Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-33163

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many accidents have been recorded on the A90 in each of the last five years, and how these have informed maintenance and upgrade priorities.

The following table presents the total number of accidents on the A90 for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. However, the information on the total number accidents for 2024 is only available up to the date stated in the following table.

Year	Total
2019	55
2020	40
2021	55
2022	44
2023	44
2024*	34
TOTAL	272

*Data Available to 8-12-24; Fatal Accidents to 31-12-24.

Source: Transport Scotland Accident Manager Database

Notes:

Statistics for Police Scotland

Date Period: 01-01-2019 – 08-12-2024

Date Extracted – 13-01-2025

Please note that the information provided is based on the current figures available. The following are potential reasons for an accident not appearing on our system.

Transport Scotland only holds accident information which is provided to us by Police Scotland.
Transport Scotland does not hold information relating to damage only accidents (i.e. not involving an injury).
The accident information Transport Scotland holds is subject to change. e.g. we receive late returns from Police Scotland, who are responsible for recording details of injury accidents.
Annual Scottish accident figures are published by Transport Scotland on a yearly basis and can be found by entering Reported Road Casualties Scotland into your search engine.
Statisticians within the Department for Transport have devised a method for adjusting the road casualty figures to ensure that they can be compared over time on a consistent basis.
Transport Scotland’s Key Reported Road Casualties and Reported Road Casualties statistics publications will present both adjusted and unadjusted figures.

Road safety is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government. The safety performance of the trunk road network is assessed on an annual basis by screening all locations where three or more personal injury accidents have occurred in a three year period. Alongside accident clusters, accident patterns and rates in the form of Route Accident Reduction Plans (RARP) are also looked at. This ensures that full consideration is given to accidents that may be spread along a corridor. Further investigations are then carried out and, where appropriate, mitigation measures are prioritised for delivery. This robust, evidence-based approach ensures that the funding available is prioritised for those locations with the potential to deliver the greatest casualty accident savings. It is essential that we use the evidence is used in this way to support the delivery of the casualty reduction targets set out in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030.

From this process the following schemes have been constructed on the A90:

In 2021, new lining was introduced on the central reservation gap at Lochlands junction by Forfar, to assist driver prioritisation.
In 2024, safety barriers and signage were upgraded between Kirriemuir Junction and the B9127 off-slip.
In 2024, road markings and studs were implemented between the B9128 junction and the St Ann's interchange. Further safety barrier and road signs improvements are programmed for delivery in 2025.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company are currently taking forward signing, lining and safety barrier design work for the A90 section from Emmock Roundabout to A928 Petterden junction as well as for a junction improvement on the A90 at Fowlis to assist drivers in safely exiting the A90.

Question reference: S6W-33112

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the performance and effectiveness of the justice of the peace system.

Question reference: S6W-33100

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it evaluates the economic impact of projects funded by Transport Scotland.

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.

Monitoring and evaluation typically use a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to gather evidence and understand different aspects of an intervention’s operation, including economic impacts. These will vary and will be tailored to ensure measurement against the specific objectives of each project as opposed to adopting a singular approach.

In setting the criteria for evaluation, in addition to the particular objectives of the project, Transport Scotland refers to a range of published guidance which includes specific guidance on assessing economic impacts. This includes UK Government guidance on evaluation design and Transport Scotland guidance on evaluation of road and rail projects. These resources are publicly available on the UK and Scottish Government websites respectively.

Question reference: S6W-33102

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much employment has been generated by Transport Scotland-funded projects in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33177

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been allocated and spent on the A90 for maintenance and upgrades in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-33161

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many street lamps are installed along each stretch of the A90, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-32948

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with (a) the Ministry of Defence and (b) other UK Government departments in responding to unexploded ordnance.

Incidents relating to unexploded ordnance are Police operational matters. Unless unexploded ordnance causes a civil contingencies emergency in Scotland that requires co-ordination on a national level, such incidents are not handled through any Scottish or UK Government mechanisms. In the highly unlikely event of this threshold being met, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) would activate to co-ordinate the Scottish Government’s response to the incident, including by liaising closely with the Ministry of Defence and any other relevant UK Government departments.

Question reference: S6W-32956

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on the disposal by Police Scotland of unexploded ordnance found in coastal waters, and what discussions it has had with (a) SEPA, (b) the Ministry of Defence and (c) other stakeholders on this matter.

The disposal of unexploded ordnance is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

Unless unexploded ordnance causes a civil contingencies emergency in Scotland that requires co-ordination on a national level, such incidents are not handled through any Scottish or UK Government mechanisms. Consequently, discussions have not taken place with SEPA, the Ministry of Defence or other stakeholders on this matter. In the highly unlikely event of this threshold being met, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) would activate to co-ordinate the Scottish Government’s response to the incident, including by liaising closely with the Ministry of Defence and any other relevant stakeholders.

Question reference: S6W-33067

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is collaborating with the UK Government to address any gaps in spectrum availability for any rural and underserved communities in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-33011

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the safety of passengers and staff at railway stations, in light of incidents of theft and vandalism.