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Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

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Showing 57 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
26 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
The committee has heard evidence in the inquiry from regional transport partnerships, which carry out some of this work on behalf of local authorities, as their agents—we heard similar evidence in our previous inquiry into the draft Scottish budget for next year—that there was...
Charlie Gordon Lab Chamber
09 Jun 2010
Active Travel
It has been a good debate. The convener comprehensively outlined the committee’s deliberations and recommendations. He nearly succeeded in sticking to that, apart from one sally about the Forth bridge.It was remiss of me not to mention in my opening speech the excellent suppor...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
19 May 2009
Scottish Government <br />Transport Projects and Policy
You will know that the committee has argued for some time for a greater focus on active travel, especially in your department's spending priorities. I gather that you spoke at an active travel conference this week. What issues were raised, and what are you doing to prioritise ...
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab) Lab Chamber
09 Jun 2010
Active Travel
I congratulate the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee on the thoroughness of its inquiry and the clarity of its report on active travel—cycling and walking. I am a member of the committee, so I hasten to add that I am not being self-congratulatory. For the ...
Charlie Gordon Lab Chamber
09 Jun 2010
Active Travel
I am delighted by that intervention. Allowing for the fact that the minister is clearly unwell today, I missed his usual self-congratulatory tone. I am delighted to hear that the germs have not yet laid him quite that low. I take note and will try to make that bus journey some...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
But if there are fewer larger projects for engineers to work on at local authority level, will we see more of the small to medium-sized projects that might be associated with the active travel agenda, such as new cycleways?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Yesterday, on a committee visit to Dumfries, Shirley-Anne Somerville and I learned a lot about work on active travel in that part of the country. One thing we learned was that Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary was the last to move away from giving young people cycle proficien...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Yes. Looking at it again, I am not sure that the question is entirely logical. How does car sharing fit into the active travel agenda?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Could the linkages between transport planning and town and country planning—the land use planning system—be improved to ensure that new development maximises the opportunities for active travel? Mr Roach touched on that issue a minute ago. What changes would need to be made to...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
In answer to my question, Mr Knowles seemed to suggest that the opportunity exists to lever in from the development industry additional investment for active travel infrastructure. I assume that that would happen through planning conditions or planning gain section 50 agreements—
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
26 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
I presume that you would like to see those processes contributing to the achievement of the national target on modal share for cycling and active travel in general.
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Chamber
10 Dec 2009
Concessionary Travel Scheme
I welcome this opportunity to open the first parliamentary debate for five years devoted to concessionary travel.On 1 April 2006, the national concessionary travel scheme for older and disabled people, the product of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 and secondary legislation ...
Mr Gordon: Lab Committee
19 Dec 2006
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Bill: Consideration Stage
You have moved Edinburgh Airport Ltd from its original position as an objector to the bill. Have you not only neutralised the company but got its active support and participation?
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I will stick with the issue of parking across dropped kerbs that partially blocks the footway for pedestrians. Is it not the case that the police have powers to take action against people who cause such an obstruction? I agree that the behaviour that you have just complained a...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I have a couple of questions for Moray Council. Mr Thompson, you have already touched on one of the cultural aspects of what your council did to increase the number of pupils travelling to school on foot or by bike. You mentioned role models. Can you tell us a bit more about h...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I was going to ask about modal shift statistics, but you have just mentioned some, and you also mentioned some earlier. Is there anything else that you wish to say about modal shift figures?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
So we are talking about a real-terms trend, a bit like inflation.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Do you have any evidence that your work has had any impact on parents' transport choices more generally, forby the school run?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
It was about parents' general transport choices over and above the school run and other journeys that they make, perhaps not with children. Have you seen a modification in parental behaviour?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Or pester power.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
01 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
There seems to be a revenue implication. You have volunteers and champions, but the people who do the pestering and nagging have to be organised and recruited. I presume that there is a churn of such people.
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I have some questions for the highway engineers. Do Scotland's transportation engineers have the knowledge and training to develop a comprehensive new network of cycle infrastructure and enhance the existing networks?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
So, all things being equal, you would like more money and you would like to work in bigger schemes. Earlier, you admitted that there has been a tick-box approach with, for example, trunk roads being built with bits of cycleway next to them that do not go anywhere. How about en...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
In the 19th century, engineers might have seen themselves as leaders, but we are in quite a different century now. Why have other northern European countries been able to develop comprehensive cycle and pedestrian networks in existing cities, while Scottish cities continue to ...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I have been involved in some of these decisions in one large Scottish city, but the recommendations were always written for me in the first place by an engineer. Is there a cultural issue here to do with how highway engineers handle traffic in our cities?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
