Chamber and committees

Proposals to amend legislation relating to muirburn were included in our Wildlife Management in Scotland consultation. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service provided a full response to this consultation and their responses are being taken into account as the provisions for the Bill are developed.

I recently met with Bruce Farquharson, Deputy Assistant Chief Officer and Head of Training for SFRS to discuss their consultation response in more detail.

As indicated in Scottish Water’s first annual update to its Improving Urban Waters Routemap, which I referenced in my response to S6O-01493 on 23 November 2022, spill data has been published at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Sewer-Overflow-Spill-Data .

I refer the member to the Official Report: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-23-11-2022?meeting=14005&iob=126871

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads, including the provision of parking spaces with local road authorities. The number of parking spaces required in each area is therefore determined by the relevant local authority.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of parking spaces in each local authority.

There have been no recent discussions with the UK Government on these specific issues, which are matters for the operators to consider. However, I have been in correspondence with the UK Government regarding wider seafarer employment conditions, including writing on numerous occasions seeking a 4 nations ministerial meeting to discuss the implications of the decision by P&O Ferries to sack almost 800 crew. The UK Government did not respond to these proposals, which was disappointing noting where legislative competence rests.

Shipping safety and seafarer welfare and employment conditions are matters reserved to the UK Government. The Maritime Labour Convention came into force in the UK on 7 August 2014. It sets out the minimum working and living rights for seafarers, with the onus on operators. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are responsible for auditing vessels to ensure compliance.

The Scottish Government expects the highest shipping safety and crew welfare and employment conditions for vessels and personnel accessing Scotland’s ports and coastal areas.

The objective of the medium-term solution is to provide a safe, proportionate and more resilient diversion route for use if the A83 is closed. The improvements to the Old Military Road will improve the resilience of the diversion route, reduce journey times, are the quickest to implement, of relatively lower cost and would have the least impacts overall across the range of criteria assessed.

These improvements include proposals to extend the length of single carriageway (i.e. two way lane road), subject to obtaining necessary statutory planning approvals. However, a length of the single lane Old Military Road will remain unchanged at the western end, including the hairpin bends. This was communicated when the medium term solution announcement was published on the Transport Scotland website on 23 December 2022.

As we strive towards a lower carbon transport network and reduced environmental footprint, the wider re-use or recycling of waste materials within construction is of significant interest. Transport Scotland has investigated the potential use of waste products (including plastic) under a project funded by Scottish Road Research Board. The study provides a valuable contribution in exploring the re-use of waste derived materials within road construction and the evaluation of their overall benefits. The report, published in 2019, is available at the link below.https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50949/briefing-report-recycled-materials-in-road-construction-and-maintenance.pdf

The report concluded that the case for waste-derived plastics to improve the performance of road materials is far from proven. There are also concerns around the quality control of mixed waste-derived plastics and this needs to be addressed to prevent variations in the material which can influence pavement performance.

The Scottish Government is a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy global commitment to end plastic pollution and has introduced legislation to prevent the use of micro-beads and single-use plastic items. Transport Scotland continues to maintain a watching brief on this topic and any such proposals will continue to be subjected to technical review against the published national standards for the design and construction of trunk roads.

Transport Scotland is undertaking the National Speed Management Review to support a range of policy drivers including better road safety and health outcomes, promotion of active travel, climate change mitigation, place making and economic growth.

The review covers comprehensive analysis of all types of speed management policies including HGV speed limits as well as a review of what has been introduced in other countries throughout the world.

We will consult with stakeholders and the public this year to gather and consider their views on future changes to speed limit policies and speed management measures.

Transport Scotland officials have been in discussions with UK Government officials regarding regulatory and legislative requirements for a range of future vessel technologies and fuels, including hydrogen. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for shipping regulations in UK waters, to ensure that vessels are meeting UK and international safety rules, promoting and enforcing compliance with maritime regulations and best practice, and making sure that legislation is proportionate.

The Scottish Government welcomes the City of Edinburgh Council’s commitment to cut car kilometres by 30% by 2030, and will work with all local authorities to support equitable measures which discourage car use to accompany greater investment in public transport and active travel for a fairer and greener transport system. As outlined in our route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030, jointly developed with COSLA, the scale of the climate challenge means that we need to take forward a broad combination of interventions including infrastructure, incentives and regulatory actions, taking into account the needs of people on low incomes to help ensure a just transition to net-zero.

The Chief Executives of Transport Scotland and Glasgow City Council met with Landsec on 9 November 2022 to discuss the proposed redevelopment of Buchanan Galleries.

Since then Transport Scotland and Network Rail officials have been engaged with Landsec to discuss further its proposals for Buchanan Galleries and the surrounding area. The most recent meeting was on 18 January 2023.