Introduction
Our Organisation
Who are we?
Transport Scotland is the national transport agency, delivering the Scottish Government’s vision for transport and accountable to Parliament and the Public through the Scottish Ministers. Our purpose is to deliver a sustainable, inclusive, cost-efficient, safe, and accessible transport system for the benefit of the people of Scotland. We oversee:
- The operation and improvement of the trunk road, ferry, canal, and railway networks in Scotland
- Highlands and Islands and Prestwick airports
- The provision of rail and ferry services
- Enabling local authorities, operators and delivery partners to deliver sustainable, accessible bus services
- The promotion of walking, cycling and wheeling
- The decarbonisation of Scotland’s transport system
- Securing air routes for Scotland
- National concessionary travel schemes
- The provision of network traffic and travel information services.
The Scottish Trunk Road Network
Within Transport Scotland, Roads Directorate is responsible for the Trunk Road Network, a fundamental part of the transport system in Scotland, which supports the Scottish Government’s Purpose to create a more successful country, with opportunities for all to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.
The Trunk Road Network is comprised of route corridors that are of strategic importance to the economic stability and growth and social wellbeing of Scotland. The Trunk Road Network is vital because it connects our cities, rural communities and the ports that serve the islands.
For the Trunk Road Network to fulfil its potential, it is vital that it is effectively maintained and efficiently managed. This includes not just carriageways and footways, but also bridges, lighting, traffic signs, drainage networks and much else besides. The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland are committed to ensuring the Trunk Road Network is maintained in a manner that supports its vision, aims and objectives.
Our Customer Interactions
We, together with our partners (organisations who work with us and on our behalf) interact with our customers for the following purposes:
To inform
- Providing information on our Network, what we are doing and why we are doing it.
To consult
- Hearing our customers’ views on particular issues or schemes.
To help
- Providing education on using our Network safely and effectively.
To respond
- Addressing specific customer questions and queries.
Our customers may choose to contact us for the following reasons:
To understand
- Finding out about the Network and/or the work we do.
To report
- Providing information to us related to the network.
To feedback
- Raising complaints or providing compliments.
Our customers may interact with us directly or through the Operating Companies (OC) that work on our behalf through agreed contracts to maintain and support the Trunk Road Network. They work towards the same strategic vision and the same requirement for consistent and high-quality customer care. The OCs are split by geographic location as can be seen on our Network map.
We use a variety of means to interact with customers, with some common methods including websites, social media, and radio. Our OCs may communicate with customers using methods such as community groups, signage on the road network or getting in touch with the customer directly. Our customers may use telephone, email or online systems depending on their own preferences.
The Customer Care Strategy
Providing the best service possible to our customers is at the heart of Transport Scotland, and everyone who delivers our services plays a part. This strategy brings together all our existing good work and improvements where necessary, ensuring this is embedded throughout everything we do in the future.
What does customer care mean to us?
Customer care is at the heart of our service and is one of our seven asset management objectives for the Trunk Road Network. These objectives reflect our business responsibilities and activities and align with our priorities and that of the Scottish Government.
For customer care, our aligned objective is to provide customers with up-to-date reliable travel information and support the level of satisfaction in trunk road services.
Customer care involves developing the correct approach to understanding and engaging with our customers, thereby allowing us to provide a service that fully meets their needs and delivers a 'customer-centric' approach to customer engagement.
By measuring our performance against asset management objectives, we can demonstrate how we achieve these priorities.
Purpose of this strategy
Through this strategy, Roads Directorate, being responsible for operating and maintaining the Network, sets out the vision and principles for how we will deliver the best customer care possible, stating our aspirations for the future of customer care across the Network and how we will achieve this. With a clear, strong commitment from our senior leaders, we will work with a range of our staff and with our partners to identify the actions required to deliver this vision, continually challenging ourselves to improve, taking practical steps to do so and measuring our success.
We recognise that every individual has a responsibility to deliver the vision outlined in this strategy. This means that each member of staff will tailor customer care to align with their role and we will help them to do this.
The information below explains how this customer care strategy aligns with our asset management objectives and our overall vision.
Transport Scotland Vision
Our Corporate Plan sets out how we will support delivery of:
- Our national transport priorities.
- Scottish Government priorities.
Trunk Road Network Asset Management Objectives
- Our objectives reflecting our business responsibilities and priorities to achieve our Vision.
- Our Asset Management Strategy sets out what we need to do to deliver these.
Trunk Road Network Customer Care
- This Strategy sets out our aspirations for the future of customer care and how we will achieve this.