NORTHERN ROADS COLLABORATION JOINT COMMITTEE

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, HIGHLAND COUNCIL, INVERNESS 6 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Councillors: Councillors Ellen Morton, Argyll and Bute, Chair; Ross Grant and Alexander Nicol (as substitute for Michael Hutchison), Aberdeen City Council (via Skype); Kenny Braes (as substitute for Brenda Durno) and Ron Sturrock, Angus Council (via Skype); Theresa Coull and Gordon Cowie, Moray Council; and Allan Henderson and Trish Robertson, The Highland Council.

Officers: Vycki Ritson, Aberdeen City Council ( Via Skype); Ruth O’Hare, Philip McKay, Jan McRobbie, and Ewan Wallace, Aberdeenshire Council; Janice Corrigan, Angus Council (via Skype); Jim Smith, Argyll and Bute Council (via Skype); Calum Mackenzie, Cohairle nan Eilean Siar (via Skype); Mark Atherton, Moray Council; Robin Pope and Mike Mitchell, Highland Council; and Angus Brodie, The Improvement Service.

Apologies: Councillors Michael Hutchison, Aberdeen City Council; Peter Argyle and David Aitchison, Aberdeenshire Council; Robin Currie, Argyll and Bute Council; and Uisdean Robertson and Kenneth MacLeod, Cohairle nan Eilean Siar.

1. WELCOME AND HOUSEKEEPING

The Chair, on behalf of the Joint Committee, welcomed Members, in person and via remote access, to Highland Council Chamber, Inverness. Housekeeping details were provided by Robin Pope.

2. SEDERUNT AND DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Apologies were reported from Councillors Peter Argyle, David Aitchison, Robin Currie, Brenda Durno, and Michael Hutchison. Councillor Morton asked Members for declarations of interest. No interests were declared.

3. RESOLUTIONS ON EQUALITIES

In making decisions on the following items of business, the Joint Committee unanimously agreed, in terms of Section 149 of the Equality Act, 2010:-

(1) to have due regard to the need to:- (a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation (b) advance equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and person who do not share it; and (c) foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(2) where an Equalities Impact Assessment was provided, to consider its contents and take those into account when reaching their decision.

4. APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR With reference to the Minute of Meeting of 31 August, 2018 (Item 3), when Cllr Brenda Durno, (Angus Council) had been appointed to the position of Vice-Chair, the Joint Committee heard from the Principal Solicitor, Aberdeenshire Council, that Standing Orders now required the Joint Committee consider the appointment. Having been advised by the Chair that Cllr Durno had indicated that, should she be nominated, she would be delighted to continue in the role for a further year, the Joint Committee unanimously agreed that Cllr Durno be reappointed as Vice Chair for a further 12 month period.

5. MINUTE OF MEETING OF 21 JUNE, 2019

There had been circulated the draft Minute of Meeting of 21 June, 2019, and, having heard from the Clerk that the date had been omitted in error from the heading, the Joint Committee agreed to approve the Minute as a correct record, subject to the addition of the words “19 June” to the title; correction of the spelling of the Chair’s surname in Item 4, resolution 4; and the replacement, in Item 9, resolution 2, of the word “grown” with the word “ground”. .

6. NATIONAL ROADS COLLABORATION PROGRAMME UPDATE

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of 21 June, 2019 (Item 6), there had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Programme Manager, Roads Collaboration Programme, providing an update in respect of (a) national collaboration developments; (b) workforce planning; (c) collaborative network management; and (d) technical projects. The Joint Committee heard further from Mr Bodie as to the various themes of collaboration being pursued and there was discussion of the potential application for additional national revenue funding to support the ongoing work of the collaboration; and the use of the term “resources” when these were actually staff. The Joint Committee agreed:- (1) to note that additional information on the Stage 1 of the Society of Chief Officer of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) “Value of the Local Roads”, originally scheduled to be considered at this meeting, would be presented at the November Joint Committee; (2) to commend the ongoing progress being made with collaboration nationally and locally through the Roads Collaboration Programme; and (3) that an update report be submitted to the next meeting on Joint Asset Management.

7. SCOTTISH ROADS TRAINING PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL

There had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Programme Manager, Roads Collaboration Programme, providing information on a proposed training partnership, arising from work in 2017 on strategic workforce development, to respond to challenges to create a workforce fit for the future of the Scottish public road service, including the coordination of operational and technical training.

Having heard further from the Mr Bodie that implementation of the partnership had been delayed pending the identification of a lead officer, with the new Ayrshire Roads Alliance now matched to that role, there was discussion where national training would fit with roadworker qualifications already in place, in terms of empowering workforces, promoting competency, and facilitating mobility across authorities, without detracting from the demonstrated efficiency of in-house, individual authority-coordinated training, including the sponsorship of Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) courses; and the potential cost savings of economy of scale and shared training events, particularly in terms of specialist training.

The Joint Committee agreed:- (1) to welcome the development of a national approach to coordinating and delivering roadworker and technical training across Scotland; and (2) to support the involvement of road authorities in the Northern Roads Collaboration area in the Scottish Roads Training Programme.

8. NATIONAL TRANSPORT STRATEGY

There had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Head of Transportation, Aberdeenshire Council, advising Members of the recent publication of the National Transport Strategy, and requesting their consideration on whether the Joint Committee might wish to provide a response to the consultation on the Strategy.

