Seòmar agus comataidhean

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

25 April 2013

Index Heading: Transport Scotland

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies are in place to assist people stranded overnight in Dunoon without accommodation due to ferry services being suspended as a result of adverse weather.

(S4W-14101)

Keith Brown: On 3 April the Scottish Government announced a new arrangement whereby dedicated replacement buses for AFL passengers will now operate between Argyll Ferries’ terminals at each town centre, when both its ships are off for prolonged periods, using Western Ferries’ service. This arrangement went live on 9 April 2013 and should ensure that no foot passengers are stranded at either Dunoon or Gourock.

Both the Argyll Ferries Limited service and the Western Ferries (Clyde) service operate late into the evening, every night of the week.

The Scottish Government draws on oral and written legal advice as appropriate from its lawyers, from Counsel, from external solicitors and from Law Officers. However, other than in exceptional circumstances, the Scottish Government does not comment on the source of such advice, and the content of any legal advice remains confidential. Only the European Commission (or European Courts if needed) can provide a definitive position on matters of State Aid.

To permit statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining the new Forth Crossing to be delegated to FETA by Scottish Ministers, a comprehensive redrawing of its functions would first have been necessary as that power is not contained in the 2002 Order that establishes FETA. There would have been a serious risk that delegating the functions to FETA would have been perceived as being uncompetitive as the market had not been tested. Without testing the market, value for money cannot be demonstrated. Conversely, the Forth Road Bridge Bill offers certainty of tenure for all existing FETA staff, and indeed the prospect of cost efficient job opportunities for new staff.

The Explanatory Notes to the Bill explain that Scottish Ministers’ preferred option is for the implementation of a twin bridge maintenance strategy with a single Forth Bridge Operating Company. The Notes also explain that Ministers rejected the option to involve FETA in operating both Road Bridges. As the new route is a motorway and the new bridge is a wholly different type, a substantial and unforeseen burden would have been placed on the Board, which had not been established for this purpose.

Further information is available within the Explanatory Notes, and Transport Scotland’s formal response to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee Report on the Bill, and Stage 1 Debate.

The purpose of the Forth Road Bridge Bill is to pave the way for the most cost-effective and co-ordinated approach to the management and maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) and Forth Replacement Crossing. It does not revisit the provisions and commitments arising from the Forth Replacement Crossing Act, nor does it alter the proposed new role of the FRB as a dedicated public transport corridor.

However, as I said during the Stage 1 debate on the Bill, the Scottish Government shall write to the Infrastructure and Investment Committee, and to Mr Stewart himself on this matter.

Various options were considered, including some which would have involved the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) having responsibility for managing and maintaining both the existing Forth Road Bridge and the new crossing, but none in respect of FETA were considered feasible. There was insufficient evidence to support Value for Money focus within FETA, and therefore no mechanism to extrapolate how FETA would achieve Value for Money in a twin bridge strategy. Also, while the FETA 2002 Order provided FETA with borrowing powers, it would have needed a new mechanism for repaying a loan if it had prepared a bid which proved unsuccessful.

If FETA had used state funding to finance a tender bid (as they are fully funded by the Scottish Government) then this would very likely have constituted State Aid. In general, the European Commission considers State Aid to have a damaging effect on competition and therefore takes a serious view of aid given in contravention of the State Aid rules.

If the option of FETA being able to bid had been deemed feasible legislation would have been required in order to give them that power.

Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Bill and Royal Assent, Transport Scotland expects to issue tender documents for the twin Bridge Operating Company Contract in autumn 2013, with contract award by December 2014, and commencement by July 2015.

The Met Office’s UK weather radar network consists of 15 operational weather radars, including four in Scotland. This network provides real-time information to help monitor and forecast heavy rainfall, supplemented by additional data exchange with the Irish Met Service and the Jersey Met Service.

Although the data is also used by Government and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), including support to the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service, its principal purpose is for the Public Weather Service. In mountainous areas, the effective range of weather radar is impacted by the terrain. Therefore whilst increasing the number of radars in Scotland will deliver improvements, these would be on a more localised scale in terms of resolution and quality.

In their Flood Warning Strategy 2012-2016, SEPA has committed to review the current weather radar network and its suitability for flood warning provision and make recommendations for improvements (including new and temporary installations).

All of the existing radar systems in the UK network are currently being replaced with state of the art technology in order to improve accuracy of rainfall estimates which will assist in weather forecasting and also flood forecasting and warning. The project is due for completion by autumn 2014. The Scottish Government has no specific plans to enhance coverage in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has been working with the UK Government, European Commission and Scottish stakeholders for over a year on determining how structural funds should best be spent to have a real and lasting impact on the development of Scotland's regions. Over the next six months, we will be working directly with both UK Government and the Commission in finalising and getting sign off for these plans, ensuring that we can start investments throughout Scotland as early as possible.

The Scottish Government has been successful, in negotiations with the UK government, in securing a fair allocation of structural funds for Scotland. The 5% reduction in funding announced on 26 March is in stark contrast to the more than 30% reduction which was previously signalled by the UK Government.

This settlement is particularly beneficial for the Highlands and Islands, a region which is still developing its economy and which as a result has been accorded transition status for the 2014-20. The ability to very nearly maintain current levels of spending will mean we can keep supporting substantial investments in the Highlands and Islands aimed at bringing growth and jobs to the region.

Scottish Ministers’ clear stated preference in the tendering of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry service was for a vehicle-carrying service on the town centre route. Consequently, any evaluation of the impact of this not being achieved would have been contradictory and sent mixed messages to potential bidders. Transport Scotland therefore made no estimate of the anticipated change in vehicular traffic.

In the event, all the bids received proposed a passenger-only service. As a result, there is currently no vehicle traffic on the ferry service between Gourock railway station and Dunoon town centre.

The Scottish Government are encouraging Argyll Ferries Limited to continue to engage with local tourism and marketing groups on destination marketing for Dunoon and Cowal to improve visitor numbers to the region.

The Scottish Government announced on 3 April 2013 a new arrangement whereby dedicated replacement buses will now run between Argyll Ferries’ terminals at each town centre, when both its ships are off for prolonged periods, using Western Ferries’ service. This ensures that visitors are transported to their destination as smoothly as possible, in all but the most severe of weathers, to and from the Cowal peninsula. A copy of the press release can be found at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/news/New-ticketing-agreement-for-Gourock-Dunoon-ferry-services

Ministers are committed to finding long-term solutions to ensure that Cowal has the ferry services that it needs. We are working with Argyll and Bute Council, Inverclyde Council and the Dunoon Gourock Ferry Action Group on a study into the feasibility of a future passenger and vehicle service, with a subsidy for passengers but not vehicles, on the route between Gourock railway station and Dunoon town centre. The results are due in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we are continuing to search for alternative vessels that can be deployed on the route, under the terms of the current contract, pending the implementation of these long-term solutions.

As part of the 2013-14 Local Government finance settlement, Scottish Government is providing local government in Scotland with over £10.3 billion. The vast majority of the funding, including that for roads maintenance, is being provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities including the Scottish Government’s key strategic objectives.

Furthermore, a National Road Maintenance Review was delivered in July 2012. This involved all 33 roads authorities in Scotland. The review set out how road authorities can work in collaboration to make road maintenance more efficient, ensuring Scotland’s roads remain a key facilitator of economic growth. Further information is available at:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/maintenance/roads-maintenance-review