Chamber and committees

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

25 April 2013

Index Heading: Transport Scotland

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies are in place to assist people stranded overnight in Dunoon without accommodation due to ferry services being suspended as a result of adverse weather.

(S4W-14101)

Keith Brown: On 3 April the Scottish Government announced a new arrangement whereby dedicated replacement buses for AFL passengers will now operate between Argyll Ferries’ terminals at each town centre, when both its ships are off for prolonged periods, using Western Ferries’ service. This arrangement went live on 9 April 2013 and should ensure that no foot passengers are stranded at either Dunoon or Gourock.

Both the Argyll Ferries Limited service and the Western Ferries (Clyde) service operate late into the evening, every night of the week.

The Scottish Government draws on oral and written legal advice as appropriate from its lawyers, from Counsel, from external solicitors and from Law Officers. However, other than in exceptional circumstances, the Scottish Government does not comment on the source of such advice, and the content of any legal advice remains confidential. Only the European Commission (or European Courts if needed) can provide a definitive position on matters of State Aid.

To permit statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining the new Forth Crossing to be delegated to FETA by Scottish Ministers, a comprehensive redrawing of its functions would first have been necessary as that power is not contained in the 2002 Order that establishes FETA. There would have been a serious risk that delegating the functions to FETA would have been perceived as being uncompetitive as the market had not been tested. Without testing the market, value for money cannot be demonstrated. Conversely, the Forth Road Bridge Bill offers certainty of tenure for all existing FETA staff, and indeed the prospect of cost efficient job opportunities for new staff.

The Explanatory Notes to the Bill explain that Scottish Ministers’ preferred option is for the implementation of a twin bridge maintenance strategy with a single Forth Bridge Operating Company. The Notes also explain that Ministers rejected the option to involve FETA in operating both Road Bridges. As the new route is a motorway and the new bridge is a wholly different type, a substantial and unforeseen burden would have been placed on the Board, which had not been established for this purpose.

Further information is available within the Explanatory Notes, and Transport Scotland’s formal response to the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee Report on the Bill, and Stage 1 Debate.

The purpose of the Forth Road Bridge Bill is to pave the way for the most cost-effective and co-ordinated approach to the management and maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) and Forth Replacement Crossing. It does not revisit the provisions and commitments arising from the Forth Replacement Crossing Act, nor does it alter the proposed new role of the FRB as a dedicated public transport corridor.

However, as I said during the Stage 1 debate on the Bill, the Scottish Government shall write to the Infrastructure and Investment Committee, and to Mr Stewart himself on this matter.

Various options were considered, including some which would have involved the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) having responsibility for managing and maintaining both the existing Forth Road Bridge and the new crossing, but none in respect of FETA were considered feasible. There was insufficient evidence to support Value for Money focus within FETA, and therefore no mechanism to extrapolate how FETA would achieve Value for Money in a twin bridge strategy. Also, while the FETA 2002 Order provided FETA with borrowing powers, it would have needed a new mechanism for repaying a loan if it had prepared a bid which proved unsuccessful.

If FETA had used state funding to finance a tender bid (as they are fully funded by the Scottish Government) then this would very likely have constituted State Aid. In general, the European Commission considers State Aid to have a damaging effect on competition and therefore takes a serious view of aid given in contravention of the State Aid rules.

If the option of FETA being able to bid had been deemed feasible legislation would have been required in order to give them that power.

Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Bill and Royal Assent, Transport Scotland expects to issue tender documents for the twin Bridge Operating Company Contract in autumn 2013, with contract award by December 2014, and commencement by July 2015.

The Met Office’s UK weather radar network consists of 15 operational weather radars, including four in Scotland. This network provides real-time information to help monitor and forecast heavy rainfall, supplemented by additional data exchange with the Irish Met Service and the Jersey Met Service.

Although the data is also used by Government and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), including support to the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service, its principal purpose is for the Public Weather Service. In mountainous areas, the effective range of weather radar is impacted by the terrain. Therefore whilst increasing the number of radars in Scotland will deliver improvements, these would be on a more localised scale in terms of resolution and quality.

In their Flood Warning Strategy 2012-2016, SEPA has committed to review the current weather radar network and its suitability for flood warning provision and make recommendations for improvements (including new and temporary installations).

All of the existing radar systems in the UK network are currently being replaced with state of the art technology in order to improve accuracy of rainfall estimates which will assist in weather forecasting and also flood forecasting and warning. The project is due for completion by autumn 2014. The Scottish Government has no specific plans to enhance coverage in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has been working with the UK Government, European Commission and Scottish stakeholders for over a year on determining how structural funds should best be spent to have a real and lasting impact on the development of Scotland's regions. Over the next six months, we will be working directly with both UK Government and the Commission in finalising and getting sign off for these plans, ensuring that we can start investments throughout Scotland as early as possible.

The Scottish Government has been successful, in negotiations with the UK government, in securing a fair allocation of structural funds for Scotland. The 5% reduction in funding announced on 26 March is in stark contrast to the more than 30% reduction which was previously signalled by the UK Government.

This settlement is particularly beneficial for the Highlands and Islands, a region which is still developing its economy and which as a result has been accorded transition status for the 2014-20. The ability to very nearly maintain current levels of spending will mean we can keep supporting substantial investments in the Highlands and Islands aimed at bringing growth and jobs to the region.

Following the removal of RET for commercial vehicles in 2012, transitional arrangements were put in place to alleviate the impact of commercial fares returning to non-RET levels. These transitional arrangements required funding of £2.5 million in 2012-13 and £2 million for 2013-14.

Additional concessions have also been introduced to assist businesses, including extending the length of vehicle eligible to receive RET from 5 million to 6 million, ensuring that small commercial vehicles receive RET; and offering vehicles carrying hay and livestock free empty return journeys, other than a charge to cover pier dues.

Specifically in relation to the shellfish sector, in spring 2012, an additional concession was provided for commercial vehicles carrying live shellfish. Those vehicles are also provided with free empty return journeys, other than a charge to cover pier dues.

To provide additional clarity for businesses and hauliers, a study was undertaken to assess the socio-economic impact of the removal of RET for commercial vehicles. The final report will be published soon. Once we have considered the findings of this study, we intend to undertake a comprehensive review of commercial vehicle fares to develop an overarching policy for freight fares.

The tripartite agreement between Scottish Ministers, RBS and Serco for the ropax ferries used on the Northern Isles ferry services was signed in 2012 and ends in 2018.

The new vessel to be used on the Ullapool – Stornoway service will involve an agreement between Scottish Ministers, Lloyds Banking Group, CMAL and the ferry operator. This agreement will run for eight years from vessel delivery, which is expected in 2014.

Due to the commercially sensitive nature of these multi-party agreements and the interest of the other parties involved, we have no plans to publish these documents on the Scottish Government website.

Scottish Ministers’ clear stated preference in the tendering of the Gourock-Dunoon ferry service was for a vehicle-carrying service on the town centre route. Consequently, any evaluation of the impact of this not being achieved would have been contradictory and sent mixed messages to potential bidders. Transport Scotland therefore made no estimate of the anticipated change in vehicular traffic.

In the event, all the bids received proposed a passenger-only service. As a result, there is currently no vehicle traffic on the ferry service between Gourock railway station and Dunoon town centre.