Having heard from Mr Wallace of the consultation’s apparent expectation that each local authority might reply on an individual basis, and the timescale for response, there was discussion of the various elements of the strategy which some partner councils had already considered, and which might be amplified in a collective response.

The Joint Committee agreed :-

(1) noting the publication on 31 July 2019 of the National Transport Strategy, that a collective response be sent on behalf of the Northern Road Collaboration; (2) that officers draft and circulate for approval a potential response, to be finalised in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee; (3) that the response contain reference to the unintended consequences, in terms of road safety, for some villages and towns of some of the strategy’s aspirations in terms of trunk roads where there were no by-passes; the need for greater reference to and consideration of means of transport other than roads, including public transport and walking; and (4) that Transport Scotland be requested to include the Collaboration as a named stakeholder in all future consultations.

9. ROAD CASUALTY REDUCTION

There had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Head of Transportation, Aberdeenshire Council, requesting Members’ consideration of the 2018 Road Casualty data for the Northern Roads Collaboration area, in the context of the Scottish Government’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, published in 2008.

The Joint Committee heard further from Mr Wallace that although the trend continued to be downwards, there was still need for inter-partner collaboration, through joint working with local safety groups, Police Scotland, the National Health Service, and Fire & Rescue, and that future reductions would be increasingly difficult to achieve, even with various ongoing work on different aspects of road safety.

There was discussion of the sharing of skills and experience between collaboration partners in the development of Safety Plans for each council; of the perennial challenges of layby provision, or the lack of it; the distractions of scenic views, farm vehicles, and unfamiliar road processes in much of the area, with implications for safety; the need for appropriate visibility splays to be maintained in a time of budget, and environmental, challenge for roads authorities in terms of maintenance policies; the value and importance of education programmes and awareness raising for young drivers, such as “Safe Highlander” and “Safe Drive, Stay Alive” campaigns; the correlation of “accident rates” with increasing numbers of journeys and increasing car usage with the diminishing incidence of casualty; and the lack of remit to influence sentences handed down relating to driver culpability in accidents.

The Joint Committee, Committee, having considered the 2018 Road Casualty Data for the Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee area, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, agreed:-

(1) that the Officers Group bring together the key public sector agencies and groups with responsibility for reducing road casualties in order to share best practice and identify collaborative opportunities which can help shape the next Road Safety Framework; and (2) that the Lead Officer to report back to the Joint Committee in Spring 2020.

10. SHARING OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND STAFF

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of 1 March, 2019 (Item 5), there had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Head of Transportation, Aberdeenshire Council, requesting consideration of the Business Case for a proposed sharing of professional services and staff to which all Council partners in the Collaboration would be able, should it be appropriate, to participate. Having noted that, if approved, the Business Case for sharing would be further developed into a Memorandum of Understanding, the Joint Committee agreed to approve the Business Case as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, as the basis for the sharing of professional services and staff across the 7 partners represented on the Joint Committee.

11. FUTURE FUNDING FOR ROADS MAINTENANCE – IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL VEHICLES

With reference to the Minute of Meeting of 23 November, 2018, when consideration had been given to the Scottish Government approach to mitigation of the impact on roads maintenance of vehicles related to the timber industry in Scotland, there had been circulated a report dated 30 August, 2019 by the Programme Manager, Roads Collaboration Programme, requesting Members’ consideration of a joint business case to research the impact on roads maintenance of industrial vehicles.

There was discussion of the need to balance the benefits to the economy which the industries brought to the areas with the damage, not just to road but also quay, ferry, and harbour infrastructure; and of the relative general impact of multiple cars compared to single lorries, noting that the formula for this was complicated and would be advised by additional research and consideration of evidenced impact on different infrastructure in different locations by different usage.

The Joint Committee agreed:-

(1) to note the bid being made for funding to undertake research into extraordinary impact of industrial vehicles on the local road network; (2) to note that a joint case would be explored to seek contributions from certain industries towards future road maintenance costs; and (3) that further updates be submitted to future meetings of the Joint Committee.

12. FUTURE ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION AS AN AGENDA ITEM

Having heard from officers the existing list of items which had been identified as potential matters for consideration at future meetings, with residual items including, (a) Cobble surface specialist repair issues (to be considered by Aberdeen City Council and of potential interest to other authorities, and the subject of a previous report to SCOTS); (b) the potential security implications for Ports in the context of BREXIT; and (c) the continued consideration of the use of recycled plastics in road surfacing; the Joint Committee agreed:-

(1) that Transport Scotland be requested to attend to make a presentation on the dualling of the A9/A96, as had previously offered; and (2) that learning from the experiences of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, recently completed, including the lack consideration of active travel and bus service networking, and the knock on impact for local road authorities in falling unexpected heirs to de-trunked roads, be considered by the Officers Group in terms of sharing good practice.

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Joint Committee noted that the next meeting would be held in Committee Room 2, Woodhill House, Aberdeen, commencing at 11.00am.

Arising from consideration of the above, the Joint Committee further agreed that officers investigate, and report to the next meeting , a proposed schedule of meeting dates for 2020, following the quarterly pattern already established of Friday meetings.