Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is a statement by Derek Mackay on winter transport resilience.
I am grateful to Parliament for the opportunity to make a statement on our winter transport resilience in Scotland.
We know that severe weather will cause disruption, but the Government has taken a wide range of steps to improve our resilience to the challenges of winter, to mitigate its impacts, to recover our transport networks and businesses, and to get daily life back to normal as quickly as possible. That has been done in partnership with a broad range of public, private and third sector partners, and it has included new investment, development and innovation, in all cases learning the lessons from recent winters.
Scotland will experience severe weather in the future, whether it is snow, a deep freeze, heavy rain or disruptive storms such as those of last winter. That does not just happen in winter. The summer flooding that has affected neighbourhoods across Scotland is fresh in everyone’s memory in Fife and Perthshire, for example.
We cannot prevent the weather, but we can prepare for it. Our priority is to keep Scotland moving by all modes of transport. On roads, the winter service that is provided across Scotland from the start of October through to mid-May is a critical front-line service. Winter weather has and will cause disruption on our roads but, with the actions that we are taking and with road users playing their part by planning ahead, together we can get Scotland moving throughout this winter.
New contract specifications, specialist plant trials and innovations, greater use of technology and getting information to people on the move are just a few of the ways in which we have strengthened the winter plan, treatments, decision making and communication with road users.
Enhanced preparedness is also beneficial outside of winter, as the procedures and practices that are in place such as the multiagency response team—MART—improve our resilience for other severe weather episodes and for major events such as the Commonwealth games and the 2014 Ryder cup.
We will continue to invest in and trial more technology to improve decision making and responses by those managing the winter treatments, such as new weather stations and mobile road condition sensors.
Over the past five years, we have strengthened our well-developed winter service even further. High-performance requirements ensure that our road maintenance contractors patrol the most strategically important routes from 1 November, before and through the morning peak, when temperatures are forecast to be low and there is a risk of ice forming. The strategic patrol gritters add to our ploughing capability during snowstorms.
We are continually investing in our winter service, and we have more winter plant this year than ever before. This year’s winter fleet will have 205 vehicles available for spreading salt and ploughing snow, averaging one gritter or plough per 17km of the trunk road network. That is a record high, and it is a 3.5 per cent increase from the start of last season. All of the fleet will be available to provide support to front-line and patrol vehicles, as well as covering breakdowns and essential maintenance.
Since last year, 57 new state-of-the-art gritters have been brought in to replace some older vehicles. Of the total number that are operational across the country 152 gritters are less than three years old. That represents 74 per cent of the total winter fleet for trunk roads.
As of 7 October, there is approximately 674,000 tonnes of salt in stock or on order, including strategic salt. This exceeds the total amount of salt that was used across Scotland for last winter and during the severe winter of 2010-11. A range of new resources are in place to improve intelligence and to monitor, patrol and act where necessary.
Last year our crews went out and cleared the trunk roads of ice and snow approximately 14,000 times, and winter service patrols were operational 6,700 times. We have increased stocks of alternative de-icers to improve our resilience if very low temperatures are forecast.
The purpose-built traffic Scotland national control centre at South Queensferry has improved co-ordination and joint working. All motorways continue to be covered by winter patrols, giving a 30-minute response to incidents.
Control rooms can monitor the temperature on key routes remotely through sensors, and they can see the conditions live via a network of cameras. Road users can keep up to date through a range of media, including internet radio and smart phone updates on the move, in addition to more traditional methods. A record number of people are using our information services with more than 100,000 people now following @trafficscotland, which has its own style of communication, as followers know. There is programme of communications using all channels in a proactive manner to raise awareness of the efforts that go into keeping the trunk roads moving during periods of bad weather such as rain, wind and snow.
We are engaging directly with schools. This year, we have been engaging with schoolchildren to educate them on the winter service on our trunk roads. We are also having an interesting competition to name our gritters. Partnership working is key to making sure that the communications process is as co-ordinated as possible, and Transport Scotland communications will work alongside the trunk road operating companies, contract providers, the traffic Scotland service and relevant partners in the Scottish Government to deliver shared messaging across all channels.
We will also liaise with Police Scotland and other transport providers where appropriate. That will enhance public confidence and make it clear to people that Transport Scotland is well prepared to deal with the conditions that winter may throw at us. That work also sets the scene for the wider Scottish Government ready for winter campaign, which will be launched in early November.
On rail, we are working closely with the ScotRail alliance to prepare for potential severe winter weather. We expect to see further improvements in operational response, customer services and the travel advice offered when compared with severe winters of two and three years ago. The plans for this year feature continued improvements across all ScotRail fleets to improve their robustness to the issues caused by winter weather in previous years.
