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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-33028

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what trends have been identified in thefts from railways, and how these have informed policy development.

Question reference: S6W-33022

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with railway unions regarding the safety of workers at railway depots in areas affected by theft.

Question reference: S6W-33016

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with railway operators to explore innovative technologies for securing materials and equipment stored at railway depots.

Question reference: S6W-32984

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with (a) Police Scotland and (b) the British Transport Police to reduce theft from railway (i) lines, (ii) depots and (iii) stations in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-33025

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address theft from railway stations during operational hours.

Question reference: S6W-32990

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports railway operators in introducing technologies, such as smart sensors or asset tagging, to prevent the theft of materials.

Question reference: S6W-33163

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidents have been recorded on the A90 in each of the last five years, and how these have informed maintenance and upgrade priorities.

The following table presents the total number of accidents on the A90 for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. However, the information on the total number accidents for 2024 is only available up to the date stated in the following table.

Year	Total
2019	55
2020	40
2021	55
2022	44
2023	44
2024*	34
TOTAL	272

*Data Available to 8-12-24; Fatal Accidents to 31-12-24.

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes:

Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 01-01-2019 – 08-12-2024

Date Extracted – 13-01-2025

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system.

Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.
Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).
The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. e.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.
Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.
Statisticians within the Department for Transport have devised a method for adjusting the road casualty figures to ensure that they can be compared over time on a consistent basis.
Transport Scotland’s Key Reported Road Casualties and Reported Road Casualties statistics publications will present both adjusted and unadjusted figures.

Road safety is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government. The safety performance of the trunk road network is assessed on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in a three year period. Alongside accident clusters, accident patterns and rates in the form of Route Accident Reduction Plans (RARP) are also looked at. This ensures that full consideration is given to accidents that may be spread along a corridor. Further investigations are then carried out and, where appropriate, mitigation measures are prioritised for delivery. This robust, evidence-based approach ensures that the funding available is prioritised for those locations with the potential to deliver the greatest casualty accident savings. It is essential that we use the evidence is used in this way to support the delivery of the casualty reduction targets set out in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030.

From this process the following schemes have been constructed on the A90:

In 2021, new lining was introduced on the central reservation gap at Lochlands junction by Forfar, to assist driver prioritisation.
In 2024, safety barriers and signage were upgraded between Kirriemuir Junction and the B9127 off-slip.
In 2024, road markings and studs were implemented between the B9128 junction and the St Ann's interchange. Further safety barrier and road signs improvements are programmed for delivery in 2025.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company are currently taking forward signing, lining and safety barrier design work for the A90 section from Emmock Roundabout to A928 Petterden junction as well as for a junction improvement on the A90 at Fowlis to assist drivers in safely exiting the A90.

Question reference: S6W-33164

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve road safety at identified accident hotspots along the A90.

Road safety is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government. The safety performance of the trunk road network is assessed on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in a three year period. Alongside accident clusters, accident patterns and rates in the form of Route Accident Reduction Plans (RARP) are also looked at. This ensures that full consideration is given to accidents that may be spread along a corridor. Further investigations are then carried out and, where appropriate, mitigationmeasures are prioritised for delivery. This robust, evidence-based approach ensures that the funding available is prioritised for those locations with the potential to deliver the greatest casualty accident savings. It is essential that we use the evidence is used in this way to support the delivery of the casualty reduction targets set out in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030.

From this process the following schemes have been constructed on the A90:

In 2021, new lining was introduced on the central reservation gap at Lochlands

junction by Forfar, to assist driver prioritisation.

In 2024, safety barriers and signage were upgraded between Kirriemuir Junction

and the B9127 off-slip.

In 2024, road markings and studs were implemented between the B9128 junction

and the St Ann's interchange. Further safety barrier and road signs improvements

are programmed for delivery in 2025.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company are currently taking forward signing, lining and safety barrier design work for the A90 section from Emmock Roundabout to A928 Petterden junction, as well as design work for a junction improvement on the A90 at Fowlis to assist drivers in safely exiting the A90.

Question reference: S6W-33174

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors and manages the environmental impact of maintenance and upgrade works on the A90.

All potential schemes and projects on the trunk road network, including those intended for the A90 trunk road, are screened for environmental effects by environmental specialists. A record of the assessment is prepared which includes the mitigations to be implemented that will remove or minimise the environmental impact.

The assessment process ensures that legislative requirements are met, and best practice implemented to keep environmental effects to an absolute minimum.

During the construction phase, monitoring of environmental mitigations is undertaken. This will include on-site surveys, inspections, and audits.

Question reference: S6W-33177

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated and spent on the A90 for maintenance and upgrades in each of the last five years.