Chamber and committees

This is a matter for railway operators working in collaboration with the British Transport Police.

Development of theft reduction strategies is a matter for Network Rail, Local Authorities ,and railway operators working in collaboration with Police Scotland and the British Transport Police.

The Scottish Government supports Network Rail, ScotRail Trains Limited, Scottish Rail Holdings Limited, Caledonian Sleeper Limited through the funds it provides to these organisations.

All costs associated with overseas visits undertaken by the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General in their roles as heads of the systems of prosecution and deaths investigation are paid by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service budget.

In the calendar year 2024 the costs associated with overseas travel for the Lord Advocate, all of which are associated with ongoing criminal investigations and casework, are as follows:

The accredited official statistics on recorded crime categorically do not show a doubling in serious violent crime over the past decade. Police recorded non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 9% between 2014-15 and 2023-24, with most of that rise due to the introduction of new crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and an increase in cyber-enabled threats and extortion (most often ‘sextortion’ type cases on which the Scottish Government launched a social media campaign across Scotland in November 2024, and will refresh in February 2025). As a subset of non-sexual crimes of violence, recorded serious assault and attempted murder also increased by 9% since 2014-15. However, levels have fallen over the past six years, down 21% from 4,361 in 2018-19 to 3,457 by 2023-24. This is replicated in other sources, with hospital admissions related to assault down by a third between 2014-15 and 2023-24. Information on rates of non-sexual violence by local authority area are available in the accredited official statistics. Despite this encouraging progress the Scottish Government are determined to do more. For further information on the actions being taken to reduce violence in Scotland, I refer the member to the answer for question S6W-32880 on 15 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 have been no specific studies undertaken over the last five years to access the environmental impact of the A90’s maintenance and usage. As part of the network management contract obligations, the Operating Companies that manage the Trunk Road Network on behalf of Transport Scotland and Scottish Ministers are required to report annually on the progress of landscape maintenance across the relevant units.

All potential schemes for maintenance and improvement works on the Trunk Road Network, including the A90, are robustly assessed for environmental effects by suitably qualified and experienced environmental specialists. The assessments will involve desk studies and ecological field surveys, where appropriate, and will include an understanding of the environmental baseline, potential impacts from the works and the identification of mitigations and best practice measures which are intended to avoid, reduce and where possible remedy adverse impacts.

The assessment of environmental effects is embedded into the design, planning and execution of schemes and throughout the assessment process, key stakeholders such as environmental statutory and non-statutory bodies, local authorities and members of the public are consulted, as appropriate, to inform the decision making and ensure legislative requirements are met.

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

The Scottish Government will take the necessary steps for funding for Gypsy/Traveller accommodation to be accessed alongside housing under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (or a successor housing programme) from 2026-27 onwards.

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:

2019-20 – 6

2020-21 – 10

2021-22 – 6

2022-23 – 3

2023-24 - 2

Details of these below

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, mitigationmeasures 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 design work for a junction improvement on the A90 at Fowlis to assist drivers in safely exiting the A90.