The example that was cited in recent evidence to the committee is Copenhagen, which is very much in the news at the moment for other reasons.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
But we have to understand cause and effect when we consider such cities. We heard evidence that Copenhagen did not always have a high percentage of cyclists and walkers.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
If you do not mind, I will stick with the highways engineers for the moment, but it is up to the convener.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Is the construction of high-quality on-street and off-street cycle lanes and associated infrastructure as expensive as the construction of other road infrastructure?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
What was Jan Gehl's profession? Was he an architect or a highways engineer?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Do you think that it is right for parts of the public sector in Scotland simply to opt out of training youngsters to cycle, even though the resources are available?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
You thought that you could get away with it without any reaction.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Has the Institute of Advanced Motorists done any research into what would encourage motorists to consider walking and cycling more, particularly for shorter journeys? If so, what were the results?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Could you supply the committee with the information from that research?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
What is the IAM's view on more road space being allocated to cyclists through the creation of dedicated traffic-free cycle lanes? Earlier, you said that cyclists do not necessarily want to be near the gutter, in a cycle lane, and that cyclists should perhaps ride defensively, ...
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I am talking about an intermediate situation. We have all seen it in cities such as Glasgow, where some very narrow so-called cycle lanes are painted at the side of the road; usually people cannot cycle along them because of the parked cars. Is there any point to those?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Does the IAM have a view on the licensing of cyclists or the payment of vehicle excise duty by bike owners?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Do you feel the same about insurance for cyclists?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
Lastly, relations between pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are often portrayed as adversarial, with all users critical of how other groups obey the rules of the road. A great deal has already been said about that issue. How best could relations be changed?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
In fact, that was my penultimate question for the IAM—this is definitely my last one. Do you see a role for car-sharing schemes in contributing to the amount of walking and cycling that motorists do?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
I am quite an old guy.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
08 Dec 2009
Active Travel Inquiry
In response to a question from Shirley-Anne Somerville, you explained why you recommend that people wear yellow Lycra, helmets and the like if they want to cycle. During our inquiry we have heard about international cultural differences. We were shown slides of Copenhagen, in ...
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
In your written evidence, you state:"The Scottish Parliament should prioritise work with the railway industry to address the needs of cycle parking and access at railway stations."What key priorities should be pursued with ScotRail or Network Rail?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Your written evidence also highlights the success of Cycling England and the major projects that it has managed, such as the cycling demonstration towns and the bikeability scheme. What are the key factors in the success of those initiatives?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
The average increase in cycling levels in the six demonstration towns since 2005 is 27 per cent. What was the range of modal shift?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Can you make the breakdown of that available to the committee?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
My questions are for HITRANS and SEStran. What would be the impact on the uptake of walking and cycling if the Scottish Government was to reinstate travel planning grants to regional transport partnerships?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Is there a risk that the development of cycling infrastructure projects within a regional transport partnership area will be inconsistent, given the different investment priorities of the local authorities that lie within RTP boundaries?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
I thank Mr Macaulay for answering my next question too, but I will let Mr Roach answer the first.
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
12 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Can you quantify that?
Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): Lab Committee
26 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
Cycling provision by local authorities is patchy across Scotland. What can the Scottish Government do to ensure a minimum level of cycling provision?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
26 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
The committee has heard calls for ring-fenced funding to be made available to local authorities so that they can deliver cycling improvements. What is your response to those calls?
Charlie Gordon: Lab Committee
26 Jan 2010
Active Travel Inquiry
What role do you see Cycling Scotland playing in the future development of cycling in Scotland? Can any lessons be learned from the experiences—not necessarily all of them, of course—of Cycling England? Is there a need for a single body to take responsibility for driving forwa...
Charlie Gordon Lab Chamber
15 Apr 2010
Fuel Prices
I have only four minutes.Vince Cable, as well as that boy Clegg whom we always see with him, supports high fuel prices for environmental reasons. In March 2008, Norman Baker—it was his turn that week to be the Liberal Democrats’ UK shadow transport spokesman—said:“The problem ...
Charlie Gordon Lab Chamber
15 Apr 2010
Fuel Prices
That is a good illustration of the problem. I have happy memories of Coll and all that I was able to assist them with when I was convener of Strathclyde Regional Council’s roads and transport committee in a previous incarnation.We will take an active interest in the new proces...
Charlie Gordon Lab Chamber
09 Jun 2010
Active Travel
Does the member accept that there is no such thing as a former Glaswegian? Once a Glaswegian, always a Glaswegian.
Charlie Gordon Lab Committee
09 Feb 2010
“Sustainable Development: Third Annual Assessment of Progress by the Scottish Government”
You said that you have a more active role in appraising the performance of other Administrations. Are you saying that you aspire to do more in relation to the Scottish Government’s responsibilities?
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Committee

Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee, 26 Jan 2010

26 Jan 2010 · S3 · Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee
Item of business
Active Travel Inquiry
Gordon, Charlie Lab Glasgow Cathcart Watch on SPTV
The committee has heard evidence in the inquiry from regional transport partnerships, which carry out some of this work on behalf of local authorities, as their agents—we heard similar evidence in our previous inquiry into the draft Scottish budget for next year—that there was perhaps a reduction in resources being transferred from councils to regional transport partnerships for transport in general and for active travel, principally cycling. Leaving aside the debate about ring fencing, is there a danger that the active travel agenda, with other transport agendas, is suffering because councillors in unitary authorities take the view that, as public finances are squeezed, they must give priority to other services and perhaps less priority to agendas such as the active travel agenda?

In the same item of business

The Convener: Green
Item 2 is the continuation of our active travel inquiry with our final oral evidence session. First, we will hear from a representative of Cycling England vi...
Phillip Darnton (Cycling England):
Good afternoon. Thank you for accepting this conversation over videolink.Cycling England was established by the Department for Transport in spring 2005. Form...
The Convener: Green
The first specific issue that we would like to explore is the cycling city, cycling towns programme. It would be helpful if you could summarise its developme...
Phillip Darnton:
Right. Cycling England's initial funding from the DFT was £5 million. We had put together a proposal for a substantially higher amount, which the secretary o...
The Convener: Green
I would like to move us on, if I may. I am a little concerned that members may not have time to ask all the questions that they would like to ask. Can you wi...
Phillip Darnton:
Of course. I will make five quick points.We have monitored carefully the first three years' work of all six towns, and the results have just been published a...
The Convener: Green
Thank you very much. I hand over to Cathy Peattie.
Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): Lab
Good afternoon. I will continue questions about the cycling city, cycling towns programme. I am interested in any lessons that you might have learned from th...
Phillip Darnton:
With the benefit of hindsight, the lessons have been largely commonsensical. The first lesson has been the need for absolutely determined leadership. Finding...
Cathy Peattie: Lab
Thank you for a comprehensive answer. You clearly have lots of ambition and an exciting programme. I am interested in any evaluation process that you set out...
Phillip Darnton:
I will deal first with poor outcomes.We were intrigued by one town, which said that it thought that it could market its existing cycle routes. It had the ver...
Cathy Peattie: Lab
Forgive me if you have already talked about this, but I am interested in how you gathered information from cyclists and communities on which parts of the sys...
Phillip Darnton:
If I may, I ask the committee to be careful when it comes to cyclists—I speak as someone who has three managing directors of campaigning organisations on the...
Cathy Peattie: Lab
I like the idea of warm and cosy cyclists.Your target is to do with encouraging more people to cycle, which is why I asked about indicators. Did you speak to...
Phillip Darnton:
We absolutely have done that. When the towns put together their three-year work programmes, they go through a period of intensive discussion with communities...
Cathy Peattie: Lab
You spoke earlier about funding and how successful it has been despite a reduction in the level. I am interested in the pilots that have been done. Are cycli...
Phillip Darnton:
I am glad that you asked that question because we believe that the approach is sustainable. In fact, having run pilots in six cycling towns from 2005 to 2008...
The Convener: Green
I remind everyone that our time is limited and we are running just a tad behind schedule. If people can bear that in mind, it would be helpful.
Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): SNP
I had better speak to you about the bikeability training scheme, which I believe has been a success. Will you please give us a little background to it?
Phillip Darnton:
When we launched in 2005, we quickly identified that as well as having cycling towns, it was important that children should learn to ride their bicycles on t...
Rob Gibson: SNP
Thank you. I am interested to know a bit about the funding of bikeability. You said that it is probably coming from bursaries and/or other supplements. Is th...
Phillip Darnton:
Yes.
Rob Gibson: SNP
Are cycle training schemes other than bikeability available in England?
Phillip Darnton:
Any one could turn up and knock on someone's door and say, "Can I train you or your family?" There is no regulation in that sense. What we have established t...
Rob Gibson: SNP
Thank you very much.
Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): SNP
We have already heard a great deal about what you have done to increase the number of children who cycle. What work have you undertaken to increase the numbe...
Phillip Darnton:
That is probably the most difficult question. The answer is in two parts. First, we have concentrated on working with people in every walk of life who want t...
Shirley-Anne Somerville: SNP
At the risk of being slightly antagonistic, some of the schemes sound a tad patronising to women—certainly to this young woman, who may have different reason...
Phillip Darnton:
I am sorry, but I do not understand the question. Do you mean any other country in the world?
Shirley-Anne Somerville: SNP
Has the pretty pink bike theory been proven to work?