripling of the active budget equates to 58 pound per head of population here in scotland and it compares as the minister said to 10 pounds in england 20 pounds of males and 30 pounds in leading countries including the netherlands as you said we've got a little bit of catching up to do with them this funding will help us move towards a transition a transformational shift needed to help to meet the 20 percent car kilometer reduction target was protecting our climate from damaging transport emissions the key aim of providing free bus travel to under-22s has now been delivered obviously but there were some teething problems but it was a real statement of intent the beautiful landscape of each other in my constituency makes an incredible place to walk and cycle we've got the coastal towns of dunbar north eric we've got the lamborghini hills and the surrounding villages and towns the pandemics for residents and visitors truly appreciating east london's hills and coast i want to talk about a specific project in east lothian within my constituency discussions have been ongoing for over a decade for a pedestrian and cyclist friendly route between dream and gulen a survey conducted during the lockdown by the gem to gun gulen path campaign reported that 40 residents were cycling 77 were walking more during the lockdown alongside a drop in car youth 89 of respondents also believe that the council should significantly increase investment in cycling in walking infrastructure recently when the east southern council budget round it was confirmed that 30 000 pounds would be ring fenced to help the creation of path for locals sustan scotland partnership also awarded east london council 30 000 pounds to examine design options for the first section of the path that work is now underway a spokesman for the gem to go on path campaign was deleted with it if i can get time i've only got four minutes yeah you can get the time back mclean brown whittle i'm very grateful for the members to give away i wonder if they would recognize that there's an early quality and access to the ability to cycle between the lower and higher simd areas and it's really really important that we make sure that that inequality is tackled paul mclennan thanks thank members of the intervention i'm actually going to touch that in just a little second and a spokesman for the dream to go on path campaign was delighted with the increased investment and said investing in active transpo travel infrastructure is vital to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe and encourage healthier and greener journeys any slowdown the council is also looking to pilot active transport hubs in each of our main towns and i would hope with increased national investment this will become the norm as part of the local planning processes walking cycling bus and train links must be interlinked as possible if we are to achieve our target reducing car journeys by 20 and that i think is an important point that you mentioned so on that regard i think that's really important we also need to continue the investment in public transport just like the new railway station being constructed anything in my constituency at this moment the scottish government commitment to investment in the sustrans 30-year national cycle network plan and a new cycling framework for active travel is also very welcome each local authority needs to do the same locally also easily then like many other constituents has a mix of rural and urban towns and villages so connectivity between villages and towns must be considered as well as within towns and villages demand response of transport must be part of the solution for our towns and villages we need this not only in the manner to reduce emissions but help our local villages sustain their local schools and help our villages thrive partnership between scottish government local authorities sustain and other active transport keys groups are key in local delivery now as a member of the local government housing and planning committee npf for local development plans must ensure that any new developments are an integral part of an existing settlement and active transport links are a condition of any grant of consent this must be part of any formal consultation processes and beyond and i think coming back to the point that colin smith made as well designs of these links have to be co-produced or i think it was neil beverly my apologies design of these links have to be co-produced with local groups does any of us are in conclusion with commitment from the scottish government to active transport is very welcome i hope to see local councils increasing their commitment to active travel and supporting projects like the gem to go and path game campaign going forward thank you thank you very much mr mclennan i can advise the chamber we've got a bit of time in hand so anybody that wants to take or make an intervention that should that should be recompensed and i called jeremy balfour for around six minutes thank you deputy officer and active travel is a great thing it is functional and it is healthy it allows us to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise by going about our daily lives one of the small benefits of the last two years have been able to spend more time working during lockdown and enjoying every countryside around me but active travel should be promoted and prioritized however scottish government's record on it seems flimsy slapped after best his record is not falling through on policies and often is counterproductive in actually helping people do active travel a prime example of this was spaces for people and the way it was implemented here in the capital city it has wreaked havoc for those who had been imposed upon i sent out a survey with my annual report this year asking people to list the three biggest issues that we had within the whole of lorien what came back as number one by miles was to get rid of spaces for people not only did it affect cars not only did it affect people but ultimately and even worse it affected health the school where my daughters go to is on a main road normally the traffic is heavy but it keeps moving because of spaces for people being pretend literally it took 10 minutes to go 20 yards buses cars everything came to a standstill because of his scheme the policing that occurred outside a major primary school affecting children's health was as a direct result of this implementation of this policy by the uh snp labor administration in edinburgh absolutely minister i'm grateful to the member for giving way and i'm i'm quite sure he was actively advocating for better active travel rather than simply reacting against it as some people do but he said he was criticizing scottish government policy and he's now given an example of a local implementation by a council that he objects to does he recognize that this is one of the tensions that we need to openly and honestly debate do we allow local decision-making and fund it from central government or do we take control and have a top-down approach surely the the conservatives want to achieve the kind of fostered local leadership to get active travel infrastructure right rather than merely react against it jeremy balfour absolutely and that's why we need to get rid of this snp uh labour administration and the elections and have a comp a conservative led administration in the city that will actually implement this properly but but the minister makes a fair point the policies and the policy that labour and snp implemented here in edinburgh was a direct result of legislation that was part of his parliament so the two are not separated but what has been worse about spaces for people is it has caused massive problems for the most vulnerable in our city the disabled and the older people have simply been ignored there was no consultation in regards to the implementation of this when older people when disabled people when moms with trams pointed out the dangers of this scheme they were ignored completely with less parking spaces in town i'm just going to come in for a moment actually with less parking spaces in time for those who have low mobility the scheme effectively excludes many distant people many