Transport Matters
Glasgow Conservative councillors are calling on the SNP administration to provide additional cash grants to drivers in the taxi and private hire trade.
The call comes after other local authorities including Aberdeen City Council announced funding worth £860,000 overall to support taxi drivers, with an additional £1,000 of automatic top up grant funding.
Dundee City Council and Angus Council have also expanded support provided by the Scottish Government’s Private Hire Support Fund.
That fund closed on March 25, despite only granting funding to less than two-thirds of eligible drivers and spending 57 per cent of its budget.
Glasgow Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr commented: “I continue to be inundated with correspondence from taxi drivers in Glasgow who are in a state of desperation. Their income has been completely decimated over the last year.
“If other local authorities elsewhere in Scotland can give extra funding to our taxi drivers, then that should be the case in Glasgow. I find it appalling that there has been radio silence from the SNP Leader of the Council on this matter and officials are saying they can’t do anything.
A review into the timescale of upgrades at a major Aberdeen junction is being carried out – just months after delays were announced.
The delay marked the fifth time the £50 million project had been pushed back in as many years.
Now Transport Scotland – the Scottish Government’s transport body – has revealed the new date is now being reviewed in order to factor in “unforeseen circumstances” such as future Covid-19 restrictions or extreme weather.
Holyrood transport minister Michael Matheson said: “The construction of the A92/A96 Haudagain improvement project is progressing.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures to combat the impact of the pandemic, as confirmed in the recent publication of the Infrastructure Investment Plan in December 2020 completion has changed from the original published date of spring 2021 and is now anticipated in winter 2021.
“While this date is subject to any further impacts of the pandemic and unforeseen circumstances such as the effects of exceptional weather, Transport Scotland is working with the contractor to review the programme of work and identify any actions which may help to mitigate delays where possible.”
Meanwhile ministers have been urged to “come clean” over cost rises associated with any delays at the Aberdeen junction – amid fears the public could face an increased bill of millions of pounds because of the over-run.
Scottish Conservative candidate for Aberdeen Donside Harriet Cross said: “The SNP are burying their head in the sand with the cost projections of the Haudagain in the hope no one notices the increasing costs associated with the delays.
“It’s shocking and a slap in the face to the people of Aberdeen who have to deal with the ongoing disruption caused by these delays. They want to see this project finished as soon as possible but also want, and deserve, it to be value for money.
Dedicated NHS staff working tirelessly throughout the pandemic are being hit with parking fines at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Union bosses have hit out at the “shambolic” parking facilities at the Paisley hospital, which is forcing staff to park in disabled bays, unauthorised spaces and double yellow lines.
They are renewing calls for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to add more spaces for staff, patients and visitors following claims the situation is out of control.
Sam Mullin, GMB Scotland NHS Representative, said: “Staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital are working under the cosh and are being forced to park where they shouldn’t.
“At the car park in the hospital, there is constantly yellow envelopes all over the ground as people are being ticketed constantly.
“But where are they supposed to park?
“Something needs to be done to address this as more and more services are being transferred to the RAH which is a good thing.
“But the hospital has outgrown the car park and the only thing that is going to solve it is providing more spaces.
“For a few months last year, the health board relaxed the parking restrictions but now as services are resuming again we are right back where they started.”
Mr Mullin also believes parking meters on nearby streets are “making a bad situation worse”.
Pay and display, combined with a residents’ parking scheme was introduced by Renfrewshire Council in January last year following a number of issues with residents having difficulty accessing their driveways.
Airport bosses have been left fuming over a lack of urgency and transparency from the Scottish Government around a planned pilot testing scheme last year which was quietly binned in December.
Edinburgh Airport and AGS Airports, which owns Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, were forced to submit two freedom of information requests in order to discover why plans to pilot a double test regime whereby passengers are tested on arrival and five days later were dropped.
Initially officials in the civil service had told the airports they were unable to say whether the plans had been rejected for several weeks despite having recommended them for refusal within days, with the FOI request required to find out the reasons why the plans were dropped.
The airport proposals were rejected on the basis of “considerable concerns” about removing quarantine for travellers but said it was “beneficial to explore a pilot approach”.
Scottish government have today told the country’s taxi operators that there will be no COVID-19 financial support package offered to them according to union officials and operators.
The news has left members of the industry shocked and frustrated, as the operators seek desperate financial aid to help survive and recover from the terrible impact the global pandemic has had on the trade.
A spokesperson from Unite the Union Cab Section has said: “The Cab Section is bitterly disappointed to report that the SNP Government has decided that no money will be made available to taxi operators to mitigate the devastating impact of Covid. Kate Forbes, Cabinet Finance Secretary has rejected Unite proposals for help.
“It is important to know that the UK Government provided adequate funds to help our industry. However, the allocation of monies has left much to be desired. For example, when asked what has happened to the £20M underspend from the £57M taxi support fund, we were advised it goes back to the Scottish Government. When asked if the Scottish Government would be handing it back to the UK Government, a less than transparent response was given. It was along the lines of ‘other sectors may benefit from that money.
Plans to upgrade the notorious Sheriffhall roundabout must be made a priority, Edinburgh Southern Conservative candidate Miles Briggs has said.
The £120 million scheme, which includes a flyover to ease congestion, was halted in February last year so a review could be carried out as part of the SNP’s Holyrood budget agreement with the Greens.
But Mr Briggs said the rush-hour queues which have long plagued commuters are getting worse and demanded that the project – financed under the City Region Deal should resume.
He said: “It has to become a priority. The SNP have been dragging their feet on it. They did a deal with the Greens which has just paused it for a year, so for people using the bypass – particularly at peak times – it’s just getting worse and worse.
“This is a key improvement that need to be prioritised as soon as possible in the next parliament.”
And he said congestion on the bypass had also been neglected for too long. “It’s quite clear it’s over-capacity. Even during the pandemic when people are meant to be working from home there are tailbacks at Sheriffhall every morning.”
He said he had put forward a number of “workable suggestions” which ministers had ignored, including use of “smart motorway” technology and a feasibility study into widening the road.