ScotRail depots and maintenance facilities have additional winter maintenance equipment installed and a winter resilience check has been undertaken for all depots and train fleets. Winter working preparation is on track for all stations and de-icing equipment and materials will be in place. Network Rail has provided additional hand-held snow clearance equipment to local teams and has undertaken a winter resilience audit. Network Rail has also made available new mobile snow and ice clearance machines that can thaw junctions quickly.
Key routes for the busiest passenger flows and business-critical trains have been identified for enhanced resilience measures. A key route strategy has been agreed with all train operators, and a new weather forecasting and alert service has been procured to allow a more localised detail of effects.
In aviation, substantial investment has been made by airports in new measures since 2010 and 2011, and the collective figure for that spending is in excess of £4 million. Examples of that investment include Glasgow Airport, which has invested approximately £3 million in new snow-clearing equipment, including two new runway sweepers, procuring additional resources and improving general resilience, and Aberdeen International Airport, which has invested further with more than £1 million for new snow-clearing and de-icing equipment. Working towards winter 2015-16, our own airport group, Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, will benefit from advanced weather forecasting at all HIAL airports and from new de-icing sprayers introduced at our smaller airports for resilience purposes.
On ferries, the Scottish Government is committed to maintaining and improving lifeline ferry services that play a key role in supporting the economic, social and cultural development of island and remote communities. However, due to high winds and seasonal weather, disruptions and cancellations to ferry services across the Scottish ferry network are not uncommon during winter. Operators will continue to inform their customers of disruptions and cancellations as a matter of course via notifications on their websites, emails and text messages and by direct contact.
The decision to delay or cancel a sailing is never taken lightly. Ferry operators fully recognise the importance of the ferry service to the island and rural communities that they serve. Ferry travel has its own distinct challenges, particularly high winds, and the ship’s master has a duty to ensure the safety of passengers above other considerations. The Merchant Shipping (Master’s Discretion) Regulations 1997 gives the ship’s master sole responsibility for deciding whether it is safe to travel.
In conclusion, we will learn something new each time Scotland is beset by severe weather. The Scottish Government and the responder community are doing all that we can to build Scotland’s resilience to severe weather for winter and the rest of the year. At a time of severe economic challenges and environmental change, we need to show that Scotland’s infrastructure and services are ready to support our businesses and our people to be the Scotland we all want to see.
The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow about 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business.
I thank the minister for the advance copy of his statement.
Yesterday, I read a press headline that said, “Coldest winter for 50 years set to bring months of heavy snow to UK”, and the article referenced the 1962-63 winter, which saw rivers freeze across Scotland. That might be overstating the Met Office’s prediction for the winter, but there are real fears that Scotland faces food and fuel shortages as road and transport networks grind to a halt.
What emergency contingency plans are in place to deal with a situation in which the dire warnings in the press come to fruition, and what direct access does the minister have to emergency contingency funding to keep our trunk roads open, our railways functioning and our planes flying?
The minister referred to Highlands and Islands Airports, which is owned by the Scottish Government. He will know that, in a previous winter, HIAL ran out of de-icer because there was such a huge demand across the United Kingdom. What contingency is in place to stop that happening again?
What particular and specific plans are in place to protect the young, the vulnerable and the elderly?
The minister is not responsible for the weather, of course, but Parliament will be looking to him to ensure that Scotland does not slide to a halt on road and rail in 2016. What reassurances can the minister give that the Scottish Government has learned the lessons of 2010-11?
On Mr Stewart’s last point, it is fair to say that all of us have learned from the severe weather impacts that were particularly sorely felt during 2010-11. A lot of lessons were learned, an action plan was produced and we have delivered a range of measures, including improved technology, gritters and responses. Fundamentally, there is now better integration in the responder community, and the co-ordination efforts of the national traffic control centre at South Queensferry have made a difference. There has been financial investment and better partnership working across the agencies.
Having said all of that, we can prepare as best we can for the winter episodes but we cannot accurately predict what will happen. There could be a range of weather incidents involving snow, wind, rain, floods and so on. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That is why each organisation has its own resilience and contingency plans that set out what it will be required to do, which we oversee.
With regard to our levels of preparedness, the operating companies publish those and we put them on the Transport Scotland website. I have ensured that salt supplies are at levels that I am satisfied with, and we now have alternatives, such as those involving treated brine, which will result in solutions that work at temperatures at which traditional grit and salt do not. There is a range of measures to ensure that we are prepared.
