Meeting of the Parliament

Time for Reflection Pastor Oli Higham, Rock Community Church followed by Topical Questions Liam Kerr S6T-01421 1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to commence its Deposit Return Scheme on 1 March 2024. Rhoda Grant S6T-01426 2. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported demonstrations in South Uist due to ferry withdrawal. followed by Scottish Government Debate: Active Travel Transformation Patrick Harvie S6M-09328 That the Parliament believes that active travel can bring significant benefits for people’s health, the economy and the cost of living, and is critical for tackling the climate emergency and delivering on the commitment to reduce car kilometres by 20%; welcomes the Scottish Government’s record budget for active travel in 2023-24; recognises that this is by far the highest investment in active travel per head across the UK; welcomes the new and additional £20 million Transformation Fund going directly to delivery partners to deliver new infrastructure at pace; commends the work of local authorities, regional transport partnerships and active travel delivery partners in turning that record level of investment into changes on the ground; notes the publication of the new Cycling Framework in supporting the wider 2030 Active Travel Vision, where walking, wheeling and cycling are the most popular modes of transport for shorter everyday journeys, and looks forward to the opportunity presented by the UCI Cycling World Championships coming to Scotland in August 2023 to encourage more people to choose active travel. Graham Simpson S6M-09328.2 As an amendment to motion S6M-09328 in the name of Patrick Harvie (Active Travel Transformation), leave out from “; recognises” to "ground" and insert “but calls on the Scottish Government to set out a detailed delivery plan that addresses how it will help local authorities that do not have the capacity to achieve the targets; calls on the Scottish Government to set out in detail how it plans to achieve a 20% reduction in car mileage by 2030”. Mercedes Villalba S6M-09328.1 As an amendment to motion S6M-09328 in the name of Patrick Harvie (Active Travel Transformation), insert at end "; recognises the importance of local authority transport and planning funding in allowing all new and existing developments to include active travel infrastructure, tackling potholes, cycle parking, and ensuring safe pavements and travel for all; believes that active travel policies should be more conscious of protected characteristics, including women, disabled people and BME people, and notes the recent report highlighting the decrease in children travelling to school in an active way." followed by Decision Time followed by Members' Business — S6M-08819 Michelle Thomson: Tercentenary of Adam Smith That the Parliament celebrates the tercentenary of Adam Smith’s birth; commends his work in a breadth of areas including engineering, economics, chemistry, political economy, philosophy, literature and medicine; considers that Smith’s ideas were of global importance and continue to have a huge impact on society today; notes the role that Scottish universities played in exchanging the ideas across many disciplines; believes that Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century; understands that the Scottish Enlightenment was an outpouring of intellectual and scientific principles by Scottish theorists, with their work gaining global recognition in asserting the importance of human reasoning, including empirical methods of enquiry; commends the ideas of Smith and believes that their impact on a breadth of areas continues to be globally significant 300 years after his birth; recognises the works of Adam Smith and what it sees as their continued significance to date, and notes the view that it is important to continue to celebrate the life and works of influential Scottish figures.