Meeting of the Parliament 07 December 2017
Yes, I can. I have the greatest respect for Jamie Greene and he knows that. It is only right and proper that we come to Parliament, not just with detail—I respect that he may well know some of that—but so that members can ask questions, as he has just done, to get clarification and to scrutinise and, where appropriate, to critique Government policy. I think that the statement is very much justified, in that sense. Many of the questions that the member asked will be answered when we have analysed the consultation responses. He might well have responded to that consultation, which asks about vehicle types, and so on and so forth.
When I was asked about low-emission zones at committee a couple of days ago, I made the point—which I hope Jamie Greene will agree is a reasonable one—that we will have a national framework for towns, cities and local authorities that wish to adopt low-emission zones, but there will clearly have to be flexibility because we know that one size does not fit all. We know that what might work for Glasgow’s low-emission zone might not work for Dundee’s or other cities’ air quality management areas. We have to allow for that flexibility.
On the point that we are less than a month away from 2018, we said that we would introduce the first low-emission zone in 2018, but I do not expect that that will happen on 1 January. Glasgow City Council and the national Government are working very closely to make sure that the zone is introduced in 2018. To give Jamie Greene some reassurance, I point out that I welcomed an email—which I think members across the chamber also received—from the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland that highlighted the federation’s view that there must in particular be consideration of phasing and lead-in times. That is a very important point. I reassure the member, as much as I can, that the local authorities that the Government has spoken to understand the need for appropriate phasing and lead-in times. If we look at low-emission zones across the wider United Kingdom or, indeed, across Europe, we can see that lead-in and phasing times have been crucial, so I give the member the absolute assurance that we want to work with the business community and others to ensure that things are done similarly in Scotland.