21 September 2011
Spending Review – Initial analysis from Transform Scotland
Transform Scotland's Head of Research Jolin Warren gives his initial impressions on today's announcement:There is little to be cheerful about regarding sustainable transport in the
Government's Spending Review. Even in the areas where the Government does commit funding the lack of clarity makes it difficult to judge whether we will see the investment that is needed. Importantly, the Government fails the
three ‘Key tests for transport’ we set out earlier this week:
- They have not fully funded their Report on Proposals and Policies;
- Support for active travel has been slashed and there is no mention of the Freight Facilities Grant;
- There is no evidence of prioritising sustainable transport and maintenance over road building.
Disappointingly, the spending review and draft budget utterly fail to address the Government’s own Report on Proposals and Policies (RPP) which sets out how the Government plans to meet its legally-binding climate change targets. We are baffled as to why the Government does not take a strategic approach to funding policies to which it has already committed itself. Without proper funding, there is no chance that the it can meet the targets on the many beneficial Active Travel, Smarter Choices and public transport measures contained in the RPP.
Support for Active Travel has been slashed in the draft budget. Two key funds are up in the air or see a significant cut. ‘Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes’ is included but at an undecided level, and the ‘Sustainable and Active Travel’ fund is cut by more than a third while being also used to fund guided busway and park & ride projects. This equivocal stance makes a mockery of the SNP’s manifesto commitment to “increase the proportion of transport spending on […] active and sustainable travel.” While the opacity of the Government’s budget makes it impossible to pin down precise figures, it appears that cycling investment falls from £20m to £15m – a decrease from 1.1% to 0.8% of the transport budget. (See the
Spokes website for a detailed commentary.) This is a pathetic level of funding for the transport mode which has by far the highest benefit-to-cost ratio.
Commitment to public transport is a mixed bag. It is very good to see the commitment to fully fund the Borders Railway for an opening in 2014. We are also glad to see continued support for the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, though it is worrying that there is no commitment to implement the full programme, with all necessary track work as opposed to just the electrification work. More disappointing is the complete lack of mention of the Highland Main Line and Aberdeen–Inverness line speed and capacity improvements over the three years of the spending review. The Government has previously made grand announcements about these projects, yet the Highland Main Line capacity improvements have already fallen behind schedule and no further information on funding or progress is being provided. Similarly, the budget makes no mention of the Glasgow Subway refurbishment, an important project and an odd omission.
The funding provided for ferry ports and vessels appears to be wholly inadequate given the Government’s own Ferries Review recommendation of an investment of £784m by 2022. Slightly more than £5m per year will hardly make a dent in the backlog identified. It is a shame that the Government did not commit to funding a fleet of small hybrid ferries to improve the operational efficiency of Scotland’s lifeline fleet and move us towards lower-carbon transport.
An important driver for shifting freight from road to rail and sea has been the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG). However, this budget and spending review makes no mention of the grant and so it is hard to see how the Government will “encourage the freight industry to reduce emissions and by transferring freight from road to rail and water”. (See p.200 of the
Spending Review.) And while Scottish roads could benefit from a programme of maintenance to address the well-recognised backlog of repairs, this budget will instead force local councils to go into debt so that the Government can invest in vanity projects like the Second Forth Road Bridge and Aberdeen Western Bypass.
Finally, we are frustrated but entirely unsurprised to see a complete failure to address demand management measures. There is no progress on introducing a workplace parking levy scheme or any sort of road user charging. And while the Government proposes to introduce a public health levy on large retailers, this does nothing to address the decline of town centre economies due to out-of-town developments. The Government needs to think again and base its retailer levy on the number of car parking spaces provided if it is serious about approaching health in a holistic manner.
Update from Colin Howden, Monday 26 September: The Spending Review also slashes funding for the Bus Service Operators Grant. This fund is essential to maintaining bus services across Scotland. Following cuts to this same grant in England, there was a wave of cutbacks in services. If the Scottish Government's decision is not reversed then we can expect bus services across Scotland to also face cuts as a result of the spending review. The impacts of cuts to bus services would be most severe for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young people and for those in rural areas. It's deeply unjust that the Scottish Government should aim to repeat the same errors made by the UK Government in its spending review.