In terms of wider Government resilience beyond transport, further contingency plans have been put in place through the work of Mr Brown, the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, and Mr Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, who has overall responsibility for resilience. When required, Scottish Government ministers, our agencies and our civil servants meet, and we can meet with United Kingdom Government representatives, if that is required.
We have a range of plans in place to deal with a range of eventualities. Focusing on transport, I believe that we are well prepared for the events that we face. There have been various reports about the weather that we should expect. We prepare for the worst, but it is hard to predict the nature of the weather that we will have. We know that there will be rain, snow and wind, but the extent to which travel will be disrupted by those factors is yet to be fully understood.
We prepare for the worst and hope for the best and put in enough mitigation to ensure that any disruption to our transport network is kept to a minimum. On welfare issues, plans are in place involving health and social care providers, local authorities and others to support the most vulnerable in the event of a severe winter episode.
I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. I have some sympathy for the minister, because the challenge of Scotland’s transport minister versus Scotland’s winter weather assumes the proportions of Canute trying to order the tide to go back. I start from a position of understanding.
The statement was comprehensive and indicated that the Government is aware of the problems regarding equipment and materials and has taken steps to ensure that they are not found to be in short supply. However, I will ask the minister about two or three key points.
During the last really serious winter five years ago, we had a number of serious disruptions to and total shut-downs of our railway system, which were blamed on frozen points. It was said at the time that a programme was in place to ensure that points on the main lines would be heated, so that we would not experience frozen points in the future. Has that programme been completed and will we be protected from the frozen-points problem if we get another severe winter?
On some of the experiences that we have had more recently, I am interested that the minister talked about alternative de-icers. Five years ago, when the M8 was closed completely with a large amount of traffic stuck on it, it was put down to the fact that salt could not melt ice in the temperatures at the time. Alternative de-icers would achieve the objectives that were not achieved that night. Do we have those alternatives in quantities such that we could tackle a job such as de-icing the whole M8?
Landslides have been a major problem, particularly in the Highlands, where the A83 is regularly closed as a result of winter landslides. Will the minister assure me that the Government is looking closely at how that problem can be averted in the future and tell me whether any additional remedial action is planned?
At the end of every winter we have the problem of potholes. They are a side effect of cold and wet winters, after which potholes invariably become a problem. Is the Government considering whether anything can be done to ensure that the problem of potholes on our trunk roads and local roads becomes a thing of the past?
I thank Alex Johnstone for those comprehensive questions.
On rail, we have made progress on the actions on frozen points and junctions. In my statement I said that there is new equipment for thawing frozen junctions, and there is now understanding of where there are repeat patterns of frozen junctions and points. Network Rail and ScotRail have worked on that, and progress has been made. Alex Johnstone asked me to state whether all the issues have been totally resolved and whether we are prepared for everything. We can do our best, and although I cannot guarantee that there will not be incidents, I believe that the actions have been undertaken.
On the use of alternative chemicals, we are using liquid sodium chloride brine, which has been used in other parts of Europe and the USA. It gives us an alternative to grit, which works only at certain temperatures. Its use has been piloted successfully and we want to roll it out—quite literally—as and when required.
Other measures include pre-treatment of roads if particularly cold weather is anticipated. We understand that points on Scotland’s topography will require special treatment, which should, along with the other additional responder commitments, address the pinch points.
Specific actions have been undertaken on landslides, including geotechnical surveys. Netting and fencing, where required, will assist in minimising landslides’ impact on the road network. There has been multimillion pound investment around the Rest and Be Thankful road, for example, which has had critical problems in the past. The fencing has captured much of the debris and has minimised disruption to the road network. I have also made a commitment on continuity of access to parts of the west and Argyll, where there has been disruption because of landslides. There has been better communication and use of variable messaging signs, as well. A range of actions have been taken on landslides.
Finally, some people might see potholes as being inverted traffic-calming measures, but that is not a view that I share. The carriageways and footways of our roads network suffer during difficult winters. Therefore, I am working in partnership with local authorities, which control and are responsible for 94 per cent of the roads network—I am responsible for the strategic roads that make up the other 6 per cent—to address the maintenance backlog, although my priority is to see us through the coming winter. Only yesterday, I had a meeting with the strategic action group to co-ordinate with local authorities in respect of road investments and how we can collaborate to deliver even more for the roads infrastructure of Scotland.
I welcome the minister’s statement. We would all agree that the most basic and frequent mode of transport is our feet. However, gritting of pavements—which I accept is the responsibility of local authorities—is often an afterthought. Can the minister use his extensive powers in some way to emphasise the importance of gritting pavements? That would undoubtedly reduce considerably the number of visits to accident and emergency departments—which are increasing substantially—because of wholly avoidable fractures, thereby saving pain and saving pounds of the health service’s purse.
