To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of its funding for active travel. (S6O-04117)

All active travel programmes are assessed against criteria set out in the active travel framework, which establishes high-level outcomes and key indicators to monitor and evaluate progress. Data and analysis that inform progress against those outcomes are measured and published annually. In addition, the national performance framework includes journeys by active travel as a national indicator and it is routinely monitored and assessed.

In addition, relevant partners publish annual assessments of their programmes. Those include the national cycle network and places for everyone programmes that are delivered by Sustrans, and the Ian Findlay path fund programme that is delivered by Paths for All.

It is Sustrans that I would like to refer to in my next question. It reports that, in 2024, it received £97.9 million from the Scottish Government and, in the same period, gave out £81 million in grants to Scotland.

Sustrans takes money that should be sent directly to local authorities, and it top slices £17 million of it to pay for its organisation’s overhead. It is based in Bristol and it has no fewer than 13 directors on its board. Why should we not give that money directly to Scotland’s local authorities and leave Sustrans to market itself to them, as any other consultancy does? Would the taxpayer not get better value and more accountability that way?

I question the member’s figures. I can tell him that we have allocated more than £66 million of funding to Sustrans this financial year. That funding supports local authorities and others in Scotland to deliver the infrastructure that is required, including the expansion of the national cycle network, which I am sure that Mr Kerr would want to support. That is managed by its Scotland-based staff.

To bring the member up to date, as part of the transformation of active travel delivery, the funding of the main Transport Scotland infrastructure programme, places for everyone, which is managed by Sustrans, will wind down by December 2025. Any remaining projects will, subject to assessment, shift to the new active travel infrastructure fund, which will see Transport Scotland directly award funding to local authorities, regional transport partnerships and national park authorities. I am sure that the member will welcome that answer.

Can the Cabinet secretary confirm the extent of the cut to the active travel budget in the 2025-26 proposals? Spokes estimate the cut to be not £20 million but in excess of £40 million.

Again, we will lay out the detail of our active and sustainable travel funding as the draft budget progresses through Parliament.

The member will be aware of the emergency measures that took place over the past year. We had a real challenge, particularly following the incoming United Kingdom Government’s July statement. In the end, we allocated £155 million for active travel. In the 2025-26 draft budget, which includes money for a bus infrastructure fund—I point that out in order to highlight that the member’s recent assertions in relation to buses are also incorrect—the total for active travel is £188 million, which she will understand is an increase on last year’s spend.

The national cycle network, which was built and managed by Sustrans Scotland, has been hugely successful, generating 60 million trips every year. It does not just connect places together; it connects people to schools and shops within communities as well. Can the Cabinet secretary confirm whether the funding for the national cycle network specifically is going up next year in order to enable Sustrans to deliver the projects to start to close some of the missing links that we see at the moment, such as Comrie to Crieff and Dunkeld? [Interruption.]

Our funding for the national cycle network will continue positively. I will not give the detail at this stage, as we work through the detail of the overall active and sustainable transport plan, but I can say that we are very supportive of the national cycle network. Just last week, I saw the good development work on the national cycle network at Carnoustie. It is a plan, a project and a development that we continue to support.

I ask members on the Conservative benches to treat with respect those who are asking the question, which I am sure that they will do with regard to question 6, which is from Jeremy Balfour.