- Asked by: Douglas Ross, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 October 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022
Question to be taken in Chamber.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 27 October 2022
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost each year has been of consultancy fees relating to Transport Scotland’s work on developing long- and medium-term resilient routes to replace the existing A83 Rest and Be Thankful corridor.
Answer
Since the announcement in August 2020 to develop a resilient long term solution to the landslide issues at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful, Transport Scotland has spent approximately £5 million in consultancy fees for both the medium term and long term solutions.
Financial Year | Spend (inc. VAT) |
2020-21 | £1,157,851.95 |
2021-22 | £2,804,916.38 |
2022-23* | £1,013,000.99 |
* up to and including July 2022.
This has allowed the environmental and engineering assessment work on eleven different corridor options to be concluded with the preferred route corridor being announced in March 2021.
Design and assessment work has subsequently progressed on five long term solution options within the preferred corridor comparing the relative merits in terms of engineering, environmental and economic criteria. All options are technically complex ranging from traditional roads with structural rock shelters, to tunnels through the hillside and viaducts options crossing through the Glen Croe valley.
At the same time, consultants have been undertaking design and assessment work on a number of medium term options to improve resilience of the route while the long term measure is being developed.
To inform the design, consultants have undertaken a wide range of activities including the development of 3D road models for each option, rock and channel mapping of the hillside, landslide hazard assessments, constructability reviews as well as flood risk and flood mapping. They have also prepared contract documents and supervised the £1.8 million ground investigation and undertaken a range of environmental and topographical surveys.
All consultation, design and environmental assessment reports completed to date, and further details of the data gathering and design activities are available on Transport Scotland’s website: Access to Argyll and Bute (A83) (transport.gov.scot)
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the full membership of the new Island Transport Forum.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11307 on 24 October 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the remit of the new Island Transport Forum.
Answer
The remit of the new Islands Transport Forum is currently being drafted, and will be agreed with the forum members at their first meeting.
Details of the remit and meetings will be published on the Scottish Government website when agreed.
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been provided to coastal local authorities for coastal change adaptation in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24, following the announcement in the Programme for Government 2020-21 that £12 million would be invested to help these areas adapt to the threat of sea level rise, broken down by local authority.
Answer
We announced the new capital budget of £11.7 million for coastal change adaptation in the 2020 Programme for Government. Scottish Ministers and COSLA agreed a methodology to distribute the new budget for the first two years to coastal local authorities based on evidence from Dynamic Coast which identifies assets most at risk from erosion ( https://www.dynamiccoast.com/ ). The budget covers the four-year period from 2022-23 until 2025-26, split as follows:
2022-23 - £1.6 million
2023-24 - £2.6 million
2024-25 - £2.7 million
2025-26 - £5.0 million
Total - £11.7 million
The distribution for 2022-23 and intended distribution for 2023-24 are as follows:
Council | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Argyll & Bute | £160,000 | |
Dumfries & Galloway | £160,000 | |
East Lothian | £160,000 | |
Fife | £160,000 | |
Highland | £160,000 | |
Moray | £160,000 | |
North Ayrshire | £160,000 | |
Orkney Islands | £160,000 | |
Shetland Islands | £160,000 | |
South Ayrshire | £160,000 | |
Aberdeen City | | £150,000 |
Aberdeenshire | | £150,000 |
Angus | | £150,000 |
City of Edinburgh | | £150,000 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | | £150,000 |
Dundee City | | £150,000 |
Falkirk | | £150,000 |
Inverclyde | | £150,000 |
Scottish Borders | | £150,000 |
Clackmannan | | £100,000 |
Perth & Kinross | | £100,000 |
Renfrewshire | | £100,000 |
West Dunbartonshire | | £100,000 |
West Lothian | | £100,000 |
Case studies – to be allocated | | £550,000 |
Total | £1.6 million | £2.4 million |
Local authorities were informed by letter of their allocation in February and they will receive the funds in their general capital grant settlement.
We continue to work with councils and COSLA to agree a distribution methodology for the £550,000 unallocated from the 2023-24 budget as well as the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budgets.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) injury and (b) non-injury road accidents on the A90 have been reported in each quarter since 1 April 2017 between Ellon and (i) Peterhead and (ii) Fraserburgh.