disabled people from town centres and high streets not to mention the barriers that have been erected create further obstacles with people who have visual impairment or other physical impairments to street crossing and other activities spaces for people are supposed to create room for more active travel but for disabled people here in edinburgh it deserves to do nothing more than alienate them and cause stress once again ideological and dogmatic driven policies from the government have come at the cost and determined of the disability community here in edinburgh and in other parts of scotland absolutely audrey nicole i thank the member for giving way i'd like to just point out and i'd be interested in your comments that the laboratory administration in aberdeen city equally made what i can only describe as a bit of a mess of these spaces for people interventions in the city centre and the people of aberdeen are still living with them because the administration will not remove part of them and that has excluded people with disabilities which who have been strongly represented by the local disability partnership jeremy balfour i'm sure mr carr will answer that in his uh closing that statement but i absolutely agree where disabled people are affected then there needs to be proper consultation before the schemes are brought in rather than after they've been brought in and that has not happened here in edinburgh but then obviously no direct scheme was started with noble intentions but the reality is that it's failed and actually needs to be scrapped and started again but even worse than that uh deputy president sir we have um cycling's been imposed when there's already a cycling in place at mr harvey i turned up a few weeks ago and at roosevelt terrace to look at the new cycling being put in there now that cycling has been hotly contested i know that that was a local council for the area for many years but they've now decided to close down the results and assume the economic impact of that and there was literally a psychopath already there 20 yards away which was already being used now it may have needed slight upgrading it may have needed a slightly better way to reach it but it was there and was being used by cyclists already but the dogma again of any of the city council was let's make it more difficult for shop orders let's make it more difficult for local people to talk let's stop older people and disabled people getting to the nearest stops by putting up more barriers more road works and causing more problems this is a ridiculous policy that we are seeing i would be interested in the minister rude in his summing up like to just clarify two points how many disabled charities has he met with as a minister to discuss active travel and certainly can you confirm that the access to bike scheme which was launched in september 2021 to provide loans to allow people to purchase your own bike i've had no people signed up for it yet thank you deputy loser thank you very much indeed mr balfour um i i welcome the fact that members have embraced the invitation to uh to intervene i would be encouraged the interventions to be slightly briefer but with that i call stephanie calhoun to be followed by carol and mohan and miss calhoun joins us remotely for around four minutes please come on thank you president officer and you won't need to worry about intervention seeing as i'm online just now and can i thank patrick harvey for bringing this motion to the chamber today don't repeat act of travel involves using your body to make the journey and it's an important part of leading a healthier lifestyle but the potential to help decarbonize transport systems in our towns and cities too as we recover and build back from covert 19 and implement plans to achieve net zero and face an accelerating cost of living crisis we are at a critical juncture with transport and travel there's a great opportunity to re-prioritize and put communities and families health and well-being and our environment right at the forefront with crisis comes opportunity president officer transformed scotland a highlighted this week the walking deal in cycling infrastructure remains unacceptably poor and often dangerous across scotland and that's something that we must turn the tide on it's great to hear the mr highlight young people in earlier this week i hosted my first sustainability forum with four schools across southern still constituency and that was to listen to students views and priorities travel was right at the top of all their lists and students wanted to see less vehicles in their school car parks and expressed concerns about the negative impacts of the school run on the environment and in their own health too people suggested limiting parking capacity encouraging drop-off zones and a walk-to-school week they were really keen to raise awareness about school-run emissions and encourage both students and their parents to embrace the benefits of active travel we must learn from our young people their appetite for reducing admissions and living a healthier lifestyle through active travel is really clear and it's now our job to deliver and make an active travel group safe practical and widespread across our towns and cities in scotland it's paramount that we place communities at the heart of actual active travel policy young people parents the elderly those living in rural scotland and commuters all of them have distinct needs and concerns and while there's much to be learned from cities like amsterdam seville in copenhagen scotland has its own unique needs and we can use this knowledge for male spiritual policies that deliver for everyone across scotland too acts of travel is also a question of the quality if our kids are walking their cycle to school they needed the right waterproofs and safety equipment and opportunities to learn to cycle safely this to ensure a cultural shift in scotland that has got equality at the core and a warmly welcoming 12-month pilot project to deliver free bikes to school-aged children who can't afford them and to see their strolled out more widely as highlighted in today's motion the commitment to invest at least 320 million 10 of the transport budgets has already been said for active travel by 2024-25 will be transformational and the equity has to be the code of distributing that funding new funding for footpaths significantly increased funding for local authorities and more than doubling the funding for the national cycle cyclone network should all be getting warmly welcomed across this chamber these are encouraging funding initiatives for the scottish government and i'm keen to see local plans for new cycling facilities at strathclyde park and my own conceptions they become a reality northland council will involve community groups and plan in the winter ride areas and there will be excellent links to the surrounding area and foot and wheels this is a great example of the joined up and participative community partnerships that we need to see to become a more active nation presiding officer the long-term vision is in place and by focusing on strategic investment listening to communities and policing equality and accessibility at the core of our policy i'm confident we can deliver an active travel commitments boost health and propel ourselves towards net zero in closing let us all go forward with ambition and determination to level the root map and make the successful journey to scotland's active travel destination thank you thank you very much indeed miss callahan i now call carol mohan to be followed by stuart macmillan and again miss mochendra joins us remotely around four minutes please ms morgan thank you presiding officer we all know the benefits of active travel are wide-ranging from the environment to the health and well-being of the population encouraging and facilitating active travel is something in which we should place significant focus and that is why every year today scottish labour's commitment calls for 10 of the transport budget to be afforded to active travel presiding officer we do not make this request without reason today's debate has recognized the progress we have made but we must focus more on what there is still to