Chamber and committees

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) published the first National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) in December 2011. The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 required SEPA to publish the second NFRA by 22 December 2018, and to subsequently review and update the NFRA every 6 years. The next NFRA is due by 22 December 2024.

HIAL continues to find recruitment of air traffic controllers challenging with a number of airports under complement. While HIAL are managing this situation in order to avoid, where possible, any impact on services, the lack of resilience this provides is not sustainable in the longer term. By moving to a Centralised Surveillance Centre under the Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy, HIAL will be able to improve resilience through having a larger number of controllers to call upon to cover staff absences. A recruitment campaign for a minimum of nine controllers to help staff the first phase will be underway shortly.

Upgrades to infrastructure are expected to commence in March 2020 with the procurement of the Combined Surveillance Centre building and the launch of a connectivity upgrading exercise at Sumburgh Airport.

The cost of infrastructure (building procurement and renovation, in addition to the connectivity implementation) is shown in the following table. These figures are high level estimates and may change as the Programme progresses.

To date the Scottish Government has provided HIAL with £4.185 million in relation to its Air Traffic Management Strategy. Funding beyond
‎ 31 March 2020 is subject to the passage of the Budget Bill.

As set out in the Air Traffic Management 2030 Strategy Programme Business Case, the estimated cost of deploying surveillance equipment at each airport is £19.8 million. This does not, however, include the cost of refurbishment / replacement of the existing towers, all of which are reaching the end of their economic life. It also does not include the cost of the significant increase in staff that would be required if this option had been pursued. These costs were not calculated as this option was, after careful consideration, discounted due to it failing to meet the overall requirements of the ATMS. This option would not address the staff recruitment and retention issue that HIAL is facing, in fact it would exacerbate it.

The purchase of the Combined Surveillance Centre is expected to occur in March 2020. The building will undergo a significant remodelling process prior to equipment installation. The first operation is expected to go live in the final quarter of 2022 with the rollout completed by the middle of 2027.

The Centre of Expertise for Waters, which is a Scottish Government-funded research partnership, has made £462,848 available for phases 1 and 2 of the Dynamic Coast project since 2014-15. This is split by financial year as follows:

Phase 1

2014-15 - £39,269

2015-16 - £101,087

2016-17 - £123,540

Total - £263,896

Phase 2

2017-18 – £25,216

2018-19 – £89,667

2019-20 – £60,069

2020-21 - £24,000

Total - £198,952

Project partners Scottish Natural Heritage and St Andrews Links Trust have provided additional funds of £41,000 and £21,000 respectively for Dynamic Coast Phase 2.

I recognise the importance of tourism to the economies of the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands and acknowledge efforts locally to extend the tourism season.

Transport Scotland officials, on behalf of the Scottish Government, regularly attend meetings in Orkney and Shetland in connection with the Northern Isles Ferry Services (NIFS). Engagement also occurs with the Caithness Transport Forum on NIFS interests.

All regular NIFS meetings and their membership are detailed on Transport Scotland’s website at the attached link:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/ferries/ferry-services/#51170

Following the recent publication of the National Transport Strategy and the National Islands Plan, initial work is underway on the successor to the Ferries Plan, which will be concluded by December 2022. Discussions regarding the scope of the Plan have taken place with the Islands Transport Forum, which includes the Leaders of Orkney and Shetland Islands Councils, which I chair. Plans for further consultation and engagement will be confirmed in due course and it is intended that these will include engagement with stakeholders representing the needs of communities and businesses in the Northern Isles.

Ministers have of course taken full account of the need for Orkney and the wider Northern Isles as islands communities to prosper and grow when considering the provision of supported ferry services under the Northern Isles Ferry Services (NIFS) contract. This was set out clearly in the recent Judicial Review which concluded in favour of Scottish Ministers continuing to support ferry services across the Pentland Firth.

The NIFS contract has been developed in such a way as to allow flexibility to meet changing demands for services over time, subject to value for money considerations and resources being available. Transport Scotland have well established means by which we engage with stakeholders regarding communities’ proposals for timetable changes. Recent announcements of a pilot of timetable changes in respect of routes to Skye and between North Uist and Harris have flowed from this process.

It is clear that lifeline ferry services are fundamental to sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Scotland’s islands, including services to the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. That is why work will be taken forward as part of the next Ferries Plan to consider and re-evaluate routes service levels for ferry services to and from the Northern Isles, and I look forward to the member and other stakeholders playing a full part in that process in this future piece of work.