Chamber and committees

Natural flood management measures reduce, slow or otherwise manage flood waters across catchments and along the coast; they include salt marsh creation, wetland restoration, floodplain reconnection and woodland planting.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 recognises the important role of natural flood management and promotes and encourages the use of natural flood management techniques.

Natural flood management aims to reduce, but not necessarily replace, the need for traditional engineering, and is often used as part of a blended approach where natural flood management techniques are used alongside traditional engineering as part of a whole catchment approach.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to take action to reduce the impacts of flooding through the flooding component of the general capital grant (currently £42m pa). 20% of this (£8.2m pa) is available for actions such as natural flood management. We have also increased the overall flooding budget by 70% from £210 to £360 million in the next 5 years. The distribution of this additional funding is currently under discussion with local authorities.

The Scottish Government is supporting the long term Eddleston Water research project which is developing an evidence base to improve our understanding of natural flood management . It shows that natural flood management can delay flood peaks, deliver multiple benefits and help mitigate climate change impacts.

We also recognise the important role natural features play in protecting the coastline from erosion and sea level rise. The Scottish Government funded Dynamic Coast 2 project helps us to identify where the greatest risks from coastal change erosion and sea level rise are, this decade and into the future. Output from this project indicates that natural coastal defences protect £14.5bn of assets.

Based on these research results we are taking an adaptive planning approach to building resilience to coastal change. We have introduced a new capital budget for £12m over 4 years for coastal change adaptation which will be available from 2022-23. Guidance on how to produce Coastal Change Adaptation Plans is also being developed to help local authorities.

The Scottish Government supports the development of new electricity power stations with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) such as the proposal for a new station at Peterhead. This has the potential to ensure that a net zero electricity system in Scottish remains resilient and secure.

The Scottish Government is supportive of CCUS, an industrial scale decarbonisation system with the potential to make a big impact on achieving Scotland’s emissions targets. The advice from the Climate Change Committee describes CCUS as a “necessity, not an option” to achieve net zero emissions.

A90 Dundee to Stonehaven Fatal Casualties

(Between Emmock roundabout Dundee and where the A957 Slug Road crosses the A90 at Stonehaven)

ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to provide a delay-repay scheme to passengers, which offers compensation when their journey is delayed by more than 30 minutes.

The Delay Repay scheme operates on a railway period reporting basis from April to March.

The following tables summarise the actual compensation ScotRail awarded to passengers in each four-week period since the 2018-2019 reporting period.

a) personal injury accidents

A90 Dundee to Stonehaven Personal Injury Accidents

(Between Emmock roundabout Dundee and where the A957 Slug Road crosses the A90 at Stonehaven)

The following table presents the total number of fatal and serious accidents for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. However, the information on the total number of fatal and serious accidents for 2021 are only available up to the date stated in the table.

There are now over 150 chargers throughout the Electric A9 corridor, in a variety of locations including charging hubs and rural communities.

The number of chargers will continue to grow as the number of electric vehicles in Scotland does, providing electric vehicle charging provision for long distance journeys, alongside local charging for businesses and residents, and charging at destinations.

To date, the Electric A9 has been funded by Scottish Ministers and chargers are part of the ChargePlace Scotland, which provides the back office provision and network. ChargePlace Scotland don’t own or operate charge points, this is predominantly done by local authorities along the route. We anticipate that commercially funded chargers will also be installed along the route of the A9 increasing the total number of chargers available in future years.

Abellio will be able to report its experience of running the ScotRail franchise however what is discussed would need to give appropriate regard to the confidentiality aspects of the Franchise Agreement.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport continues to develop as a specialist airport, carving a niche in a very competitive aviation market. The challenge facing the aviation sector because of the Covid pandemic is a global one and, like all airports, Prestwick is adapting to that challenge. The Scottish Government is laying the annual report and accounts today in Parliament which show that the business continues in a positive direction with a profit posted for 2020-21.

In the current year, the team at Glasgow Prestwick Airport were heavily involved in supporting COP26, providing a professional and flexible service to its customers during this major event. Glasgow Prestwick Airport continues to provide essential services for the importation of cargo, including supplies for the NHS, as well as continuing to develop all other revenue streams in the business. Staff at the airport have played and continue to play a key role in the success of such activities and that is valued and recognised.

Scottish Ministers’ still intend for Prestwick Airport to return to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. Having carefully considered bids received under a recent sales process, I can advise that Ministers have decided to not proceed with a sale at this time.

The Scottish Government remains supportive of the business. The airport has recently made several new appointments to the operating Board, including a new Non-Executive Chair. With a refreshed board and management in place, the Scottish Government is confident the business will continue to develop its strategy for growth.

The construction of the A92/A96 Haudagain Improvement project is well advanced.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures to combat the impact of the pandemic, it was confirmed in the publication of the Infrastructure Investment Plan in December 2020 that completion was anticipated in Winter 2021, noting that this date was subject to any unforeseen circumstances.

The latest information received from the Contractor now indicates an anticipated date for completion of works allowing roads to open to traffic by the end of March 2022. The Contractor has reported impacts to programme critical work within the previous month due to adverse weather from Storm Arwen and Storm Barra. Until these recent events the Contractor had been able to maintain an expected completion date within the Winter 2021 period, despite the challenges posed throughout 2021 by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and industry-wide supply chain issues. However, the risk of such events causing delay to the expected completion date has always been highlighted, to indicate that any estimated date must be understood to be subject to an element of uncertainty. Although this revised date remains subject to no further disruption occurring due to events such as adverse weather and the COVID-19 pandemic, Transport Scotland continues to engage with the Contractor as they work to mitigate any delays on site.