Green MSP Mark Ruskill says: "Only 47 buses went through the Green Bus Fund in the last round, and that is less than 1% of bus fleet in Scotland".

He asks the ministers if he will have to accelerate the purchase of new buses.

Mr Yousaf says: "We are going to have to make progress and at a quicker speed."

He praises the "ambitious and very welcome plans" of the bus companies.

In April, the government announced £3 million for the seventh round of the fund.

The aim of the fund is to further support the wider roll out of low carbon buses across Scotland.

Bids can be made to the Scottish Green Bus Fund for a grant to help buy new Low Carbon Emission Buses (LCEBs) – both double decker and single decker buses, including midibuses (but not minibuses).

Image source, Lothian Buses

Funding

• The Scottish Green Bus Fund 7 will operate as a Challenge Fund with a fixed budget of around £3 million in the financial year 2017-2018
• Grants will be offered to successful bidders for up to 80% of the price differential between a LCV and its diesel equivalent
• No more than £1m will be offered to any one bidder (though joint bids can be submitted for more than £1m)
• Bus companies should bear in mind that the £1m maximum applies collectively across all their subsidiary companies.

Who Can Apply?

Bids are invited from:

• Bus Operators (including Community transport operators)
• Local Authorities (LAs)
• Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs)
• Companies leasing/renting LCVs to the above bodies in Scotland.

The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee convener Graeme Dey asks how many low emission buses he expects there to be by 2020.

Mr Yousaf says: "I can't give him a exact number, but the £16 million green bus fund has allowed 262 buses to be greened."

Image source, Getty Images

Plans to tackle air pollution in the devolved nations are "inadequate", the High Court in London were told in July.

Environmental group ClientEarth is taking legal action against the UK government.

It comes after the campaigners won a case forcing ministers to publish their draft clean air strategy.

The organisation now says there is no evidence of "concrete actions" for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Read more here

Labour MSP David Stewart says Labour welcomes the strategy to lower emissions.

Mr Stewart says the deadly pollution is more likley to come from traffic.

He asks if the LEZs will include private cars and whether number plate recognition technology will be funded by the government.

The Labour MSP asks if there will need to be primary legislation.

Image source, bbc

Mr Yousaf says the government realises it will have to be partners in the funding of LEZs and looks ahead to next week's budget.

"We'll have to step up and put our money where our mouth is."

He says LEZ enforcement will not begin from day one and the infrastructure will be down to councils.

"There should be no talk of doing LEZs on the cheap."

In January we reported that the number of pollution zones in Scotland has risen, according to new figures from Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland.

The group found that there are now 38 zones where safety standards for air quality are regularly broken - five more than last year.

The environmental campaigners warned the pollution levels were a "public health crisis".

The Scottish government said it was determined to improve air quality.

A spokeswoman said the government was working to ensure Scotland's first low emission zone was in place next year

• Are we doing enough to cut pollution?

Image source, Thinkstock

The new data found that Scotland's most polluted street was Hope Street in Glasgow, with a number of busy roads in some of the country's largest cities also having high levels of pollution.

One of the most surprising entries on the list is Crieff High Street where levels for particulate matter are above the Scottish target.

Edinburgh's Salamander Street is one of five new pollution zones - or air quality management areas - that were identified in 2016.

The others were in Johnstone and Renfrew in Renfrewshire, and in Linlithgow and Newton in West Lothian.

FoE Scotland claim air pollution causes more than 2,500 early deaths in Scotland each year, external and the issue should be treated with more urgency by government and councils.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

The most polluting buses will be banned from Glasgow city centre if plans to introduce a so-called low emission zone in the city are given the go ahead.

Councillors will put forward a proposal next week to ban all but the cleanest buses by the end of next year.

It follows claims that poor air quality leads to the deaths of about 300 Glaswegians each year.

Operators are warning that the plan could lead to a reduction in the services available and a rise in costs.

