Chamber and committees

Work to complete the Aberdeen Bypass will continue until winter 2017.

Due to the extensive, and on occasion complex temporary traffic management, delays will be inevitable but Transport Scotland is working closely with Aberdeen Roads Limited (ARL), the project contractor, to minimise disruption to traffic during the works.

For roadworks associated with roads maintenance, BEAR Scotland has 63 planned schemes on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Perth, and 28 schemes on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness, during the period from November 2016 to the end of March 2017. This represents an investment of over £5.7 million in trunk road maintenance. Schemes to be implemented in the remainder of 2017 are still in planning and design stages, however we expect approximately 60 schemes on the A90 and 30 on the A96. None of these schemes are expected to have durations longer than 5 days, the majority will be 1-2 days which will minimise the impact on road users.

In addition to the Operating Company works listed above there are also works on the network from third party developers (generally for housing developments), and utility providers (telecoms, water, gas, electricity etc.) for reactive repair and also planned improvement works. These are coordinated through the Scottish Roadworks Register and programmed following consultation with the Operating Companies, Local Authorities, emergency services and other relevant stakeholders. Early planning and co-ordination of all works is undertaken to minimise the impact on road users.

The Performance Improvement Plan provided by ScotRail represents their response to the moving annual average Public Performance Measure (PPM) falling below the levels required of the Franchise Agreement. The Minister for Transport & Islands visited ScotRail and discussed the importance to passengers of a wide range of performance issues prior to the publication of the key features of the Performance Improvement Plan by ScotRail.

In October 2016, there were 65 sets of roadworks on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Perth, also 17 on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness. This includes roadworks associated with major projects, planned and emergency road maintenance, private developments and utilities work.

Delays to road users were not greater than 15 minutes on each occasion and for many would be substantially less.

In relation to future works, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W- 04046 on 8 November 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Roadworks are a necessary part of maintaining and operating a safe trunk road network. From January 2015 to October 2016 there were 1,681 sets of roadworks on the A90 between Fraserburgh and Perth, also 852 on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness. This includes roadworks associated with major projects including the Aberdeen Bypass and works at Inveramsay Bridge, planned and emergency road maintenance, private developments and utilities work.

Where possible, roadworks are undertaken where traffic volumes are lowest, to minimise disruption. Some delays are an unavoidable consequence of essential roadworks. When delays are expected we communicate them to road users through a variety of media channels to provide them with the information that they need to make informed travel choices.

I meet regularly with senior officials from the ScotRail Alliance and have emphasised the need for the Train Operator to improve performance, most recently on 1 November 2016. At my request, ScotRail have developed a Performance Improvement Plan which sets out the actions they will take over the short, medium and longer term to improve performance and the journey experience across the rail network.

Scottish Ministers specify rail services and train capacity they require to see delivered by ScotRail. Abellio is now contracted to deliver these, using all available rolling stock and it is for the franchisee to decide how to manage and allocate its rolling stock fleet.

The unprecedented success of rail services in Scotland has seen patronage rise by a third since 2007. SG funding has enabled 20% more carriages to be provided since then including the class 380 fleets introduced in 2011. In addition to this the current ScotRail fleet includes an additional seven newly refurbished class 320/4s, two locomotive hauled trains, cascaded diesel trains freed up by 2012-2014 SG funded electrification schemes (Paisley Canal, Cumbernauld & Whifflet) and five subleased class 170s. Another 13 C170s [39 carriages] are now to be retained until 2025 within Scotland.

Abellio's franchise commitments has already recognised the need to increase its fleet significantly to cope with growth in the coming years with another 200 extra carriages to be introduced delivering a 23% seating capacity increase across the whole Scottish fleet by 2019. This includes £370M invested in 70 new electric trains, £60M in a major refurb of 26 High Speed Trains to operate on inter-city routes plus subsequent cascades of some current diesel trains to help deliver 200 more services and 20,000 more seats per day.

ASR is also committed to achieving better utilisation of the current fleets and is working through changes to its rolling stock maintenance procedures and processes to deliver more trains into service on a daily basis.

There are 11 key areas contained within the overall ScotRail Improvement Plan covering train fleet, infrastructure, and operations, each of which specify the key measures to be undertaken by ScotRail. As the publically available Performance Improvement Plan published by ScotRail goes into specific detail on key actions and initiatives in place, we will monitor progress with the complete plan.

The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety.

The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a wide range of measures for dealing with anti-social behaviours, including Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), which can be used to prevent persons from engaging in antisocial behaviours which cause alarm or distress to their neighbours or the general public. The Act also provides senior police officers with powers to disperse groups of two or more people whose behaviour is causing alarm or distress to members of the public within their locality.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is working with local partners to highlight the dangers of fireworks and bonfires. This includes working in partnership with schools and community groups on a range of initiatives to help reduce fire related antisocial behaviour and help protect vulnerable people from harm and distress. One such initiative has seen Firefighters and Community Safety Advocates visiting schools across Scotland to present a National Bonfire presentation which aims to positively engage with and educate children in the 11 – 13 age group. This work is being supported by a television and radio campaign.

Police Scotland is currently running a number of campaigns about keeping safe during the Halloween and Bonfire Night period. This includes social media campaigns to promote personal and home safety advice across Scotland. The #DarkerNights and #ClocksGoBack social media campaigns are being promoted by Local Policing Divisions to provide advice and reassurance on home and personal safety. The campaign also provides advice to keep people safe from thieves and others who would exploit vulnerable groups.

Neighbourhood Watch Scotland, which is core funded by the Scottish Government, also plays an important role in offering reassurance to local communities. By sharing alerts on potential criminal activities and offering advice on keeping safe they encourage communities to look out for one another. In advance of, and during, the Halloween and Bonfire night period, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland is issuing a series of alerts to communities highlighting the dangers of misusing fireworks, lighting bonfires and advising people how to stay safe.

The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is working with local partners to highlight the dangers of fireworks and bonfires. This includes working in partnership with schools and community groups on a range of initiatives to help reduce fire related antisocial behaviour and help protect vulnerable people from harm and distress. One such initiative has seen Firefighters and Community Safety Advocates visiting schools across Scotland to present a National Bonfire presentation which aims to positively engage with and educate children in the 11 – 13 age group. This work is being supported by a television and radio campaign.

Neighbourhood Watch Scotland, which is core funded by the Scottish Government, also plays an important role in offering reassurance to local communities. By sharing alerts on potential criminal activities and offering advice on keeping safe they encourage communities to look out for one another. In advance of, and during, the Halloween and Bonfire night period, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland is issuing a series of alerts to communities highlighting the dangers of misusing fireworks, lighting bonfires and advising people how to stay safe.

Police Scotland is currently running a number of campaigns about keeping safe during the Halloween and Bonfire Night period. This includes social media campaigns to promote personal and home safety advice across Scotland. The #DarkerNights and #ClocksGoBack social media campaigns are being promoted by Local Policing Divisions to provide advice and reassurance on home and personal safety. The campaign also provides advice to keep people safe from thieves and others who would exploit vulnerable groups.

The Scottish Government continues to work with a range of partners and with communities to support and promote community safety. This includes advice from Transport Scotland on driving in the dark and taking account the vulnerability of pedestrians – in particular children.