Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not provide funding directly to Inverness Airport. Inverness Airport is operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL).We provide funding to HIAL to offset the difference between the cost of operating their 11 airports and their commercial revenue. We provide funding to HIAL as a whole and it is then for HIAL to allocate this funding to each airport on an as needed basis. The funding provided to HIAL over the last 16 years is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Funding to HIAL

Figures in Table 1 relate to core subsidy provided by Transport Scotland and its predecessors.

The lateness of ScotRail services is measured using the industry standard of the Public-Performance-Measure (PPM), and reported by four-weekly periods. In the second quarter of calendar-2017, PPM was as follows:

More information on ScotRail’s performance can be found at this weblink: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/performance-and-reliability

The original estimate for the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) as per the Final Business Case published on 27 January 2014 confirmed £742 million anticipated final costs (AFC).

Following the EY Major Projects Review in September 2016 the Network Rail AFC for EGIP was £795 million.

I will provide the Scottish Parliament an update when I have confidence in the projected final costs given to me by Network Rail- a reclassified body with the Department for Transport. The figure could change as a result of the commercial discussions currently underway between Network Rail and its contractors.

The cost of work done on the project up to 17 September 2017, as reported by Network Rail, is £727 million.

Transport Scotland do not directly employ any special advisers or consultants. At 31 March 2017 Transport Scotland had 67 consultants and contingent workers working on their behalf through contracted partner organisations and agencies. Transport Scotland do not hold annual salary details for these individuals.

At 31 March 2017 Transport Scotland had 394 permanent staff with a total annual staff cost of £17 million (Transport Scotland Annual Report & Accounts 2016-17).

The Building Scotland’s Low Emission Zones consultation is currently seeking views on a number of issues around low emission zones, including a national penalty scheme for LEZs. The public body recipient of monies generated by penalties has still to be confirmed.

The Switched on Scotland Action Plan provides a range of incentives to local authorities and individuals to support the shift to electric vehicles including grants and loans.

The final design of individual low emission zones will be the responsibility of local authorities, but we recognise the importance of giving individuals and businesses sufficient opportunity to ensure their vehicles will be compliant. That is why the Building Scotland's Low Emission Zones consultation, which ends on the
28 November, is seeking views on the use of sunset periods, which would guarantee an exemption for residents during a set period.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11138 on 19 September 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx”

The first days of operation of the Queensferry Crossing have resulted in increased traffic congestion including outside of peak hours – most noticeably on 10 September. Additional signage and messaging has been implemented regarding the use of the full length of the slip roads to merge and this has resulted in traffic returning to near normal weekday patterns with no appreciable congestion outside of peak hours since 11 September. Some additional traffic to view and travel over the Queensferry Crossing is expected in the coming weekends but this is expected to decrease to normal levels during the next month. Traffic congestion is also expected to ease further when the Forth Road Bridge reopens as a dedicated public transport corridor and when the Queensferry Crossing becomes a motorway and the speed limit is raised to 70 mph.

We are continuing to take forward extensive investment to improve connectivity between Inverness, including Inverness Airport and the central belt. Included within these plans are proposals to dual the A9 and A96, including the section of the A96 immediately adjacent to the airport. On the rail network, there are planned upgrades to the Aberdeen to Inverness rail corridor and on the Highland Main Line from Inverness to Perth. In addition, there is a proposal for a new station at Dalcross, located adjacent to Inverness Airport.