Chamber and committees

All potential schemes and projects on the trunk road network, including those intended for the A90 trunk road, are screened for environmental effects by environmental specialists. A record of the assessment is prepared which includes the mitigations to be implemented that will remove or minimise the environmental impact.

The assessment process ensures that legislative requirements are met, and best practice implemented to keep environmental effects to an absolute minimum.

During the construction phase, monitoring of environmental mitigations is undertaken. This will include on-site surveys, inspections, and audits.

I refer the member to the answers given in S6W-31234 on 25 November 2024 and S6W-32253 on 9 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

In addition to those earlier answers, I can advise that we currently have Single Building Assessments (SBAs) underway for 13 government-led entries on the Cladding Remediation Programme pilot. We expect to receive the reports of these assessments during the first quarter of the year.

We have also commissioned an independent review of all pilot entries as part of our commitment to ensuring they are on an appropriate pathway to assessment. We will commission further SBAs for any buildings that this review finds to also require government-led assistance.

We recently set out our strategic priorities for cladding remediation during 2025 in the answer given in S6W-32849 on 6 January 2025. These include the development of two new schemes for assessment and remediation, as well as working with partners to develop a clear picture of the position across sectors in Scotland. We will be publishing a renewed plan of action in March that will set out how and when we will be delivering these priorities.

The following table provides the average grant rates for Registered Social Landlord (RSL) and Local Authority social rent new build homes approved through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) between April 2022 and end September 2024.

Evaluation is essential to the work of Transport Scotland to assess whether policies and interventions are being delivered as intended, and to help identify ways to improve them.

Three Social Landlords, Clackmannanshire Council, Highland Council; and Perth and Kinross Council, have been allocated a total of £5,826,765 in 2024-25 from the Gypsy/Traveller Accommodation Fund to re-build their Gypsy/Traveller sites. Nearly £15 million of the Fund has been spent or allocated between 2021-22 and 2024-25 to allow a total of six Social Landlords to progress projects.

In addition, the formula for the Local Government block grant for 2024-25 included an element of £0.7 million that took account of the number and size of Gypsy/Traveller sites within each local authority. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them (including through the block grant in relation to Gypsy/Traveller sites), on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Our Operating Companies are required to undertake a series of activities aimed at improving journey time reliability by minimising the risk of disruption to the operation of the trunk road network.

To minimise disruption, we programme work to take place during quieter periods whenever possible. Due to the strategic importance of Scotland’s trunk road network, our Operating Companies are required to minimise the potential disruption and inconvenience to road users caused by essential maintenance by planning works, combining activities and coordinating with all stakeholders, including statutory undertakers (e.g. utilities and telecoms companies). We also continue to demonstrate a strong ethos in the communication of timely and consistent information on upcoming road works. Engagement includes advertising road works where there is an impact on road users via a number of mediums including social media platforms, radio adverts, email alerts, media releases and where practicable leaflet drops for high impact schemes.

Transport Scotland is responsible for managing the Traffic Scotland service which enables the collection and distribution of real-time traffic information relating to incidents and events taking place on the Scottish trunk road network. The Traffic Scotland website (Traffic Scotland | Trunk road traffic updates & route planner) provides up-to-date information on current and planned road works, and advance warnings are also displayed to road users on variable message signs. We also work closely with the Scottish Road Works Commissioner, established to oversee the planning and coordination of works on Scotland’s roads by all roads authorities and statutory undertakers.

Delays are continuously monitored on the Trunk Road Network. Any delays exceeding 12 minutes are reported to Transport Scotland who then communicate delays through their various public access systems

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33099 on 22 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

There is a total of 2,297 street lights on the A90 broken down by local authority area as follows:

Aberdeenshire Council - 637

Aberdeen City Council - 154

Angus Council - 405

Dundee City Council - 474

Edinburgh City Council - 411

Fife Council - 41

Perth & Kinross Council - 175

The following improvements have been made to laybys adjacent to the A90 carriageway to improve the trunk road network in the last five years:

2020-21

A90 Glamis SB Layby 0309 – Concrete Plinth for HGVS

A90 South Tarbrax SB Layby 0309 Concrete Plinth for HGVs

A90 Layby improvement scheme which included resurfacing and vehicle deterrent on entry and exit tapers at -

Our Operating Companies hold regular meetings with neighbouring Local Authorities to share knowledge and consult on matters that will affect the operation of each road network. For example, road works, winter maintenance, major events and instance of severe weather require a joined-up response or mutual aid. Our Operating Companies are required to consult a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the impacts of their planned works are properly managed and any negative impacts mitigated. Transport Scotland also maintains regular contact with Local Authority colleagues through a range of professional body engagements.