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Transport Scotland has two main office locations, one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh, with additional staff on site at the Forth Replacement Crossing, Fife. Both the main Glasgow and Edinburgh locations are where the bulk of Transport Scotland staff are permanently based. Transport Scotland staff travel across Scotland to fulfil their duties in the planning and delivery of infrastructure projects, engaging with communities as well as providing oversight to the performance and operation of service contracts including those for rail and ferries services.

The following table details the staff numbers by year and local authority area.

Transport Scotland undertake numerous studies in relation to minor improvements, including bridges and road safety, on the trunk road network each year and this work is undertaken as part of the routine work of the Operating Companies. The following table indicates the number of major studies commissioned on an annual basis since 2007.

The Scottish Government is continuing to co-fund the Road Collaboration Programme. The Programme was established in December 2013 to explore opportunities for road authorities to share services and is overseen by a Board comprising Transport Scotland, members of the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), SOLACE, COSLA and the Improvement Service. The Programme's aims include encouraging and supporting authorities to share best practice, innovation and expertise.

Furthermore, the Scottish Road Research board meet quarterly to commission and co-ordinate research projects.

to deliver improvements in safety, construction, operation and maintenance to both the trunk and local road network. The Board's objectives include promoting and delivering innovation, sharing new products, techniques and knowledge across Scotland’s road sector.

Between 2007-08 and 2015-16, we have spent over £7 billion in our Rail Network, including 76km of new railways delivered and 13 new stations opened.
The budgeted spend on rail in 2016-17 totals a further £0.75 million. The totals for each year are as follows;

Source: Years 2007-08 – 2015-16: Transport Scotland Annual Report and Accounts, Year 2016-17: published Scottish Budget

The National Out-of-Hours Review Report, Pulling together, was published in November 2015. As part of the implementation of the Review, we are currently considering bids from Health and Social Care Partnerships that explore all aspects of the Review’s recommendations.

We expect NHS boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) to use the recommendations in the Review to inform local planning. However, since the integration of health and social care in April 2016, it is the responsibility of HSCPs to coordinate health and care services, commissioning NHS boards and councils to deliver services in line with a local strategic plan to meet the needs of its population. Over time, this will lead to a change in how services are provided with a greater emphasis on preventative services and allowing people to receive care and support in their home or local community rather than being admitted to hospital.

Additionally, our Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care (SFA), which was published in December 2015, sets out our vision that by 2021 everyone who needs palliative and end of life care will have access to it. The SFA was informed by the recommendations in the Review and sets out a series of commitments to realise that ambition including supporting Healthcare Improvement Scotland in providing HSCPs with expertise on testing and implementing improvements in the identification and care co-ordination of those who can benefit from palliative and end of life care.

The National Out-of-Hours Review Report, Pulling together, was published in November 2015. As part of the implementation of the Review, we are currently considering bids from Health and Social Care Partnerships that explore all aspects of the Review’s recommendations including palliative care.

Sir Lewis Ritchie will be undertaking a further national engagement programme, building on the initial engagement programme to all board areas in Scotland, carried out as part of the original Primary Care Out of Hours Review process where he will discuss these bids in more detail.

This work has been carried out by existing members of staff as part of their normal duties. No-one is dedicated exclusively to this work and no additional staff have been employed or redeployed to take forward the work at this stage. In line with usual practice, the number of hours staff have spent on individual tasks has not been recorded.

The forthcoming review of the Strategic Transport Projects Review will assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructure priorities in Dumfries and Galloway and the rest of Scotland. Within the review options for the A75 corridor between Gretna and Stranraer will be considered. As this work is at an early scoping stage it is not currently possible to estimate the cost.

A draft report on the proceedings of the summit was published on the Transport Scotland website on the 19 September. Contained within it were a number of action points that the Scottish Government will take forward.

This confirms that Transport Scotland will further assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructure priorities in Dumfries and Galloway and the rest of Scotland as part of an update to the Strategic Transport Projects Review. This will follow the review of the National Transport Strategy and allow us to consider how to better connect Dumfries and Galloway with its links north and south through a variety of road and rail interventions, ensuring that we strike the right balance of transport investments in the region.

The Scottish Government is taking decisive action to stimulate new forestry planting to meet our ambitious annual planting target of 10,000 hectares. This includes delivering our new Forestry Grant Scheme and commissioning an independent review of the forestry planting approvals process to identify improvements which will help achieve, over the next few years, a step change in the pace and scale of new planting to ensure the long-term availability of timber and to meet our climate change targets. I will be discussing progress with the forestry sector at summits being held in the autumn.