3. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that there will be sufficient capacity and operators for school buses to operate when schools return in mid-August. (S5O-04398)

The Deputy First Minister has published guidance for local authorities on school transport to support the reopening of schools in August. It makes clear that local authority transport teams should work closely with transport operators to assess the capacity that will be needed to meet the transport needs of pupils in their areas.

Through the education recovery group, the Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities and other transport stakeholders to support the reopening of schools. That includes building our understanding of the practical and financial issues that local authorities and their partners will face.

It is obvious that toiling transport infrastructure is of great concern at all levels of education. Dundee and Angus College Students Association has contacted me to say that shrinking local bus timetables, services and capacity will impact severely those students who live in rural areas, given that buses are their only mode of transport to campuses, as well as students on vocational courses or work placements. What will the cabinet secretary do to combat that situation, so that students are not disadvantaged in their education because of where they live?

The funding that we provide to bus services is to support the bus sector to maintain services to the level in the public service contract that we have with it across the whole network, in both urban and rural areas, particularly to support key workers. We will be looking to see what further assistance we can provide to bus operators to enable them to increase capacity across their networks. We will, of course, help to support those students who will hopefully be able to return to college later in the summer to make use of bus services. However, given the need for physical distancing to be maintained on the public transport network, capacity will be considerably constrained over an extended period, and it is important that education settings have arrangements in place to support students in home learning alongside campus-based learning. That will assist in minimising the need for them to travel on public transport.