Answer
Between Ellon (from & including the roundabout at the junction with the A948) to the junction with the A982 at Peterhead
Year – 2017 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
April – June | 1 |
July – September | 0 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2018 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 2 |
April – June | 4 |
July – September | 4 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2019 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 1 |
April – June | 1 |
July – September | 2 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2020 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 2 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 0 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2021 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 2 |
April – June | 2 |
July – September | 1 |
October – December | 0 |
Year – 2022 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 0 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September (to 9 Sept) | 1 |
Between Ellon (from & including the roundabout at the junction with the A948) to the junction with the A98 at Fraserburgh.
Please note that the following figures also include the above figures as the section from Ellon to Fraserburgh includes the length of the A90 from Ellon to Peterhead.
Year – 2017 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
April – June | 7 |
July – September | 1 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2018 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 5 |
April – June | 4 |
July – September | 5 |
October – December | 4 |
Year – 2019 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 3 |
April – June | 3 |
July – September | 3 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2020 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 4 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 3 |
October – December | 4 |
Year – 2021 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 4 |
April – June | 2 |
July – September | 2 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2022 | Number of Personal Injury Accidents |
January - March | 0 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September (to 9 Sept) | 1 |
Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available at the time of retrieving the data from Transport Scotland’s accident manager system. 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).
• Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.
• 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.
• From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. The evidence from other police forces within the UK that introduced the same system is that this increase will be around 20%. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads, but would instead reflect more accurate recording.
• 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.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been killed in road accidents on the A90 between Dundee and Stonehaven in each quarter since 1 April 2017.
Answer
The following table sets out the number of fatal casualties on the A90 between Emmock roundabout Dundee and where the A957 Slug Road crosses the A90 at Stonehaven.
Year – 2017 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 0 |
October – December | 0 |
Year – 2018 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
January - March | 0 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 1 |
October – December | 0 |
Year – 2019 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
January - March | 3 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 0 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2020 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
January – March | 2 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 1 |
October – December | 0 |
Year – 2021 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
January - March | 0 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 0 |
October – December | 1 |
Year – 2022 | Number of Fatal Casualties |
January - March | 0 |
April – June | 0 |
July – September | 0 |
October – 5 October | 0 |
Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database
Date data extracted: 05 October 2022
Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland. Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available at the time of retrieving the data from Transport Scotland’s accident manager system. 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).
• Transport Scotland only holds accident information for the trunk road network.
• 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.
• From summer 2019, Police Scotland introduced a new system for recording traffic collisions. Due to improved recording and categorisation processes, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of casualties and accidents on Scottish roads that are classified as serious. The evidence from other police forces within the UK that introduced the same system is that this increase will be around 20%. This increase would not reflect an actual change in the severity of accidents occurring on Scottish roads, but would instead reflect more accurate recording.
• 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.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 September 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on the cost of food of its proposed restrictions on the promotion of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt.
Answer
An evidence based approach is central to the development of our policy to restrict promotions on less healthy food and drink.
Further to our 2018/19 consultation , we recently consulted again on our proposals on restricting the promotions for foods high in fat, sugar or salt to further inform the evidence base and development of this policy. This provided an opportunity for people and organisations to share their views on these proposals in the current context, including relating to cost of living pressures. Responses to this consultation are now being analysed and will help to inform development of this policy.
We continue to engage with a range of stakeholders and update our wider evidence base to inform a suite of impact assessments in order to assess whether the proposed measures are proportionate as well as to consider their impact on health inequalities. This includes engagement with businesses to inform a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment that will set out the anticipated costs and benefits of these measures. These impact assessments will be published upon introduction to Parliament of the Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what options ministers considered for supporting Arjowiggins and the reported 360 affected jobs in Aberdeen.
Answer
The Scottish Government, through Scottish Enterprise, had been working extensively with Arjowiggins and its partners to explore all possible options to support the business, including the pursuit of a buyer for the business. Scottish Enterprise continues to work with the administrators and partners to understand the potential options for the business going forward and explore all possibilities to rescue the jobs.
The Scottish Government will continue to help those affected through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE).
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-10964 by Jenny Gilruth on 26 September 2022, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what assessment it has made of any impact of not having published its 10-year islands connectivity plan on people in remote and island communities, particularly in relation to the adequacy of ferry services; for what reason it did not provide details of any such assessment in its answer, and, if no such assessment has been made, whether it will state this.
Answer
The Scottish Government is working on production of the Islands Connectivity Plan. Priority is being given to a long-term plan and investment programme for vessels and ports, with the aim of publishing a draft for consultation by the end of 2022. There are no plans to carry out an assessment of the type mentioned by the Member.
