Subordinate Legislation
For the next several items, the minister is joined by Jim Vance, head of design and development at Transport Scotland; Jo Blewett, M8 project manager for Transport Scotland; and Alison Martin, solicitor for the Scottish Government.
Under agenda item 4, members will have the opportunity to ask the minister questions on a group of Scottish statutory instruments. Under items 5, 6 and 7, we will consider motions on the affirmative SSIs. After that, we have a couple of negative instruments to deal with.
M8 (Baillieston to Newhouse) Special Road Scheme 2011 (SSI 2011/10)
A8 Trunk Road (Baillieston to Newhouse) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/11)
A725 Trunk Road (Baillieston to Newhouse) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/12)
Under item 4, we are hearing evidence on SSI 2011/10, SSI 2011/11 and SSI 2011/12. Members have been provided with the relevant documents.
I invite the minister to make opening remarks.
On 13 December 2010, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth announced the decision to authorise the construction of the M8 Baillieston to Newhouse scheme. The M8 will take us another step closer to our aim of completing the strategic road network for the country to an appropriate standard. Once the M8 and the other major projects that we have in hand are complete, we will be in a position where we will be mainly upgrading and improving existing roads, rather than having to build new ones—an approach that fits well with our wider transport policy and environmental objectives.
All the statutory orders and a comprehensive environmental statement have been published for the scheme. A public local inquiry was held and the reporter recommended that the orders be made. When deciding that the M8 project should proceed, the Scottish ministers issued a direction that the statutory instruments for the scheme should be subject to affirmative procedure in the Parliament. The instruments before the committee today are for one special road scheme and two trunk road orders. They are also associated with a number of other ancillary instruments for the project, which are not subject to parliamentary procedure. Those remaining instruments will be made only if the Parliament approves the three affirmative instruments.
I ask the committee to note that the special road scheme and the two trunk road orders come as a package. Each one is necessary for the whole M8 project to proceed. The M8 project will complete the central Scotland motorway network. We believe that it will bring benefits to businesses and communities throughout central Scotland. Nationally, it will strengthen links between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The second national planning framework recognises that Edinburgh and Glasgow are vital to Scotland’s economic well-being and that good connectivity is critical in realising their full potential.
In combination with other recent initiatives, such as the opening of the Airdrie to Bathgate railway, the M8 will help to make the central belt a region of international economic significance. However, the M8 scheme is not just about national benefits. Local businesses and communities of North Lanarkshire will enjoy more reliable and less congested transport links to our major cities. A series of new cycleways and walkways throughout the route will reduce the existing severance and allow more pleasant and sustainable ways of travelling short journeys.
The 100,000 vehicles that have to make use of the route each day will experience reduced journey times and congestion and better reliability on their trips.
The M8 scheme is also vital to give us the flexibility to introduce enhanced public transport and active traffic management in future.
I regard this major road scheme to be a significant addition to our strategic road network, with significant national, regional and local benefits.
Thank you. We will consider the formal motions on the instruments under subsequent items. Do members have any questions for the minister?
Members: No.
I have a question about the minister’s general argument that the completion, as he regards it, of the motorway network is a priority and that after that we will just be maintaining what we have. Would there not be many people throughout Scotland who think that we are not doing nearly enough on maintaining what we have on the road network at the moment, given the extremely costly backlog of repairs to roads up and down the country? Are there not many people who think that we could perhaps do without new projects at the moment and instead deal with repairing the road network as it stands?
I suppose that my short answer to that is no—I do not think that there are many people in Scotland who believe that we should not improve the M8 and the connection between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Most people see the importance of that route and the importance of upgrading it to motorway standard right the way across. That is not to say that there are not issues. Obviously there are issues when you have constrained resources for maintaining the roads.
The Scottish Government maintains a small percentage of the roads in the country. Most are maintained by local authorities, but local authorities, like the Scottish Government, have to work in an environment of reduced and reducing resources, given the budgets that are being set. I do not deny that that is an issue, but I do not think that most people see it as a reason not to proceed with the project.
16:30
Is the Government able to tell us with any confidence what the impact will be on the relative attractiveness and uptake of public transport as opposed to car use for travel between Glasgow and Edinburgh or other parts of the east-west route?
As I said in my opening statement, that has certainly been addressed and we have tried to facilitate it in relation to shorter journeys. I will ask Jim Vance to talk about the work that has been done to quantify the impact.