Earlier this month the Scottish government released a consultation on how to deal with traffic pollution in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

• Low-emissions buses for most polluted streets
• Legal action for air pollution for devolved nations
• Number of pollution zones in Scotland rises to 38

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene says: "There is nothing in this 10 minute statement that we didn't already know."

He says there are "many thousands of law abiding drivers who will be affected by these changes".

Humza Yousaf replies: "We'll have a national framework.

"But clearly that will have to have flexibility because one size doesn't fit all.

"One that works in Glasgow might not work in Dundee.

"The government understand the need for appropriate phasing in."

Mr Yousaf says the government will continue to expand the electric vehicle network in Scotland.

The minister says funding for the LEZs will be considered in the forthcoming spending review.

He says air pollution remains a major public health issue but the government is adopting an approach to deal with this.

Image source, Getty Images

In July MSPs launched an inquiry into how to stop the problems caused by air pollution.

It came after environmental campaigners said the issue was causing a public health crisis.

A Friends of the Earth report in January found Scotland's most polluted streets regularly breached the European limit for levels of nitrogen dioxide.

Recent evidence also suggests air pollution could be contributing to 15,000 early deaths in Scotland a year.

The top three Scottish streets most polluted with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2016 were Hope Street in Glasgow, St John's Road in Edinburgh and Wellington Road in Aberdeen.

NO2, which is produced by vehicle engines, has been linked to respiratory disease.

Read more here

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf tells the chamber: "We want to incentivise compliant vehicles".

He says: "A well used bus fleet will help to reduce emissions."

He notes there are concerns to get compliant fleets.

Addressing that, he says: "The government is committed to working with commercial and bus sectors.

"We have committed £1.6m for the first phase of the programme by January 2018."

Image source, Glasgow Life

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed in October that Glasgow would become Scotland's first low emission zone next year.

The Scotsman reported that it will mean all but the cleanest-engined vehicles being barred from the city centre, but the city council has said that won't start immediately.

Buses will targeted first and their operators will be required to have set quotas of their fleets with the cleanest diesel engines to be allowed to enter the zone. This is because they produce the most harmful nitrogen dioxide in the city centre.

The move is aimed at improving air quality to reduce premature deaths from air pollution and make cities more attractive. Ms Sturgeon told the SNP conference in Glasgow that she had already committed to establishing zones in Scotland's four largest cities by 2020.

Image source, bbc

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf says overall Scotland's air quality is good but there are hotspots which need to be addressed.

Mr Yousaf says Low Emissions Zones can help address poor air quality.

He says the government has committed to establishing Low Emission Zones in Scotland's four biggest cities, with Glasgow being the first.

The design of the LEZs will be led by councils but the government will have to work with them in partnership, says Mr Yousaf.

He says the governmnt has created a LEZ leadership group.

Image source, Scottish parliament

The Scottish government have produced a report on Building Scotland's Low Emission Zones.

Read the 45-page report here., external

Image source, PA

There will now be a ministerial statement on "Improving Scotland's Air Quality - Putting in Place Scotland's Low Emission Zones."

The government delivers a ministerial statement entitled 'Improving Scotland's Air Quality - Putting in Place Scotland's Low Emission Zones.

Image source, PA

MSPs debate Scotland's sea fisheries and end year negotiations

Image source, Image copyright

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell talks about the patient experience, and refers to a report published in June 2017.

She says that although 94% of patients had a positive experience, there are areas to improve.

Ms Campbell says they must keeping looking to improve.

"The cancer strategy will assist with this, but we will have to work together."

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell says what unites all the stories today is the need to do more and to redouble efforts around brain cancer and tumours.

Ms Campbell points to the Cancer Strategy, external and says there is good work, but says there is still much more the government needs to do.

Image source, bbc

The Scottish government launched a £100m strategy to tackle cancer in 2016.

The initiative aimed to improve prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for cancer patients in Scotland.

An action plan covering the next five to ten years has been drawn up, including funding for new equipment.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said the strategy was "a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland".

Read more here.