do isolation per housing health inequalities and poor transport links impact the poorest and most vulnerable in our society more than anyone else it is therefore crucial that any active travel plan has the livelihoods and opportunities of those in our most deprived areas at its core yes we can welcome investment in e-bikes and cycling paths walking paths and more but as it does little to improve the health outcomes for those most in need if we do not bring these investments closer to our communities make it as feasible as possible for people to use active travel routes actual access to active travel is a factor in tackling health inequalities and that must be a priority for this parliament as we know the health inequalities know that health inequalities create some of the biggest challenges facing scottish society indeed presiding officer for active travel to become a successful reality as mentioned by my colleague neil bebbie it is crucial the scottish government improves its performance in two areas where it has failed in recent times and the first instance the snp must stop cutting local government services with the political will and pressure from the snp backed ventures this government could actually create high quality well-funded accessible and affordable services including active travel up and down the country to cut the budgets of councils and thus cut their ability to provide solid travel infrastructure and then come to this chamber today with a self-congratulated emotion should shame snp and green msps who stood on a manifest of investment but have presided over horrific cuts to the services our communities rely upon and further presiding officer cutting train services and increasing the cost of train travel amster cost of living prices that is putting strain on the pockets of millions it's not going to encourage people to choose active travel it is vital that more people choose to walk cycle or use public transport instead of the car both for the future of generations to come and our planet but we must make that choice a clear and easy one to make the scottish government has failed in that regard and concluding presiding off of active travel is a worthwhile cause to pursue i'm glad to have this debate today indeed i had the privilege of joining class for all based in kumanak train station in my own constituency on a walk through one of the newly installed active travel routes in kilmarnock and it was clear to me how beneficial this could be if rolled out properly and more widely however we have to get the basics rights right we have to take a gendered approach to ensure that these routes are accessible for women to ensure they feel safe and in turn be accessible for other vulnerable groups such as the young elderly and the disabled we have to invest in rail and bus services keeping services frequent at low fares and close to the communities and we have to make sure active travel routes serve those impacted most by health inequalities doing so will take steps towards improving the health and lifestyle outcomes of those who have been impacted worse by the cuts of both the scottish and uk government in recent years in doing so presiding officer we give the active travel plan for scotland the best chance of being successful and therefore our urge calling colleagues in the chamber tonight to back the scottish leader amendment this evening thank you very much thank you miss malkin point of order stephen care and after earlier on i intervened on neil bibby on the cost of the free bicycles that would be made available to children who couldn't afford them i may have inadvertently misled parliament so i'd like to put on the record that the number of bicycles that have been distributed to february in the scheme was 988 at a cost of 935 797 pounds i'd said they cost a thousand pounds each in fact they cost 947 pounds and 16 pence each and i think that's important to be straight about what the actual cost is thank you mr claire detail is always important i appreciate that point of order i now call stuart macmillan who joins us remotely to be followed by jackie dunbar for around four minutes mr mcmillan thank you very much for tuning in sing also i welcome the opportunity as you speak in this debate active travel is a topic i have been discussing at local level for some time in addition to highlighting it in my support for travel and my submissions to be consultational extension secretary has some of the most stunning scenery anywhere in the country and before the pandemic i had the opportunity to visit the cut and go for a cycle along the then newly installed cycle trails with david hill from the clyde marshall regional park the historic cut is an outstanding location to visit and which john mason msp will support this he has visited in the past however the cut crucially also links up parts of the constituency we all have a decision to make about how we get from a to b often it is the easiest and quickest option and as the story is indicated in their amendment that sometimes is the only one option for some communities and that is the car however it's fair to say that we all need to consider our travel arrangements going forward and if we are serious about the climate emergency the end of the tory amendment speaks about resources for local authorities and also a post code lottery the three points i want to touch upon in this regard firstly the postcode lottery will always happen as every community will be engaging in active travel investment from a different starting point secondly the topography of our communities is different and as anyone who has actually had the pleasure of campaigning and required will acknowledge enveroclide is nowhere near as flat as amsterdam or copenhagen and thirdly decisions on local investment are taken by local councils who will have a wide range of opinions right beside mike is stitching the office last year riverclay council installed a cycle lane running from battery park to generic town centre it's had some mixed reviews it was advertised by enrique council before installation but i believe that many local people just were a bit more focused on the pandemic and its impact upon them to fully pick up on what actually was being proposed and i support cycle lens and i've got no issue with cycle lens being installed where there is room and if the design is sound i want people to be able to hop on a bike and cycle from a to b if they so desire and installing cycle lanes will make this a safer option i want to contrast the approach taken by two local councillors to the psychologist outside of my constituency office one is authority and one is snp local touring counselor graham brooks recently had a motion to replay council to remove this psychologist it thankfully was rejected in the telegraph he commented that he had only seen four cyclists use the lanes since they were installed last year and he stated and i quote it's very clear for constituents that the cycle lane was never requested it's not wanted and is not needed now that's certainly contradicts a lot of the comments we heard from some tory msps this afternoon control start with the snp councillor chris curley someone who uses his bike and is a local champion of active travel and he has stated if you want to try and encourage people to use things you need to have them there for a period of time are we really thinking about the future of travel number client is everybody in a car it isn't you've got to give people options i wholeheartedly agree with councillor kelly we need to be bold in our aspirations and i'm confident that over time the cycle lanes will be used more and more by locals as well as opening up amber clyde to more tourists so in effect the scottish tories in this chamber are calling for something that their council colleagues are voting against the rank hypocrisy on the scottish stories in this issue is there for everyone to see active travel benefits our country in many many ways reducing our carbon footprint and the obvious health benefits associated with being active make it something we should all be supporting and improving and with that preceding officer so much positive work is happening so please let's reject victorian