I am not sure that I understand what “extensive powers” Christine Grahame is suggesting I have. I am not a centralising minister; it is for local authorities to prioritise their local networks. They have done so—as the Scottish Government has—in response to incidents, and have recognised that the preventative approach of treating footways, carriageways, paths and cycle paths will reduce the number of incidents that impact on people and the health service, and reduce the number of future claims. Local authorities are working hard to address concerns locally, but we can do more to support communities through providing self-help kits and advice on community resilience, and through local contingency campaigns. A range of actions can be taken to ensure that our footways are treated as a priority while we keep the country’s strategic roads and other transport networks moving during the winter.
I thank the minister for providing an advance copy of his statement and assure him that if it snows as much as David Stewart fears that it will, I will not hold him personally responsible.
In his statement, the minister mentioned aviation—Highlands and Islands Airports in particular. He will be aware that a pilots’ union has expressed real concern about Loganair’s aircraft safety record. Is he aware that the Civil Aviation Authority has said today that Loganair does meet European safety regulations? Will he therefore meet Loganair and the CAA to ensure that the right safety standards are being met and that engineering support is in place, as winter approaches?
Tavish Scott has asked a fair question. I met Loganair prior to the pilots’ letter and sought assurances around engineering progress, partly because complaints had been made about the reliability of the operator’s flights to the islands. At that point, I was reassured that there would be engineering interventions to improve reliability. I expect the highest standards in aviation in Scotland. That is a matter for which the Civil Aviation Authority and others have some responsibility, but the Scottish Government expects the highest standards. I will revisit the issue in the light of the pilots’ concerns in order to ensure that the commitment that I was given on engineering and resilience improvement is delivered on. Safety is paramount and will not be compromised, and all necessary regulations should be complied with.
In previous years, people carrying out community service have been called on to assist in efforts to keep our communities moving. Can the minister confirm that that will happen again, if it is required, over the coming winter?
It is for local authorities to decide the nature of the unpaid work that can be carried out in communities using, for example, community payback orders. That can include snow clearing during the winter months, and the Scottish Government is sympathetic to councils’ deploying people in that way.
My question is about another infrastructure issue. During the severe winter of 2010-11, the most significant problem in Dumfries and Galloway was not snow. Without an insulating layer of snow, the water infrastructure froze—not just pipes in homes, but tobies and underground supplies—and many of my constituents were without a water supply for several days over the new year. When that happens, pipes can subsequently burst and the water can then freeze, which can significantly disrupt transport.
If the matter is not his responsibility, can the minister advise—now or in writing—what contingency plans Scottish Water has in place should similar weather conditions prevail this year? Can he assure members that Scottish Water is also involved in winter resilience planning along with local authorities and Transport Scotland?
Scottish Water is, of course, engaged in the wider resilience measures and contingency plans, and will have its own levels of preparedness. I can do that question justice only by writing to Elaine Murray with the full details of what Scottish Water has in place. My statement was primarily about transport, but I am sure that she will be reassured by what Scottish Water has in place. I will write to her with those details.
I was tempted to find out what Network Rail meant by
“additional hand-held snow clearance equipment”.
Is Abellio ready to ensure that any disruption to rail services, especially on long-distance routes, is minimised and that rapid replacement transport is on hand to get travellers to their ticketed destinations without undue delay? Is Network Rail well staffed to tackle problems on isolated rail routes?
I do not have the civil service Q and A here that covers such definitions, but I suspect that such equipment is a shovel, which comes in handy for politicians from time to time.
On the more serious point, the ScotRail alliance is looking at getting people to their destinations and at alternatives when rail services are disrupted, and we are considerate about how customers are treated as part of that. That includes providing information and being reasonable about alternatives. It is not just a matter of the critical mass of people; those who are in the more peripheral or remote areas also have that support provided. That is part of the strategic planning that Network Rail and ScotRail have undertaken.
The minister has touched on this subject. He will know that landslides have been a particular problem in the past few years, particularly at the Rest and Be Thankful. I know that the Government has made significant investment in the past few years. Will the minister touch on that, give a bit more detail about what investment there has been recently to prevent, as far as possible, landslides from happening, and give some reassurance, if he can, that resources are on hand to deal with the spoil from landslides, get it cleared and get the road open and functioning properly again as quickly as possible?
