A new report has claimed that Scotland's public sector is not taking enough action to cut its greenhouse gas emissions within the transport sector.

The report, 'Doing their Duty?' by Transform Scotland, described the performance as "dismal", and said the sector needs to improve.

In the report, it said that more than 60% of Scotland's main public sector bodies had no strategy in place to reduce environmental costs of travel, and called on the Government to give the public bodies one year to "get their house in order".

Elsewhere, the authority did offer praise to West Lothian Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for good practice, and also commended the National Library of Scotland for their efforts on travel planning.

The report stated how the public bodies remain "massively dependent" on air travel, rather than rail services, for trips between Scotland and London. There was however, some evidence of a move towards the use of low-emission vehicles.

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Transform Scotland Chair Phil Matthews said: "We need to see concerted action by the Scottish public sector to cut emissions and deliver sustainable transport.

"Transport is one of the key sources of greenhouse gases and Public Bodies have a vital role to play in cutting emissions. It is therefore surprising that the wider public sector appears to be taking so little action to help deliver Scotland's legally binding climate change targets.

"We find it particularly dismal that over 60% of Public Bodies do not have a Travel Plan in place, despite this being the most effective way to cut emissions from the transport sector, and after a decade or more of free travel planning advice being offered to them. We recommend that the main Public Bodies be given a year to put their house in order. After that it’s incumbent upon the Scottish Ministers to hold to account those that are failing to take action.

"So much can be achieved and we have identified a number of good practice examples to which the under-performing should aspire. We commend the National Library of Scotland for their efforts on travel planning, West Lothian Council for their use of low-emission vehicles, and SEPA for reducing their mainland UK flights by 96%. Others need to show such leadership."

Report author Aoife Parker-Hedderman added: "Given that transport is the second-largest source of emissions, and given the scale of the Scottish public sector, significant progress is unlikely to be made in reducing emissions unless there is evidence that Public Bodies are taking action.

So this report attempts to fill the gap, presenting a summary of their performance on three key areas of sustainable transport policy: Travel Planning, Low Emission Vehicles, and Travel to London."

(JP/CD)