negativity and hypocrisy and actually support active travel thank you very much thank you mr mcmillan i now call jackie dunbar to be followed by maggie chapman for around four minutes mr barr thank you presiding officer i'm pleased to take part in today's scottish government debate on delivering on active travel commitments recognizing the important investment our government is making in our communities and the benefit that this will have to our constituents as the minister has already said it is the scottish government's aspiration to reduce car kilometers by 20 by 2030 and so as we sorry was there an intervention no sorry and so as we move forward towards net zero we need to get people out of their cars and consider other forms of transport this will need to see a number of folk consider active travel for the first time as a serious option of getting around this will also improve people's well-being through increased active travel and will contribute to safer cleaner and healthier communities active travel helps to build healthy habits improving the health of our population and reducing the burden on our nhs given that physical inactivity contributes to nearly two and a half thousand deaths in scotland each year as mr bibi has already said earlier with this in mind as we move forward we need to increase the number of adults meeting their physical activity guidelines of 30 minutes more moderate activity five times a week if we can get more folk to cycle or walk regularly this can contribute to a potential reduction in the risk of heart disease cancer and diabetes and it will improve mental health and tackle asthma presiding officer to achieve these ambitions carbon reduction targets will require some serious investment it is therefore welcome that the scottish government is committed to investing in public transport by spending 10 percent of the transport budget by the end of 2425 on active travel i was very pleased to attend a walk about with sustrans and my constituency of aberdeen dawnside recently where we discussed the active travel networks in the city and the challenges that face local authorities while they challenge the behaviors of drivers and get people out of their cars it is key that we change habits and the best way to do that is by ensuring our young people are participating in active travel as it is then more likely that they will continue to do so in their adult life the scottish government's commitment to provide free bikes for all children of school age who cannot afford them will make such a difference to so many of my constituents the benefits of increasing access to bikes for children are obvious it ensures equality of opportunity in building life skills confidence independence and embeds healthy and sustainable travel choices into everyday life it will also increase their options through affordable travel to education work or further training to ensure they continue on a journey to a positive destination at this point presiding officer i'm going to give a shout out to a local uh project that i have it's the middle field project they just now have bikes that they give out for long-term loans and they can help with the servicing and fixing of those bikes to the children they do an awful lot more in my community but i just wanted to give them a wee shout out for that presiding officer we've a long way to go to reach our net zero emissions targets but if we continue this investment in active travel and investing in our young people we can change habits for the better and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come thank you thank you very much indeed mr and i call maggie chapman to be followed by fiona hislock jeremy balfour point of order uh thank you i always look forward to mr chapman's um speeches but my understanding is that you're meant to be here for opening speeches if you're taking part in the debate and i don't think maggie chapman was here for any of the opening speeches and i wonder whether that is a problem in regard to you and her today thank you very much mr balfour and your understanding of standing orders is correct miss chapman though had advised the presiding officers before and that she had prior commitments that she was bound to attend and had permission from the presiding officers to be absent at the start of the debate but the point you make in religion standing orders is absolutely well made and one i would take the opportunity to reinforce but with that maggie chapman a generous four minutes thank you presiding officer and can i welcome the scottish government debate on active travel can i also offer my apologies to the chamber for arriving late and my thanks to the presiding officer for giving me dispensation dispensation for that i'm standing in for my colleague mark rascal who is absent from parliament for a while with greens in government scotland's world leading commitment to radically transform our transport system in line with our net zero ambitions are finally backed up by significant long-term investment in active travel our vision for integrated safe and inclusive local active travel infrastructure that prioritizes walking cycling and wheeling for everyone can finally become a reality for far too long our transport systems have been cast in the image of car users our cities and towns have been designed for cars first and people second people who rely on public or active transport have often been ignored leaving too many of us often women children disabled people and marginalized communities poorly served by transport networks as a woman who cycles i've spent many hours planning out the safest routes ahead of commuting balancing safety and condition of the route i hate cobbles with time distance and hills i have experienced firsthand the feeling of terror when close past or overrun by reckless drivers on vehicle heavy roads and at times have been discouraged from commuting altogether sadly i am not alone this is the experience of many women and girls 79 of whom were found by a recent sustran survey to be in favor of more protected cycle routes the scale of the challenge for safe green and accessible local infrastructure is significant but the prize of safer roads reduced air pollution increased physical and mental health and tightened neighborhoods is worth the blood sweat and tears this modal shift will require but our communities already know that that's why they've been coming together to collectively showcase the safe and accessible environment for walking cycling and wheeling that scotland can lead the way on in edinburgh the our streets our knights campaign led by the infrasisters is advocating for safe and inclusive night time infrastructure for women and girls in glasgow the hijabi riders group have been working hard to tackle the common barriers preventing muslim women from cycling which include safety concerns lack of confidence costs associated with buying a bike as well as religious barriers they have been organizing group cycling events across the city and teaching members how to carry out their own bike repairs in my own region in addition to what jackie dunbar has already mentioned cycling groups such as bells and bikes are also promoting a community of care creating a welcoming and safe environment into cycling for women these groups are proving the point that active travel is not only for able-bodied men in lycra it is for everyone this element of safety for women and girls is echoed across our transport system with transport focus discovering that 85 percent of women and girls forward plan their journeys in efforts to identify and board the safest possible public transport routes i welcome efforts by the new minister for transport to address the gender cap in transport through the upcoming consultation and embed the an element of safety in the scottish government's plans for an all-inclusive national conversation after may our newly elected councils will have an opportunity to utilize their new powers under the transport act and recent investments in public transport such as the community bus fund to deliver truly integrated local transport networks that link public transport with active travel in order to ensure that active travel networks are