Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament am 2:30 pm ar 6 Chwefror 2025.
Roz McCall
Ceidwadwyr
2:30,
6 Chwefror 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the potential impact on travel times in Mid Scotland and Fife of the proposed speed limit changes contained in the national speed management review consultation. (S6O-04311)
Fiona Hyslop
Scottish National Party
As part of the Scottish Government’s record £36 million investment in road safety, a national speed management review is under way. The review aims to ensure that speed limits across Scotland are effective and help to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads, including in Mid Scotland and Fife. Proposed changes contained in the review have been rigorously assessed and are expected to reduce casualties and fatalities.
International evidence, including France’s successful 2018 speed limit changes, shows how measures can lower speeds and reduce casualties. The assessment indicates that the changes will have a minimal impact on journey times, because reduced speeds contribute to smoother traffic flow, which reduces congestion, serious collisions and diversions, and improves journey reliability. A public consultation is under way and I encourage the member to share her views before it closes on 5 March.
Roz McCall
Ceidwadwyr
I will do so.
The proposed arbitrary reduction in speed limits on 60mph roads will add to journey times and, undoubtedly, to the frustration that motorists are feeling. Many businesses across the region depend on the movement of goods and materials, and single carriageway roads are the backbone of the transport infrastructure in the area. Workers who live in rural areas often have no viable alternative to using their cars, and reducing speed limits on single carriageways could significantly increase commute times, thereby creating more challenges for employees and businesses alike. The disproportionate impact that the proposals will have on my constituents and on businesses should not be taken lightly. Will the Cabinet secretary carefully consider the consequences for my region and scrap the proposals as soon as possible?
Fiona Hyslop
Scottish National Party
We will listen to the consultation, which closes on 5 March. I remind Roz McCall that, in 2023, 754 people were killed or seriously injured on single-carriageway roads. In France, the Government implemented a national speed limit reduction in July 2018, which led to a reduction in the average speed of vehicles, a 10 per cent decrease in fatalities and a minimal impact on journey times, of less than one minute in a 50km journey.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