My first priority is to ensure that the area remains open for business. That is why I have put effort into ensuring that the diversion routes are maintained, such as the old military road. With ferry use as well, that will help us to have continuity of access, albeit through diversions or detours if the main roads are impacted through landslides.
On mitigating and minimising the risks from landslides, netting has been put in place that effectively captures the debris. The incidents this year have not been as drastic as those in previous years. There is also forestry planting, and geotechnical studies are allowing us to predict where incidents may occur. Specific physical measures will be put in place where there have been incidents in the past.
That is the preventative approach. There is a commitment to continuity of access and a multimillion-pound investment to support that. Information is being shared to ensure that people will know what is happening on the road network if there are further incidents. The operating company is expected to get things moving as quickly as possible and, if a diversion is required, it should be operational within an hour. I have had the pleasure of chairing the task force to ensure that we take all possible actions that we can to ensure continuity of access, even in the event of further landslips.
I, too, thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. Yesterday, I launched the Equal Opportunities Committee’s report on age and social isolation, in which we documented the harmful effects of loneliness. How will the Government ensure that its advice gets to all corners of Scotland and particularly to those who live alone, those who do not have access to the internet and Twitter, for example, and those who do not have a network of family and friends to rely on at this time of year?
We will work with our partners to ensure that communication is shared using traditional methods—for example, through community councils and seniors forums and through the range of advice that is provided through voluntary organisations and third sector organisations. In addition to social media, television, Twitter and new media, as well as traditional websites, there is the telephone advisory service.
A range of media can be used to share the Government’s message. People who are on the front line understand who the most vulnerable in our society are—be they energy customers or social work clients and so on. The more vulnerable are identified so that, in the event of any incident, we target those who are most in need.
A range of measures that are in place should reassure the member. We are not relying just on new media, but the beauty of new media is that we can get information out in real time to advise people what to do as an incident is happening. That is a major transformation for the better over the past year or two. The Twitter feed, which reaches 100,000 people, is sharing live updates about the transport network. If there are any further suggestions as to how we can improve communication, I am all ears.
The minister can pin back his ears, because I suggest that perhaps a 25-year-old technology—message texting—is one of the most effective ways of communicating with people. Almost all fixed land-lines can receive texts, which are read out over them. Will the minister follow the lead of the floodline system, which is good at alerting people to flood risks, in looking at the most effective use of text and also using the data service that is part of FM radio? Traditional methods work, too.
I suspect that Stewart Stevenson probably invented that technology, which is why he is promoting it to me. I am more than happy to look into that.
The ferry service uses such technology already to communicate directly with customers so that it can update them. It was recognised that not everyone has internet reception, so text messaging and traditional phones can be a useful form of communication for further updates, which I am happy to explore.
In light of past harsh winters—particularly in 2010, when the M8, M9 and A80 came to a standstill—what assurances can the minister provide to my constituents across Central Scotland that the road networks will remain open should there be a repeat of the unprecedented bad weather that we have seen? Will he outline what contingency plans are in place for any disrupted ScotRail services during the winter and say whether passengers will be compensated for any cancelled services?
I would rather focus on minimising disruption than compensating for it, but I understand the reason for the question. If there is major disruption to transport networks, we need to get the country moving as quickly as possible.
Last year’s rail disruption was not actually down to the snow. It was because of high winds, which caused trees and other debris to land on the tracks. People who live close to a railway need to be careful about their garages, garden equipment, trampolines and everything else. We had to ensure that the railways were safe so that the trains could operate safely. That was the reason for last year’s suspension. I tried to maintain oversight to ensure that the rail system was reopened as quickly as possible, so I offer a reassurance on that.
Safety must always come first, so how have we improved things since the incidents of 2010 to 2011? There is better communication, better understanding of welfare needs by all our partner organisations, more on-road response to incidents and more provision availability in our trunk road response teams around welfare issues, whether that involves food or blankets, as well as connections to make sure that the hard shoulder is maintained for emergency vehicles and other resilience vehicles.
With all that, there is pre-treatment of the motorways and the trunk roads, and treatment while events are occurring. There is also identification of what the hot spots or indeed the cold spots were last time, to ensure that they are addressed. A range of actions exists to minimise disruption and, if there is disruption, to address the welfare issues.
The multimillion-pound—indeed, multibillion-pound—investment in the road network is improving the quality of our infrastructure. On ensuring communication, we can give good real-time information about what is happening on the transport network. If people want to plan ahead, they can check congestion along the roads and see where incidents have happened. I am sure that that means that they can avoid disruption. I hope that the member is reassured by that range of actions and by hearing about how we have learned lessons from the incident in 2010 and 2011.