designed with safety in mind they must be delivered in tandem with national ambitions for 20 car kilometer reduction and 20 miles per hour by default the time has come to finally take back our streets and transition away from a driver-heavy culture towards integrated safe and inclusive local infrastructure that prioritizes walking cycling and wheeling for all of scotland thank you thank you mr chapman and i call the final speaker in the open debate fiona hislock for again a generous four minutes thank you president officer i'm going to set my remarks from the local the hyper local the national and uh also the global and international and i think it's very striking the scottish government has committed to spend at least 320 million pounds or 10 of the total transport budget on active travel by 24.25 now that's up since up uh since 1718 by 39 million pounds and that's going to mean that the active travel budget will equate to 58 pounds per head of the population here in scotland comparing to 10 pound per head in england 20 pounds per head in wales and 30 pound per head and leading european countries now they too may also choose to spend money on active travel those figures may change but it's very striking indeed and listening to the debate this afternoon everybody's circumstances are different there is the city experience but there's also the rural experience and there is the town experience and i would want to reflect uh from west lothian about the town experience and we've had some very positive developments i would commend sustrans in their in their work in helping develop our networks and the uh armordale to whitburn psychopath has made a difference it also provides access to trains and i also want to reflect on how we can encourage people in that commuting act of travel to have that walk wheel cycle but to a bus or a train and that will have an impact on our wider transport issues about affordability accessibility and the provision of public transport because to me that is the key to see that step change to mean that people have less use of their cars but you're starting to see that uh prospect in hand and that will also mean and dare i use the term smoke but i haven't spoke approach to how we look at active travel in my constituency and indeed many across the central belt we have many towns former mining villages which are very long have lots of spaces in terms of the pavements and the roads and but also have very interesting routes by which people could travel to um to to work and to travel to their uh transport hub winchboro which is a growing town in my community has already worked with scottish canals and uh to ensure that we've got that cycle network and also that fantastic link into edinburgh i'm not sure how many people commute into edinburgh from west louisiana it might take quite a while but you know in terms of people actually using our canals as walkways to work and you see that already happening in terms of how they're used in my constituency i think the e-bike provision is going to be hugely important because if we want more people not just men in lycra to take part then we are going to have to have and i'm going to come back to men in lycra don't you worry um the e-bike provision is going to be really really important but i also think it's going to have to have practical steps common sense steps i'm not sure if you're men in lycra but i'm happy to take the intervention brown whittle as a man as a man who's long left leica behind um i wonder whether foreign agree with me that it's important um to increase bike racks on trains to have that connectivity between cycling and getting into work yes indeed in a former capacity i i encouraged the provision of bike racks for tourism provision but we need it more for um obviously for commuting and other provision but also safe the safe aspect which is also for cyclists knowing that their cycles are safe it means lighting it means safety it means cameras around stations etc and i think that's very important and also for women uh walking and increasingly walking to to to work or walking to the transport hub lighting is going to be very important so some of the issues are going to be very very practical and this is where i get hyper local it should have taken an msp myself to sort a tiny piece of road uh it was actually a path it wasn't even a road the ownership was in question capstone walk in unless school but we managed to fix the potholes worked with sus strands i pulled everyone together we got it sorted and it allowed people then to use um either walking or cycling or wheeling to get from one part of the town to the other part of the time linking up those provisions some of sometimes it's common sense yesterday i spoke to um network rail about how we could get more people walking or cycling from the massive western site onto um onto the station and i'm going to finish with my global if that's okay 2023 scotland will see a historic moment in cycling we're going to have the 2023 uci cycling world championships coming to scotland i helped now as a minister to secure that and normally all the world championships are in different countries in different months throughout the world they're all coming here in august 2023 and that's why we want to ensure that it's not just about the elite sports people that year should be an ambition for all of us to show that cycling's for everybody and it's why the lithgow cycling circuit which is going to be built in my constituency is hugely important because it's about people learning relearning how to ride a bike and also to have that accessibility and to make sure that cycling is for all so let's be ambitious yes with our budget but also with our vision about what we can do and i encourage all of you to get excited about the 2023 uci cycling world championships in scotland and glasgow and uh president officer i think if you're happy for me to close at this point i will and i've enjoyed the debate but let's be ambitious and exciting and please i think less grumbling and more action thank you very much thank you very much miss hislock the full frontal assault and on men in leica i was finding deeply uncomfortable there um we now move to closing speeches and i call colin smith for around six minutes mr smith thank you very much president officer today's debate has i think shown a real cross-party recognition indeed consensus when it comes to the importance of active travel that's not surprising most parties give a commitment and their manifestos last year to increase investment and active travel to at least 10 percent of the overall transport budget including labor and i hope we will reach at least the promised level of dedicated funding of 320 million per year sooner rather than later but beside an officer it was disappointing that that had been during the debate a failure by snp and green msp's to acknowledge that for every one pound allocated to active travel in this year's scottish budget scotland's local authorities would have to find more than 10 pounds just to tackle the backlog of repairs on the roads and the own home region of dumfries and galloway the current bill to deal with the plague of potholes carpet and our roads making life miserable i have to say for scotland's cyclist is 217 million pounds that's more than 50 million pounds higher than the government's entire active transport budget for the fourth coming year and this new baby highlighted that backlog bill as at least 1.7 billion pounds across scotland and if mr harvey and his green party colleagues continue to back the type of budgets they have done over the past six years that have seen a real terms cut in council funding year on year that bill is going to get higher and higher and those potholes frankly will soon become canyons so there's an opportunity as we increase investment in active travel interventions to have for example more dedicated cycle routes the growing crumbling footpaths and public roads will continue to be a barrier for those who want to walk to wheel or cycle unless we do have a change of direction from the government and when we do invest in those active travel interventions president officer we need to do so wisely a number of members have