Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-38706

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the long-term solution for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful section is the quickest and most economical solution, and, if it considers this to be the case, what the reasons are for it not being progressed.

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority and we will continue to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible.

The debris flow shelter, announced as the preferred route option in June 2023, has the greatest potential to be delivered quickly and was the most economical solution of all the options assessed, and is being progressed. Draft Orders and Environmental Impact Assessments for both the medium and long term solutions were published in December 2024 marking a significant milestone and shows our commitment to tackle the landslide issues at the Rest and Be Thankful.

Transport Scotland is considering all representations received, including objections, to the published draft Orders and is working at pace to resolve these if possible. If it is not possible to resolve objections a Public Local Inquiry may be required to consider objections received and not withdrawn.

The Scottish Government is duty bound to properly follow the correct statutory procedures which rightly include the opportunity for local communities to input and have any objections resolved appropriately.

As with all infrastructure projects, delivery of the scheme can only commence if approved under the relevant statutory authorisation procedures and thereafter a timetable for procurement and construction phases can be set.

The link to the website can be found here: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/design-manual-for-roads-and-bridges-dmrb-stage-two-route-options-assessment-report-a83-access-to-argyll-and-bute/.

Question reference: S6W-38704

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what guarantees it can provide that the proposed debris flow shelter on the A83 Rest and Be Thankful section will withstand future landslides and protect the road and users.

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority and we will continue to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible.

The design of the debris flow shelter follows both national and international design standards and good practice, including, but not limited to, the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, British Standards and Eurocodes. This is being informed by data collected on the A83 site as well as the extensive experience of Transport Scotland and its technical advisors who have designed similar structures in Europe and around the world.

For the majority of landslide events, material from landslides will not collect on the roof of the debris flow shelter, albeit the roof is being designed to withstand these larger landslide events. Large catchpits are located at the rear of the debris flow shelter to capture any material from landslide before it reaches the shelter for all but the most significant landslide events. The roof will predominantly be used for access to clear material from the catchpits allowing the A83 Trunk Road to continue running during clearance operations.

The proposed solution of the debris flow shelter has been applied across Europe in similar situations, as well as similar approaches taken on railway projects, such as Dawlish rockfall shelter in England. The link to the website can be found here: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/design-manual-for-roads-and-bridges-dmrb-stage-two-route-options-assessment-report-a83-access-to-argyll-and-bute/.

Question reference: S6W-38705

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the current proposal for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful section is (a) deliverable and (b) affordable, and what assessment has been made of the potential impact on the economy of Argyll while it is being constructed.

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority and we continue to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible.

Funding is included in the 2025-26 Budget to continue to progress both the medium and long term solutions. Funding to progress the construction stage of the medium and long term solutions will be determined as part of the annual Scottish Budget setting exercises. However, this scheme is a priority for Scottish Government, noting it is a key recommendation in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) and is included in our published Programme for Government 2025-26.

A traffic and economics assessment was carried in accordance with the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, however, its purpose is not to assess impacts to each and every business in Argyll and Bute. This is why at the most recent A83 Taskforce meeting I have arranged for roundtable meetings to be taken forward for each of the various business sectors for focussed discussions on the possible impacts and potential mitigation measures which may be implemented to further reduce any impact on businesses during construction of the long term solution. The link to the website can be found here: https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/design-manual-for-roads-and-bridges-dmrb-stage-two-route-options-assessment-report-a83-access-to-argyll-and-bute/.

Question reference: S6W-38585

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 20 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to hold property factors accountable and to remove them from the Scottish Property Factor Register if they have breached the Code of Conduct.

The Scottish Government revised the Code of Conduct, in August 2021, to make it clearer, to drive up standards and to improve transparency and consistency, supporting homeowners to challenge poor performance, using the Tribunal as necessary.

In considering the continued registration of a property factor, or of any application to enter the register, the Scottish Ministers will take steps as set out in the Property Factors (Scotland) Act 2011 including, amongst other things, consideration of the extent to which a property factor has complied with the Code of Conduct and with any property factor enforcement order made by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). Failure to comply with an Order is a criminal offence.

The Housing Bill (Scotland) contains minor adjustments to improve the effectiveness of the property factor registration processes. Ministers have committed to undertaking a review of the property factor regulatory regime.

Question reference: S6W-38838

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it will use to determine which projects that register an interest will be offered a carbon contract under the carbon contracts pilot; whether it will utilise the services of consultants to help assess projects for acceptance, and, if so, which consultants.

Question reference: S6W-38841

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which of its departmental budgets will be used to pay for any contingent liability from carbon contracts, and whether the Peatland ACTION budget will be affected.

Question reference: S6W-38836

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it adopting a mechanism for the carbon contracts pilot to offer to buy a portion of carbon credits at an agreed price, what other options to support investment were considered; for what reasons they were rejected, and whether it will publish its latest assessment of these reasons.

Question reference: S6W-38868

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will list the current fare concessions available to disabled passengers on the public ferry network.

Question reference: S6W-38869

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to improve the (a) accessibility and (b) affordability of inter-island ferry travel for disabled passengers.

Question reference: S6W-38842

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 19 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) steps it has taken and (b) plans it has to report any contingent liability arising from the carbon contracts pilot.

Chamber and committees