National transport strategy 2 was launched by one of my predecessors—I acknowledge Mr Matheson at this point. It is an important document that brings the sector together. We had a transport summit recently, with a focus on the value of transport document that I just referred to. What was quite striking and remarkable was the number of people from across the sector—operators, regional transport authorities and local authorities—who said that NTS2 pulls everything together and gives everybody guidance on what they need to produce. There are individual projects in NTS2, but Ms Lennon outlined, quite correctly, the general approach.

On bus and train, we are seeing an increase in uptake. That five-year period covers the Covid pandemic period, and some modes have returned more rapidly than others. I think that train came back more quickly than bus. Bus had been a problem, particularly for older people, but we are currently dealing with pressures on the concessionary scheme, with older people starting to come back to bus, which puts pressure on our budgeting because it is demand led. We can tell from uptake that the picture has improved. It is wrong to say that there is a problem of bus not returning to pre-Covid levels, because in some cases it has, and we will start to see reports from this year that we are on that trajectory. Abolishing peak rail fares is part of encouraging more people who have not used rail before to do so. Working with our operators, we have done well with recovery there.

I absolutely agree about road safety. I have concerns about that, and, in difficult times, I have managed to increase the budget for road safety nationally and locally. There are differences in relation to local fatalities, and we are concerned about trunk road fatalities. I get reports on every single one of those deaths, and it is salutary to remind ourselves of the issues. We have managed to go back to deploying our advertising budget.

Speeding is an issue. Another of my serious concerns is fatalities in which people have not been wearing a seatbelt. In a collision, if you are not wearing a seatbelt, you are more likely to die. Well over 20 per cent of people who die on our roads were not wearing a seatbelt. That, in and of itself, is an issue.

We are also tackling the issue of distracted drivers. I chair the road safety programme—I know that this is quite a long answer, but we can provide the committee with more detail on the programme’s actions if it is interested. We have researchers working between Transport Scotland and Police Scotland to home in on what the issues are. We are doing a lot of work co-operatively with motorcyclists on road signage at particular bends and how motorcyclists should approach them. That is one of the successful elements of the programme.

We are also identifying when and where issues arise. August is an interesting time. It is outside our school holidays, but there is good weather. That can create issues, so how do we tackle them? There are a range of issues. A lot of people think that road safety is about the condition of the road, but there are very few instances where that is what led to a fatality. Often, it can be driver behaviour, which is difficult to talk about when people’s families are grieving.

Distracted driver behaviour is one of the things that we have real concerns about. We are trying to address that with some of the camera work and other developments that are coming into place. We are also developing, with Police Scotland, the digital evidence sharing capability—DESC—programme, which I know a number of members are interested in. Dashcam footage can be uploaded, to help people to learn about different experiences. That issue is getting my and my colleagues’ full attention.

Clearly, local roads are the responsibility of the local authority. Therefore, it is their responsibility to identify whether there are particular areas of concern and to decide how they deploy their resources and funding. Local authorities know that, if they have concerns about excess speeding in a particular area, for example, they can ask for that to be monitored for a period. We need to make sure—and we do make sure—that local authorities know about that, because they do not necessarily make use of that facility.

Local junctions can often be a concern. From your experience as a planner, you will be familiar with the designs of different junctions and how local authorities can use them. That is where some of the national funding for road safety can help.

Further, the 20mph speed limit is being rolled out in our cities and towns and elsewhere across Scotland. That will help to make a difference—it improves survival rates. You are seven times more likely to survive if you are hit at 20mph than if you are hit at 30mph. We are supporting local authorities in that roll-out. Those are all things that we can help local authorities with, but they have to identify what they need.

We have a very good relationship with the Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists—SCOTS—which is the local authority transport leads group. The transport leads also sit on the national road safety partnership, and we work very closely with them to share experiences and good practice. It is fair to say that local authorities take different approaches. We are trying to bring best practice together, but that has to be led by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. I am pleased that the transport lead, Councillor Gail Macgregor, now attends the road safety partnership. COSLA and SCOTS are very much part of this work, which is why I say that it is a partnership. We cannot do everything for local authorities in their areas, but that is the type of thing that can be done.

It is important to understand that the projects are locally led by the regional transport partnerships, including the one relating to the Glasgow metro.

I am not in a position at this time to tell you how long that will take. I would be making it up if I did, and I do not do that.

The other issues around—

On the latter point, there has been extensive feedback, as you can imagine. Obviously, there are different types of single-carriageway rural roads, and we must look very closely at what the change will mean in practice. There are certain roads on which we need further engagement.

There is a general consensus on what we can do with changing the speed limit for HGVs. I want to consider that properly. I have not had the report on the consultation as yet, but I look forward to receiving it.

I am trying to remember the figures from my budget appearance earlier this year—I will correct them if I am wrong. We have £27.9 million of funding for behaviour change and £20 million for the bus infrastructure fund. The remainder will be for active travel. Its funding is similar to that allocated in previous years and to what people have traditionally seen. Somewhere in there is the community bus fund, which I know is also very popular. That is a smaller amount.

The funding is in a good and positive place. As I have explained, it is combined for practical reasons, because it helps local authorities to be able to use the funding in a sensible and co-ordinated way.

No. As I said, the section 4 contract has been awarded, and we are moving to procurement on section 5. Anyone who travels the route, as you regularly do, will see the work that is happening now. You will probably start seeing the ground works on the Tay crossing to Ballinluig section, too.

One aspect that I am keen to ensure is well understood is that transport is not just about the functional delivery of services or roads; it also has a huge economic impact, not least of which is the number of people who are employed in the transport sector. We think that it supports around 150,000 full-time equivalent jobs and that it generates around £10 billion in gross value added. That is all set out in our report “Connecting Scotland—The Value of Transport”.

You mentioned the A9. Part of our aim with the Tomatin to Moy project is to ensure that it has a local economic impact, with local companies and local people being employed and opportunities being provided for people who perhaps might not get employment elsewhere. That has been a key requirement in the A9 procurement process to date, and local provision of labour and the use of local companies was evidenced by what I saw and heard when I visited the Tomatin to Moy section site.

On the challenges that we have in Scotland, the demand for construction in general is very strong. We are seeing that in the energy sector as well as in the roads sector; I know that the committee has taken an interest in energy in some of its recent inquiries. We want to get value for money, but we also have to anticipate construction inflation, which has exceeded levels in other areas and places pressure on that.

The point about the supply chain is really important. With regard to road construction areas, Transport Scotland has worked very hard on supply chain procurement for the different A9 sections.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which you will be familiar with, sets out the importance of community benefit, to the value of 10 per cent. That is set out more clearly in the provisions across public sector contracts that are our direct responsibility. Although I do not have them to hand today, I have seen figures on Tomatin to Moy and I can share that breakdown and the types of community benefits with you, which include benefits to local businesses that are involved in the delivery of different services. We can demonstrate that.

Moreover, Transport Scotland has produced a document that sets out its procurement work—I have it in my inbox and want to study it at greater length; I do not know whether Fiona Brown is familiar with it. We could send the link to the committee, and you could read about the work’s impact.