rightly highlighted concerns over this now i understand why during the pandemic the government moved its focus from that the places for everyone initiative to the spaces for people who want to enable people frankly to travel safely there are a lot of good interventions as a result of that but we have to recognize that the government spaces for people initiative did lead to a number of projects that did alienate local communities and the redirection of almost all of the funding to temporary measures away from the permanent measure schemes that we had actually in many ways have set back the move towards permanent schemes and also crucially led to a lack of consultation with communities because of their real drive to deliver in a short period of time the allocation also of more than half of the funding on our two biggest cities also highlighted the disproportionate way that government does invest in active travel and i think carol martin mocking rightly raised the very real fear that we don't have equitable access to active travel in many of our communities we know the communities that lobby allowed us and i wonder if the government has carried out a proper mapping exercise to see what exactly investment and active travel interventions are being made i suspect those deprived communities are the ones that once again are missing out communities because communities do have to be designed officer at the very heart of all our investment i spent a great deal of time as a local council and chair of dumfries and galloway council's economy and environment committee pressing the case for an investment in active travel and the projects that i was involved in that were the most successful were those that involved the community and were actually part of wider regeneration the partnership for example in the queen street area of dumfries town centre between sustrans northwestern galloway council local housing associations but mostly uh certainly well yeah graham simpson can thank colin smith for taking the intervention we've heard we've heard today of some excellent projects around the country would he agree with me that the the best projects are the ones where councils bring communities with them are not in are not imposed projects on communities that don't particularly work because they've not been thought out properly colin smith i agree and tally with with that point as we've all seen that and i saw that as a counselor the chair that that there was not always 100 support for for active travel and the best projects are the ones where you take the community with you and i want to highlight just one example that i started talking about which is in the queen street area of dumfries that was a partnership from agencies but crucially it was a partnership with local residents it was an example of how we can really lift a community and make not only our streets safer for walkers wheelers and cyclists but actually regenerate that community and if we understand that active travel is more about not just investment and cycle paths for commuters that bypass communities it's about investment in communities that project included redesigning roads that had effectively become rat runs for motorists but also included new housing and regenerated house and investment for example and street act and all of that was actively shaped extensively by community engagement it was a fantastic project it was a very intensive project it took a lot of work a lot of discussion with communities but sadly there's simply not enough of those projects across scotland and beside author you would be forgiven for thinking that from from the s p green motion today that the solution is simply to lecture local government about their responsibilities rather than maybe taking a step back and the scottish government also taken their responsibilities seriously and i want to give you just one quick example beside an officer today of all days with the devastating news about ferry job losses at cairn ryan as a result of the shameful decision by pinot ferries we're drawn again to the lack of investment we see an infrastructure in the southwest and that includes active travel when you arrive at keon kane ryan by ferry and and you you you you bring your cycle your route to the nearest town stream is along with 40 ton lorries coming off the ferry along the a 77 trunk road because the utter failure of the government to extend the national cycle route to scotland's largest ferry terminal means it's a danger frankly if you want to cycle when you arrive in the scotland welcome to active travel scotland presiding officer and if mr javi therefore wants to discuss a lack of leadership he really does need to look no further than that example and his own government's transport agency transport scotland who really have shown no leadership in tackling that problem and finally proclaimed after the government believes as the motion says that public transport should be a priority as well as active travel then hopefully in his closing comments mr harvey will agree with my colleague neil bibby and say that he now opposes the cuts to train services that opposes the cuts to ticker offices and it opposes the massive hike and real fares and he opposes the dismantling of our bus routes that we're seeing right across scotland at the moment trained officer let's all get behind the need to grow our investment and active travel to that at least 10 percent of the transport budget but let's also unite behind ending the cuts to local councils ending the cuts to rail and bus services and ending and making sure that we have an equitable share of infrastructure investment and active travel to every community the most deprived and rural communities as well thanks very much thank you very much mr smith and i call on liam care for again a very generous eight minutes thank you presiding officer i think the key point in this debate was made right at the outset by graham simpson when he said in reference to the minister that he and i share the same ambitions on active travel and it's clear from the labour amendment which we can support that there is a broad consensus in this area a number of speakers talked of the benefits of active travels the neil bibby reminded us that physical inactivity contributes to nearly two and a half thousand deaths in scotland each year sustrans say that regular walking or cycling can reduce the risk of heart disease cancer diabetes can improve mental health and tackle asthma and crucially as we come out of this pandemic living streets research suggests that walking and cycling projects can increase retail sales by up to 30 percent yet if we're all persuaded of the case people will wonder why as stephanie callahan put it scotland's walking wheeling and cycling infrastructure remains so poor and often dangerous which is where i will diverge from the consensus because the government's motion today gives us the answer as carol morgan said the government shows an incredible capacity for self-congratulation self-awareness and acknowledgement of reality not so much so whilst the minister and his motion proudly trumpet the investment in active travel it fails to remind the chamber that the scottish conservatives were the first to call for 10 of the travel budget to go to active travel it was in our manifesto paul mclennan talked about public transport and active travel youth but fails to point out that between 2015 and 2019 the proportion of commuters using public transport or doing active travel in scotland actually fell and so we heard jackie dunbar described the drive to cut car kilometers by 20 to 20 by twenty thirty but she admits to mention that the distance traveled by motor vehicles has increased by eight percent between 2015 and 2020 and we've heard a great deal about cycling but strangely less about the promise that by twenty twenty ten percent of everyday journeys would be made by bike which i guess is not surprising when you consider that at the current rate of progress it will take nearly 300 years for the s p to meet their target beatrice wisher even suggested that there were fewer children cycling to school at the moment and remember the minister lauded electric bikes yet as graeme simpson pointed