Road Safety Framework - Operational Partnership Group (OPG) - meeting minutes - 26 November 2024

Members

• George Henry (GH) (Chair) Transport Scotland Road Policy and Safety
• Steven Feeney (SF) Transport Scotland Road Safety Policy
• Stuart Wilson (SW) Transport Scotland Safety and Development
• Michelle Little (ML) Transport Scotland Road Safety Policy
• Michael McDonnell (MM) Road Safety Scotland
• Vinnie Fisher (VF) Police Scotland
• Tommy Keay (TK) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Stewart Mackie (SM) IAM RoadSmart
• Stephen Bridgman (SB) Public Health Scotland
• Chris Thomson (CT) Living Streets Scotland
• Alistair Ross (AR) Association of British Insurers
• Keith Irving (Ki) Cycling Scotland

In Attendance

• Katrina Caldwell (KC) Transport Scotland Statistics
• Ryan Gilbert (RG) Transport Scotland Comms
• Heid Jerstad (HJ) Transport Scotland Research
• Shelagh Considine (SC) Scottish Government Marketing and Insights
• Katie Lyle (KL) Scottish Government Marketing and Insights
• Caroline Brearley (CB) Scottish Ambulance Service
• Mark Borthwick (MB) Scottish Ambulance Service
• Stevie Reid (SR) Police Scotland
• Michelle Van der stighelen (MV) Transport Scotland Safety Camera Programme
• Lisa Fallon (LF) Transport Scotland Sustainable and Active Travel
• Catriona Davies (CD) British Horse Society
• Caitlin Taylor (CT) RoSPA

Secretariat

• Kieren Green (KG) Transport Scotland Road Safety Policy
• Ben McKenna (BM) (Observing) Transport Scotland Road Safety Policy

Apologies

• Fay McNicol (FM) Scottish Ambulance Service
• Karen McDonnell (KM) RoSPA
• Stuart Colbron (SC) SCOTS
• Helene Mauchlen (HM) British Horse Society
• Lynne Mason (LM) Road Haulage Association
• Nina Day (ND) Health and Safety Executive
• Alan Martin (AM) Transport Scotland Active Travel
• Steve Wykes (SWy) Motorcycle Action Group

Welcome and Introductions

 The Chair welcomed the OPG members to the meeting, and proceeded with round the table introductions.

Previous Minute and Actions

The minutes of the previous meeting on 8 October 2024 were agreed as an accurate record of discussion. Most actions from the previous meeting were complete, however two outstanding ask are;

• SB/CH/MM to engage to discuss quadbike safety.
• Arrange meeting to discuss NHS Datasets with Public Health Scotland, Police Scotland and Transport Scotland.

Updates from Governance Groups

The Strategic Partnership Board (SPB) met on 30 October 2024, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport. The next SPB meeting will take place on 18 December 2024.

The chair noted the recently published His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) report which detailed recommendations including those relating to the uploading of journey-cam footage and progression of diversionary courses.

VF confirmed that there is a 12 week statutory obligation to respond to the report and that plans are being developed to address these recommendations with updates provided at future meetings.

The following was highlighted from the latest LPF North and East meetings;

East – 7 November 2024

The group discussed the unpredictability of fatal collisions occurring in their areas and how this makes it difficult to put preventative measures in place.

A paper was circulated for OPG views on ideas stemming from the East which may address some of the issues seen locally. The group discussed each of the points in turn with the following discussion points being highlighted;

• The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) would like to trial simple zebra crossings, the group suggested that a written request be sent from CEC to Transport Scotland for consideration.
• CEC would also like to see Direct Vision Standard (DVS) and HGV Safety Permit Scheme in operation in city centres where there is a mix of HGVs and vulnerable road users. This is something that can currently be achieved by local authorities through the use of TROs. However, Transport Scotland are engaging with Transport for London on this matter.
• East Lothian Council raised concerns around the lack of compliance with double yellow line parking making it unsafe for pedestrians crossing. It was suggested, that East Lothian Council decriminalise parking enforcement if not already, meaning action can be taken by the authority.
• Members queried the use of alcolock devices being fitted to vehicles if a person is convicted of a drink driving offence. It was advised this is a matter reserved to the UK Government, however this would be raised with them for consideration.
• Finally, concerns were raised about pre/younger driver events being held in an inconsistent manner across the East, with some areas having a established event and other that do not. Local authorities queried the possibility of extending these events to allow them to participate or support with funding to transport school pupils to a neighbouring authority with an event running. OPG highlighted that should these events evaluate well, then would be supportive of these being rollout out wider, noting support is in place through the Road Safety Framework Fund.

