Rise in road deaths prompt fresh strategy for Scots

05 December 2007

The Scottish road safety strategy will include fresh funding, and outline ways of spending existing money more effectively.

A 10% rise in road deaths in 2006 prompted the Scottish transport minister, Stewart Stevenson, to convene an expert group to advise on the production of the first Scotland-specific road safety strategy.

The group, meeting for the first time last week, discussed the need for the strategy to consider the issue of funding for improvements to reduce casualties.

Bob McLellan, member of the expert group, told Surveyor: ‘It’s critical that we look at funding as well as policy. Where we’ve had targeted funding for specific projects, such as for introducing 20mph zones outside schools, that has a big effect.’

McLellan, head of transportation services at Fife council, said that funding from block allocations ‘does not necessarily find its way to the right place’. The Scottish Government is to provide ‘£3M over and above existing budgets’ up to 2010/11 for strategy priorities, and said there was a prospect of further new funds over the lifetime of the 10-year strategy.

But a Scottish Government spokesman stressed: ‘We want to know how existing funds can be spent more effectively.’ A consultation will be held in the new year to get views on proposed strategy priorities.

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Rise in road deaths prompt fresh strategy for Scots

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