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Meeting of the Parliament 13 January 2011

13 Jan 2011 · S3 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Freight Facilities Grants

Brown, Keith SNP Ochil Watch on SPTV

Like other members, I congratulate Cathy Jamieson on securing the debate.

I think that it was Aneurin Bevan who said that politics is the language of priorities. Given members’ arguments, I see the freight facilities grants scheme as a far higher priority than, for example, spending £500 million on the tram scheme in Edinburgh. It is a question of the priorities that we want to advance. I say that because the FFG scheme has without question played an important part in moving freight from road to rail and water by funding new freight facilities. As many members said, it has led to a reduction of millions of lorry miles in the past 10 years.

I join Cathy Jamieson and others in celebrating its success in delivering environmental benefits across Scotland. Many of the FFG-funded facilities will continue to remove lorries from Scotland’s roads for years to come. On Richard Simpson’s point, I confirm that the resource element will continue, so traffic that has been taken off the roads will not revert back on to them.

Like other members, we are clear about the FFG scheme’s positive environmental impact. That is why its budget has totalled more than £40 million since 2007. During that time we have made FFG awards to seven projects. It would repay the members who are most interested, among whom I certainly include Charlie Gordon, to look at the history of the projects. Many projects that are talked about for many years do not come to fruition. The business case is sometimes not presented and, in some cases, an award is made that is not subsequently taken up. It is worth having a look at that information, which might go some way towards explaining the response that Charlie Gordon received at the committee from John Swinney on the take-up of grants so far.

The projects that have been successful include the daily Eddie Stobart-Tesco rail service to Inverness, which takes more than 270 lorry journeys off the A9 each week, and the innovative JST floating pier, which enables timber to be transported to sawmills by sea.

The nub of the situation is the UK Government’s decision to cut the Scottish Government’s budget by £1.3 billion in 2011-12. Whichever party members represent, they must agree that there is no question but that that presents a real financial challenge—a challenge that is without precedent since devolution. On top of that is the reduction of £800 million in the capital budget, which was hit particularly hard.

Members have said, with some justification, that, in the global scheme of those reductions of £800 million and £1.3 billion, the figures that we are talking about for the FFG scheme are small. However, we have to get the smaller figures to add up to achieve the huge cut. As Karen Whitefield said, we are in Scotland and we have to talk about Scotland. However, the money that we get comes from Westminster.

It is interesting to draw a comparison, because the Labour Party in England did not have the same scheme when it was in government. I think that the Labour Government in England spent £8 million on such grants over five years, whereas we have spent £40 million over a slightly shorter period. That shows a level of commitment to freight facilities grants that has not been replicated elsewhere.

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Meeting of the Parliament 13 January 2011

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