out there is no recharge network design officer only if we recognize the challenges and stop with the spin can we seek solutions so going back to graham simpson's contribution he pointed out that the government motion wants to see a 20 reduction in car kilometers by 2030 but that they've made the announcement without having the faintest idea how to deliver it it is a government which chases the positive headlines by announcing an access to bike scheme but then fails to hand out a single loan in the first three months of its operation despite costing nearly half a million pounds or it promises free bikes to children then as stephen care a couple of times reminded us gives out fewer than a thousand by the end of last month at a cost of around one million pounds whilst failing to learn from the truly circular economy scheme that brian whittle flagged in his intervention and the motion talks about public transport and reducing private car trips being essential to cutting emissions yet it fails to acknowledge that cutting 250 rail services and having a 640 million pound black hole in funding for decarbonizing buses isn't going to get us there and president officer a crucial point is made by transform scotland in their briefing where they pick up on the motions expression of hope that local authorities will deliver active travel they say this is entirely inadequate on that they are unquestionably correct because look at the context in which the government hopes local authorities will achieve this the motion loads significantly increased funding for local authorities yet causeless say 100 million pounds was cut from local authorities budgets this year the minister's response to my intervention on this kosla are wrong it is a government which hopes local authorities can do this and the minister the minister's intervention earlier on suggests he wants to see local leadership yet as sustrans put it local authorities have been under significant budgetary pressure for two decades leading to significant shortfalls in the numbers of council officers available to coordinate and deliver measures to support active travel and cycling uk agree i will do grim simpson uh thank liam ker for taking the intervention i can hear the minister shuntering uh as he seated but would liam kerr agree with me that the challenge here is not so much giving councils large amounts of money but is is the resources in those councils to deliver once they've got that money and a lot of councils have been hollowed out in terms of staffing they don't have specialists in this area do you care well yes i do very strongly and i think that was exactly the point that sustrans were i had seeking to make and actually cycling uk take that forward because what they say in the submissions that they provided to us is that councils need to be able to see the direction of travel and be able to plan their budgets over a long period of time which of course they can do at the moment with the funding settlements coming from this government president officer it is not acceptable for this government to just hope the minister said in his earlier contribution we need leadership well it's long past time for this government to show some starting perhaps with the mapping exercise colin smith rightly called for in his contribution so enough sir the final crucial points i want to pick up were made by jeremy baufer and maggie chapman especially it is hugely important that we ensure as our manifesto does that active travel schemes are suitable for all including buggies wheelchair users older people and so on maggie chapman i thought laid out the issues particularly well and i felt it was such a complete analysis that rather than try and summarize i will just simply commend the official report to members who didn't hear it it was a very good summary yes maggie chapman you won't hear me say that too often i'm sure but i will hear certainly jeremy baufer said schemes brought in must not exclude disabled people and those with visual impairments and he posed a question for the minister in his closing which i'll remind him of just to make sure he picks it up because jeremy belfor asked how many disabled charities has the minister met with to discuss active travel and i hope the minister will cover that in his closing to sum somewhat president officer i would like to return to comments made by graham simpson in opening this debate he said let us work together on this one area of policy where we agree and he's right and that means working also with the likes of sustrans transform scotland and cycling uk amongst others who submitted several excellent suggestions to guide us in this debate as well as the local organizations uh of the sort which jackie dunbar and brian whittle brought up earlier but it also means less of the spin more acknowledgement of reality and more substance in the proposals and action as fiona hislock put it less grumbling more action all of which is called for in the amendment in mr simpson's name which is why i shall vote for it at decision time tonight thank you thank you very much indeed mr carr i now call on the minister to wind up the debate if you could take us to just before five o'clock be very grateful minister thank you presiding officer i was uh i was very much hoping for a wholly positive uh debate today perhaps that was that was setting my expectations just just a fraction too high but there were very many positive contributions very many uh members made positive contributions to the debate uh about the public health and climate imperative this this combined imperative that we have to achieve a sustainable transport system and the role of active travel within it members including paul mclennan and caroline carol morgan uh placed great emphasis on that about partnership with the the third sector and another number of members commented on that including stephanie callahan and uh beatrice wishes in relation to uh some of beatrice workshop's other uh comments yes i would uh say that over a third of a million children have been trained via bike ability since 2010 and we're committed to continuing to to build on that positive track record and on the role of of local leadership not just local authorities but also at community level was touched on by a number of members brian uh whittle paul mclennan jackie dunbar and uh uh fiona heslop uh set herself the the aspiration of covering everything from the global to the hyper local in her speech and i think it was very clear that throughout everything she was saying her intention was to ask how can we make this better how can we make this better and i i do wish that everybody had had had that same uh that same constructive approach to the to the issue i i'd contrast as leo liam carr did a moment ago two speeches in particular about the issue of inclusion and trying to make sure that our approach to active travel is inclusive is respectful of the diversity of our society maggie chapman's speech and jeremy balfour's speech both focused very clearly and i'm sure equally sincerely in both cases but the contrast between the tone of them was really clear to me maggie chapman's speech very clearly was celebrating examples where this has done well and constructively challenging us to do better whereas jeremy balfa seems to want policies uh and indeed projects to be scrapped that was the tone that was the tone very much i will in just a moment that was the tone very much that came across i would say in relation to some of the points that he made uh yes i've met with the mobility and access committee scotland who are one of our main advisers to this to the government on these issues and i know that other organizations such as guide dogs for the blind work very constructively with the society of chief officers for planning and for transport and other organizations to try and make sure that our guidance and advice to local authorities uh respects the need to be inclusive but the the challenge i think must be that we don't see disability access and disability equality issues in contrast or in conflict with an approach to active travel i know from sadly growing personal experience as someone who has grudgingly come to know arthritis over the