Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2024
That is because the infrastructure will have to be done with communities, not to communities—it cannot be done by riding roughshod over them. There needs to be proper consultation, and that is not happening with the communities that I talk to.
The SNP Government committed to publishing a route map for the delivery of around 25,000 electric vehicle charging points by 2030. Yet here we are, halfway through 2024, with no indication of how that will be achieved. To meet that target, the Government will have to install 384 charging points a month from now until the end of 2029. Does anyone in the chamber believe that that will happen? We need a plan.
The devolved Government also stated that it will decarbonise our railway by 2035. That sounds great, but there is no plan to do that. When I ask when the 50-year-old diesel intercity 125s will be replaced, I do not get an answer. When I ask whether the east coast main line between Aberdeen and the central belt will be electrified, I get no answer. When I ask when the promised £200 million to reduce journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 20 minutes will happen, which is meant to be by 2026, I do not get an answer. The SNP Government has broken so many promises. That is why it simply cannot be trusted any more.
Given the failure to meet nine of the current 13 targets, members will forgive our scepticism. That scepticism is well placed. Audit Scotland has said that the climate change governance arrangements are missing core elements. The Scottish Government is facing legal challenge for the mismanagement of the introduction of the deposit return scheme. It is missing four of the six recycling targets. The Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill, which will complete its passage through Parliament today, will do little to increase those rates. The Scottish Conservatives lodged sensible amendments to drive up recycling rates, but each one was knocked back by the SNP and the so-called Greens.