Road Safety Framework 2030 - Strategic Partnership Board - meeting minutes - 18 September 2025
Members
- Fiona Hyslop (Chair) – Cabinet Secretary for Transport
- George Henry (GH) – TS – Head of Roads Policy and Safety
- Robert Nicol (RN) – Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
- Colin Park (CP) – The Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists (SCOTS)
- Oliver Harding (OH) – National Health Service (NHS)
- Scott McCarren (SM) – Police Scotland
- Kenneth Barbour (KB) – Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS)
- Margaret Douglas (MD) – Public Health Scotland (PHS)
In Attendance
- Donald Morrison (DM) – TS – Head of Asset Management, Procurement and Policy
- Stewart Leggett (SL) – Transport Scotland (TS) – Head of Operations
- Michelle Van der stighelen (MVds) – TS – Safety Camera Programme
- Ryan Gilbert (RG) – TS – Strategic Communications Manager (Roads)
- Ben McKenna (BM) – TS – Road Safety Policy
- Andrew Barclay (AB) – Police Scotland
Apologies
- Hugh Gillies (HG) - TS - Director of Roads
- Alan Waddell (AW) – Police Scotland
- Cllr Gail MacGregor (GM) – Spokesperson for Environment and Economy - COSLA
Secretariat
- Hannah Green (HG) – TS – Road Safety Policy
Welcome and Introductions
The Chair welcomed members and thanked them for their continued commitment to road safety in Scotland. The Chair acknowledged the retirement of Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan and introduced her successor, Chief Superintendent Scott McCarren, along with Dr Margaret Douglas from Public Health Scotland. The Chair highlighted that site visits were undertaken in Falkirk and Midlothian, showcasing the positive impact of the Road Safety Improvement Fund (RSIF) and 20mph initiatives. Funding of £14.25 million for RSIF and £7.5 million for the 20 mph roll-out has been approved, with grant letters being issued to local authorities. The Chair also highlighted the upcoming launch of the world’s first Safe System Manual.
Previous Minutes and Actions
The previous minutes were circulated and no comments received, these have since been published on the TS website.
Police Management Information Data
The latest management information data was presented, and the Board noted that Police Scotland continues to monitor analytical data to identify activity trends and explore ways to prevent casualties. A Police Scotland analyst has produced targeted problem profiles for pedestrians and pedal cyclists, including recommendations for action. These reports have been shared with Transport Scotland.
Road Safety Framework to 2030
Mid-Term Review
A Mid-Term Review paper was circulated to members ahead of the meeting. Following a procurement exercise, Agilysis has been successful and will undertake the review. Members will be kept abreast of progress.
Road Safety Framework Governance Groups
The Operational Partnership Group met on the 1st September and the three Local Partnership Forums met in June. The four Key Priority Groups met across July and August with a focus on the recommendations stemming from the Road Traffic Fatality Research study. All groups will meet again in November of this year.
HMICS Recommendations
A Governance and Assurance Board has been established to oversee the delivery of the recommendations. An improvement plan has been developed, consolidating multiple existing plans. A total of 127 actions have been identified across the 13 recommendations, with 82 actions now complete, representing a 64% completion rate. It was agreed that some of the outstanding actions will be brought to the OPG.
The Chair welcomed the progress on this important work following the Review and offered support where required.
Partner Updates
CoSLA:
SCOTS and CoSLA met on the 8th August. It was agreed that a survey was to be cascaded to SCOTS members regarding how road safety is considered by community planning partnerships; a policy prioritisation exercise was recently undertaken where a paper was taken to the CoSLA board and it was agreed that road safety will be amongst the top 3 priorities moving forward.
SCOTS:
SCOTS is currently analysing responses from the above noted survey, with outcomes to be shared in due course. The RSIF and 20mph Strategy funding to all local authorities is welcomed but noted potential delivery challenges.
Police Scotland:
Police Scotland continues the national roll-out of DESC, now active in 11 of the 13 divisions. Full roll-out is expected by the end of the calendar year.
Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS):
SFRS is committed to ongoing partnership work in delivering their education programme; expanding the BikerDown initiative; promoting child car seat safety; support the upcoming Young Drivers Weekend, engaging with over 2,500 students.
NHS:
OH informed the Board of Graham Foster’s retirement and the Chair and members expressed their thanks for his contributions to the SPB. NHS is working with Road Safety Policy to map governance groups and identify suitable health representatives. Efforts are underway to apply generic frameworks, including philosophical disciplines, to road safety; potentially aligning with the Mid-Term Review.
Public Health Scotland (PHS):
PHS is conducting an evidence review on the effectiveness of road safety interventions and progressing the development of an analytical post. PHS recently published a major trauma audit report and plans to release the annual report on unintentional injuries, including road traffic injury hospital admissions, in October.
Safety Camera Programme:
MVds reported significant improvements in key performance indicators across the three Police Scotland Safety Camera Units although are still below target rates; increased mobile enforcement; progress continues on trials involving connected vehicle data; the 2023/24 site selection exercise is near completion with three new sites identified; continued deployment of Temporary Average Speed Cameras on the NC500, with excellent speed compliance; the wider Distracted Driver Technology Trial remains under procurement.
Trunk Road Casualty Reduction:
The team has delivered: junction improvements, Vehicle Activated Signs, PRIME motorcycle markings, enhanced lining and signing particularly at bends and junctions, and improvements to vehicle restraint systems; £5.2m investment in short term improvements on the A9; all 75 identified sites on the Trunk Road Network are expected to have the 20 mph speed limit implemented by the end of the 2025/26 financial year.
Road Safety Progress and Commitments
Delivery Plan – 2025/26
The Chair advised the Road Safety Framework to 2030 Annual Progress Report 2024/25 and 2025/26 Delivery Plan was recently published. The progress of deliverables will continue to be monitored through the OPG.
The Board further discussed reserved matters such as Graduated Driver Licencing, Fitness to Drive and seatbelt non-compliance not being an endorsable offence. The UK Government Road Safety Strategy is in development and the Board welcomed Transport Scotland’s continued liaison with the UK Government on the progression of these important reserved matters.
Communications Handling Plan
RG updated members on activity that had been delivered to promote road safety investment, with a focus on road safety funding and the marketing campaign schedule.
TS is willing to support all road safety partners with proactive road safety announcements, launches and engagements and encouraged members to consider opportunities. TS comms continue to liaise with the comms rep in respective member organisations to reinforce road safety messaging.
Actions
Action 140: Road Safety Policy to provide the Cabinet Secretary with a briefing on the tourism plate.
Action 141: SCOTS to share the results of the survey with board members before the next meeting.
Action 142: Members to review the Mid-Term Review paper and provide any comments.
Action 143: TS to provide an update on the Mid-Term Review at the next SPB meeting, with a presentation from Agilysis on progress.
Action 144: Briefing to be prepared on the Mid-Term Review for the Cabinet Secretary to share with other Cabinet Members.
Action 145: BM to share scope of the works being progressed by local authorities with CP in regards to the RSIF.
Action 146: TS to prepare a briefing for the Cabinet Secretary on the national roll out of DESC and highlight potential comms opportunities.
Action 147: PS to liaise with TS once DESC has been fully rolled out nationally, to explore potential communications opportunities.
Action 148: PHS requested a review in to the community safety partnership profiles for each local authority to determine whether such partnerships exist and to assess the extent to which road safety is considered within their remit.
Action 149: PHS to share link to the major trauma audit report with Board members.
Action 150: TRCR team to provide an update to the Cabinet Secretary on all schemes delivered with a focus on the junction improvement investment work.
Action 151: Secretariat to arrange meeting between TS and SCOTS to further discuss the potential of giving powers to local authorities on moving traffic offences.
Action 152: Officials to prepare advice to the Cabinet Secretary to consider writing a letter to the UK Government on reserved road safety matters, including; Graduated Driving Licence, fitness to drive, seatbelt wearing not being an endorsable offence, General Safety Regulations and Scotland’s involvement in the UK Road Safety Strategy.