last few years and as members of across the chamber will have seen me walking with a stick sometimes i know that there are many people who are disabled for whom active travel using a bike is a mobility aid isn't it there are days i have when i know that cycling is much easier than walking and we need to ensure uh as well as that the access to adaptive bikes to the wide range of bikes that can enable a great many people with different kinds of disabilities to travel actively as well so this must be about how we do both not seeing uh the two issues as in conflict with each other and i give away jeremy balfour can i thank you minister for giving way can we understand that there is genuine anger within the disability community that when things like you and edinburgh space are imposed without any consultation but how does that disability community be heard they want to play a constructive role but they're simply not being listened to or been asked of opinion before so can he suggest to me and other disabled people how does that happen if local countries don't engage before schemes are imposed minister well i i have given an example of how guide dogs the blind max and scots work together with sustrans to produce guidance and i value that kind of constructive contribution uh more so than some of the the holy negative comments that have been made here in the chamber which brings me to uh to the uh to the conservative opening and closing speeches some of which wholly lived down to my expectations graeme simpson clearly had written his his opening paragraphs bemoaning the lack of detail about funding and specific projects he must have been very disappointed then that my opening speech mentioned so many clear specific examples of specific figures for what we're doing to increase funding and the specific projects that we're working with he said he wanted us uh to develop national standards he must not have been listening to my opening speech when i talked about the cycling by design uh guidance that's been updated he wanted us to provide more money at local level he must not have been listening to my speech when i talked about the additional funding including that going directly to local councils to deliver this work and he fully he fully lived down to my expectation uh when he used part of his part of his speech uh to uh to yell wear a helmet at me look this government like every other government in the uk does not make wearing helmets mandatory because the evidence would not support that i like every cyclist make a decision for myself about whether a helmet is something that i wish to wear and like every other cyclist uh i have angry drivers yelling out their window wear a helmet at me uh when they should be paying attention to their responsibilities uh on the road i i deeply regret that mr simpson thinks it's appropriate to bring that very same energy into the chamber the the labor uh uh motion uh i think brought in some some much more credible and substantive arguments i i i think mr bebbie knows that there are aspects of his amendment that we can't support but he he does uh add some some significant issues particularly around the the motivation that's being done here uh the climate and public health imperative was acknowledged uh and indeed uh gave some specific local examples of projects that he criticized but he he did that i think in a more constructive way i think one of the fundamental arguments though that labour are putting today is that none of this can be done properly given that we have a debate and a disagreement an honest disagreement about wider local government funding the reality is the reality is that the leadership being shown on active travel at local level around the country is patchy it's patchy there are some great examples now glasgow i would say is a great example i wouldn't have said that 10 years ago i might not have said that five years ago i might well have been scathing about the uh the level of respect that is given to active travel in glasgow uh those years ago but now very clearly not just because of the support and the funding that is given by the scottish government but also because the political will exist there at local level uh they not only have i'm going to continue to engage with the the labour arguments for the time being not only because of that that support from the scottish government but because of political leadership at the local level they have invested in specific uh infrastructure and they have a long-term plan to continue to do that and i want to pay tribute she's not re-standing in the coming election to anna richardson for the work that she's done on that over the over the coming year over the coming year presiding officer and i think i have less than a minute left uh over the coming year presiding officer as i said we're going to engage in a transformation project about the delivery model and there are substantive issues that we all need to grapple with particularly about the role of local leadership we have had some uh people here using this debate to unleash their inner nigel farage and call for the cycle lanes to be ripped up or to condemn particular councils for not ripping them up or for building them in the first place if we want the scottish government could simply allocate that 320 million by 2425 just purely according to where we think the maximum benefit will be in terms of road uh transforming modal shift that wouldn't give the the fair crack of the whip to every part of scotland we could simply split that funding up by a local authority and we wouldn't foster the the kind of local leadership that we see in some local authorities but we don't see from others we do need to respond in closing presiding officer to some of the constructive challenges that have been put by the transform scotland briefing who clearly welcome what we're doing and are constructively challenging us to go further that's the kind of engagement that i think will make the scottish government's program on delivering active travel better rather than simply complaining that there are specific examples that people don't like in their own neighborhood if we want to get this right if we want to be a nation where everybody inclusively can choose to travel actively and sees that as a first natural choice we need to change a great deal about how we deliver not just spend money and so every political party across the chamber has a responsibility to foster that local leadership and make sure that we're advocating for making it better rather than railing against projects as i'm afraid too many have done in this debate today thank you that concludes the debate on delivering on active travel commitments it's now time to move on to the next item of business which is consideration of motion 3612 on legislative consent motion cultural objects protection from seizure bill uk legislation and i call on neil gray to move the motion formally moved president officer thank you minister the question on this motion will be put at decision time the next item of business is consideration of business motion 3677 in the name of george adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau on good food nation's scotland bill and any member who wishes to speak against the motions you'd press their request to speak button now and i call on george adam to move the motion thank you president officer and moved thank you minister no member is asked to speak against the motion therefore the question is the motion 3677b agreed are we all agreed the motion is therefore agreed the next item of business is consideration of parliamentary bureau 367 parliamentary bureau motion 3678 on approval of an ssi and i asked george adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move the motion thank you once again president officer unmoved thank you minister the question on this motion will be put at decision time and there are six questions to be put as a result of today's business and the first is that motion 3647 in the name of ivan mckee on subsidy control bill uk legislation be agreed are we all agreed the parliament is not agreed therefore we'll move to a vote and there'll be a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system