North – 14 November 2024

Motorcycle and older road users are still overrepresented in the North. There were 49 fatalities in 2023 in the North with 11 of these being over the age of 70.

An in depth analysis of motorcycle collisions and contributory factors from the last four years was shared with the group.

A presentation was given by Ayrshire Roads Alliance on Trailblazers, an initiative which was supported through the Road Safety Framework Fund.

Action Point 1: Chair to raise alcolocks being fitted to convicted drink drivers vehicles with UK Government.

Knowledge, Data and Training

Partner Updates

Members were asked to provide an update from their organisation on work being taken forward. The following points were highlighted by each partner during the discussion;

Cycling Scotland:

• An update on deliverables for 2024/25 was circulated in advance of the meeting. However, Cycling Scotland continue to publish research on delivery riders and safety.
• The evaluation on Give Cycle Space campaign concluded, this has now won three awards.

ScORSA:

• ScORSA have delivered three of the six webinars planned for this year, with feedback from the ones held being positive. In collaboration with the LPFs, ScORSA holding sessions with NHS Fife and Edinburgh College to deliver road safety awareness sessions.
• Research papers are also being produced, on the impact of drink/drug driving and fatigue. These are expected to be published in the coming months.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service:

• Continuing to work in partnership with a variety of organisation to deliver pro-active road safety activity. This includes initiatives such as Biker Down. A full report detailing the work being undertaken will be shared with the group.

Living Streets Scotland:

• CT shared a report on inclusive design at continuous footways published by Living Streets last year. Continuing, CT advised that he was keen to undertake a study on the national rollout of the pavement parking ban to understand how this has been applied across each local authority area.
• The chair advised that Transport Scotland have been pressing local authorities for an update and that discussion are on-going with both CoSLA and SCOTS and it would be useful to have a more detailed update on this at the next meeting.

IAM RoadSmart:

• IAMRoadSmart continue to work with partner organisations, such as Police Scotland, to support the wider rollout of Rider Refinement. In addition, a rollout of younger driver training is planned for next year.

Public Health Scotland:

• SB highlighted the Public Health Scotland unintentional injuries report which was recently published. This details that road traffic injuries accounted for almost 5% of all admissions to hospital for an unintentional injury in 2023/24.

Scottish Ambulance Service:

• Internal briefing for staff has been developed, this includes improved vehicle technology and managing road risk. Although the primary focus is for front line ambulances, this also covers off other modes such as motor and pedal cycles.

British Horse Society:

• Work to develop temporary information posters is on-going, this is to highlight to road users the potential presence of horse riders and other vulnerable road users. In addition to this, work in conjunction with Police Scotland took place, this saw 56 drivers stopped and educated about passing horse riders safely.

Transport Scotland – Active Travel:

• Having recently undertaken the Safe System training, colleagues are looking to promote this wider when awarding funding for active travel schemes.

Transport Scotland – Road Safety Policy:

• Transport Scotland is continuing to support local authorities with the rollout of their 20 mph schemes with guidance now published to support this. In addition, progress is also being made on the development of Road Traffic Diversionary Courses in Scotland, this includes a Speed Awareness Course.

Transport Scotland – Road Safety Scotland:

• Ziggy activity has continued this year, and roadshows are currently on-going.
• Road Safety within Curriculum for Excellence 2024-25 booklet was distributed to all Early Learning Centres, and Primary and Secondary Schools in August. Work continues on the development/renewal/promotion of the new secondary school resource, new resource for children with complex additional support needs and JRSO.