Jim Vance (Transport Scotland)
The M8 will contribute. If you have an idea, for instance, about running a hard-shoulder bus down that corridor you will need the M8 and the hard shoulders to do it.
There are other initiatives—which Jo Blewett may be able to talk about in more detail—such as intelligent transport systems that will link up with the potential park-and-ride sites that have been identified by Strathclyde partnership for transport. There is a fair contribution to public transport from the scheme.
The pre-publication modelling shows that very little traffic would be generated as a result of the scheme itself, so there would be little—if any—attraction in moving from public transport to the motorway.
It is not simply a road: there is quite a lot of enabling initiative in the scheme.
Is the additional bus service that you are suggesting intended?
It is not part of the scheme. I cannot say whether such a service is intended, but if the road is not there, that sort of thinking cannot go into the scheme.
Jo Blewett (Transport Scotland)
It might be helpful if I give you some background. The M8 scheme came out of one of our multimodal Scottish transport appraisal guidance studies back in 2003, which looked at the whole corridor. The study concluded that we needed extra upgrading for the link, but that in parallel we needed things such as the Airdrie to Bathgate line and express bus services.
At that time, SPT did some study work on strategic bus services. It concluded that we needed a motorway link to make any type of strategic bus service work. This scheme has been examined as part of a whole-corridor solution that involves the Airdrie to Bathgate line, the express bus services and an upgrading of the scheme to motorway. From the outset, the idea was that the scheme was not simply a standalone motorway scheme.
Okay. I see that there are no final questions.
We move to item 5, which is consideration of motion S3M-7772.
Motion moved,
That the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee recommends that the M8 (Baillieston to Newhouse) Special Road Scheme 2011 be approved.—[Keith Brown.]
The question is, that motion S3M-7772, in the name of Keith Brown, be agreed to. Are we agreed?
Members: No.
There will be a division.
For
Carlaw, Jackson (West of Scotland) (Con)
Gibson, Rob (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
Glen, Marlyn (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Gordon, Charlie (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
McInnes, Alison (North East Scotland) (LD)
Peattie, Cathy (Falkirk East) (Lab)
Somerville, Shirley-Anne (Lothians) (SNP)
Abstentions
Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green)
The result of the division is: For 7, Against 0, Abstentions 1.
Motion agreed to.
Item 6 is consideration of motion S3M-7773.
Motion moved,
That the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee recommends that the A8 Trunk Road (Baillieston to Newhouse) Order 2011 be approved.—[Keith Brown.]
The question is, that motion S3M-7773, in the name of Keith Brown, be agreed to. Are we agreed?
Members: No.
There will be a division.
For
Carlaw, Jackson (West of Scotland) (Con)
Gibson, Rob (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
Glen, Marlyn (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Gordon, Charlie (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
McInnes, Alison (North East Scotland) (LD)
Peattie, Cathy (Falkirk East) (Lab)
Somerville, Shirley-Anne (Lothians) (SNP)
Abstentions
Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green)
The result of the division is: For 7, Against 0, Abstentions 1.
Motion agreed to.
Item 7 is consideration of motion S3M-7774.
Motion moved,
That the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee recommends that the A725 Trunk Road (Baillieston to Newhouse) Order 2011 be approved.—[Keith Brown.]
The question is, that motion S3M-7774, in the name of Keith Brown, be agreed to. Are we agreed?
Members: No.
There will be a division.
For
Carlaw, Jackson (West of Scotland) (Con)
Gibson, Rob (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
Glen, Marlyn (North East Scotland) (Lab)
Gordon, Charlie (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab)
McInnes, Alison (North East Scotland) (LD)
Peattie, Cathy (Falkirk East) (Lab)
Somerville, Shirley-Anne (Lothians) (SNP)
Abstentions
Harvie, Patrick (Glasgow) (Green)
The result of the division is: For 7, Against 0, Abstentions 1. There is no surprise there.
Motion agreed to.
I thank the witnesses for their contribution.
Waverley Railway (Scotland) Act 2006 (Extension of Time for Land Acquisition) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/14)
Scottish Road Works Register (Prescribed Fees) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/43)
Item 8 is consideration of two negative instruments. Members should note that no motions to annul have been received. As members have no comments, do we agree to make no recommendations on the instruments?
Members indicated agreement.
16:36
Meeting continued in private until 16:51.