Current status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 3 July 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether Transport Scotland has made progress on implementing "a national review of freight parking/rest areas" in line with recommendation 36 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), and when it expects to publish the findings of any such review.
STPR2 forms the Scottish Government’s long term plans for future transport investment. It must be recognised that it is not possible to take forward all 45 STPR2 recommendations at the same time.
Whilst work on recommendation 36 is still to begin, my officials have been undertaking preparatory work on the scope of the review.
They have been engaged with, and are learning from, the UK’s Department for Transport’s recently completed, Task and Finish Group. This was an industry lead group which has had two key focuses, the first was development of a set of secure parking standards for lorry parks and rest stops. The second related to the development of new sites and the challenges and opportunities this presents. On this latter task the Road Haulage Association have been chairing the group which included a wide range of industry stakeholders. Whilst planning matters in England and Wales are different to those in Scotland, there were many parallels that can be drawn from this that have been helpful in shaping the scope of future Scottish-based work.