Transport Scotland – Trunk Road Casualty Reduction:

• Continue to work with local authorities to ensure a consistent approach to the rollout of 20 mph speed limits, this remains on track to be complete by the end of next year.
• PRIME report is also going through final approval before a report/toolkit is share with local authorities.
• Finally, updates have been made to the A9 safety website. This has included an amalgamation into the Transport Scotland website meaning content is easier to access.

Transport Scotland – Safety Camera Programme:

• A live operational deployment of distracted driver camera technology is currently being progressed and members will be kept appraised of this.

Targets, Mode & User – Intermediate Measures/KPIs

KC presented casualty data from the Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2023 publication. An update was provided on the progress towards each of the 2030 casualty reduction targets and the mode and user specific targets.

During the presentation the following was noted;

• Fatalities went down from 171 to 155 (9%). Of these, 72% were male, 39% were car users, 25% were aged over 70 and 49% occurred on roads with a 60 mph speed limit.
• Serious casualties rose by 9% meaning we are no longer on track to meet this interim target.
• Total casualties went up from 5,643 to 5,829 (3%) (third consecutive year of increasing).

Police Management Information Data

VF provided the latest management information data, noting that Police Scotland continues to monitor the analytical data to identify trends in activity and investigate how they can be prevented.

SR then presented a dashboard which has been created as part of the Road Traffic Fatality Research. This tool allows data to be produced into user friendly reports and graphs. Members asked if it would be possible for access to be granted to other organisations out with Police Scotland. It was confirmed this is currently not possible but is being explored.

Members also asked if consideration can be given to include the Road Safety Framework to 2030 targets within the reporting to easily identify problematic areas.

In addition, the group queried if options are being explored to use a similar dashboard to report on Transport Scotland statistics through the Reported Road Casualties Scotland publications. KC confirmed that this is something Transport Scotland Analytical colleagues are given consideration to.

Action Point 2: Secretariat to circulate written update from ScORSA and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Action Point 3: TS to provide an update on pavement parking enforcement at next meeting.

Action Point 4: SB to circulate Public Health Scotland unintentional injuries report to members.

Action Point 5: Secretariat to share link to updated A9 group website.

Action Point 6: Secretariat to circulate stats presentation.

Action Point 7: SB to invite KC to the next Public Health Scotland data meeting to give update on road casualty figures.

Delivery Plan and Monitoring

Road Safety Scotland Campaign Update

Scottish Government Marketing and Insights provided a presentation on Road Safety Scotland planned campaigns. Noting that the following programme is scheduled;

• November – Fatigue campaign
• December – Fatigue and Drink/drug driving campaigns
• January – Seatbelt campaign
• February – Seatbelt, vulnerable road users and fitness to drive campaigns

The group then discussed the upcoming vulnerable road user campaign in more depth, noting the challenges of filming to ensure this represents correct road user behaviours.

Comms Handling Plan

RG highlighted the road safety comms since last meeting, noting that the comms plan will be kept updated going forward to ensure a proactive approach to messaging. Furthermore, highlighting that we are keen to also support partner messaging where possible to promote different workstreams being undertaken.

SB raised the importance of having Public Health Scotland comms colleagues engaged and agreed to facilitate a meeting between Transport Scotland and Public Health Scotland comms.

Risk Register

The group highlighted that given the increased use, and trail within some areas of the UK, the risk on e-scooters should be review to take account of the DfT findings.

Road Safety Funding

An update on the current projects being support through the Road Safety Framework Fund was provided to members. It was advised that the next funding round is currently being progressed and it is anticipated this will open for bids soon with successful initiatives commencing early in the new financial year.

Action Point 8: RG to update comms plan and recirculate to members.

Action Point 9: SB/RG to meet and discuss Public Health Scotland involvement in comms plan to support messaging.

Action Point 10: Secretariat to update risk register e-scooter risk and circulate to members.

AOB and Next Meeting

The next meeting will take place virtually in March 2025 and a calendar invite has been issued.