Chamber and committees

The consultation paper Scotland’s Transport Future: Proposals for Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships published on 27 October 2004 restated the Executive’s commitment to creating a strong regional transport partnership (RTP) in the west of Scotland. Specifically, it is stated in paragraph 41 that in the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Area “public transport functions are already delivered at regional level and it is intended that this should continue to the be the case in a new RTP in the region.”

Section 10(7) of the Transport (Scotland) Bill 2004 would, as drafted, give powers to the Scottish ministers to transfer by order, subject to Parliamentary approval via the affirmative resolution procedure, all SPT’s existing powers including those concerning bus services to the new transport partnership.

As indicated in the White Paper, Scotland’s Transport Future, the purpose is to encourage development of high-quality services and infrastructure at a local level.

I refer the member to the question S2W-12708 answered on 20 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Of the four cases in which criminal proceedings were taken under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 between 2002 and 2004, three were for contraventions of section 38 (1) (which relates to refusal to pay a toll) and one was for a contravention of section 124 (1) (a) & (b) (which relates to failure to ensure adequate guarding or lighting around road works).

The location of the three offences under section 38(1) of the act was the Skye Bridge and all three cases involve allegations that the accused deliberately refused to pay the toll on the bridge. In one case the accused was found guilty and was fined £50. One case has been marked “no further proceedings” by the Procurator Fiscal and the remaining case has been continued without plea until 20 December 2004 at Dingwall Sheriff Court.

The case involving a contravention of section 124 of the act was heard at BanffSheriff Court and related to an allegation of inadequate use of warning signs around a section of the A98 road under redevelopment. The accused pled guilty and was fined £400.

The Executive has not been asked to respond formally to the issues raised at the Small Towns Under Threat conference. However, recognising the value of small towns, we are working to improve and develop on our understanding of the issues related to growth and sustainability. For example, an Executive-commissioned study on the economic linkages between small towns and their surrounding rural areas is due to be published in early 2005.

Options for the procurement of rolling stock are being assessed by the Scottish Executive. We are working to ensure that appropriate rolling stock is in place before the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link opens.

The franchise agreement includes a mechanism that can allow new services to be introduced to help deliver future plans for the Scottish network, and the Executive is always willing to consider transport proposals which have the support of the relevant local authority or regional transport partnership. Any such proposal should have been developed using the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance and the delivery of the proposal will also be subject to the availability of appropriate resources.

The Arbroath to Dundee services will benefit from the significant enhancements offered by the new franchise. Benefits will include improved performance year on year, a national £40 million capital investment programme, including station enhancements, improved security through CCTV investment on trains and in stations and improved cleaning and maintenance standards.

Proposals and the business case for new local services or re-opened stations are best promoted, in the first instance, by the relevant local authority or regional transport partnership. No such proposals have been put to the Executive in respect of re-establishing passenger services to Grangemouth. The Scotrail franchise agreement includes a mechanism that can allow new services to be introduced to help deliver future plans for the Scottish network.

The Executive’s current position is that, with the exception of one route, the network will be tendered as a whole. This is intended to maximise service reliability for the communities served, simplify the process for management of vessels and provide economies of scale in company management, safety and quality systems. It also avoids cherry picking of routes and encourages integrated transport through co-ordinated timetabling of services. The one exception to this is the Gourock to Dunoon route where we consulted in 2003 on the possibility of tendering this route separately. This would offer the possibility of a passenger and vehicle service being provided, as opposed to the passenger only service envisaged in our original proposals for the network. I hope to announce my conclusions on this issue shortly. I intend to consult again shortly on the service specification for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services.