The A85 Trunk Road (Oban) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) (No.5) Order 2024
The Scottish Ministers give notice that they have made the above Order under sections 2(1), 2(2), 4(1) and 16A of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, temporarily prohibiting traffic on that length of the A85 Tyndrum - Oban Trunk Road from its junction with Corran Esplanade, Oban in a generally north easterly direction to the junction with Dunollie Road, Oban then in a generally southwards direction along Dunollie Road and George Street, Oban to its junction with Queens Park Place, Oban, a distance of 750 metres or thereby.
The Order, which is required to facilitate the holding of the Oban Winter Parade 2024 and to enable members of the public to participate in this event, will be in operation from 15 November until 16 November 2024. It is anticipated that the restriction will be in place for approximately 30 minutes from 16:30hrs and will only have effect in relation to such part or parts of the length of road as is indicated by the appropriate traffic signs.
The Order does not apply to vehicles while being used in an emergency for fire service, ambulance, police or coastguard purposes or a vehicle being used for facilitating the holding of the relevant event.
Alternative Routes
An alternative route is not required.
For information about roadworks on motorways and trunk roads visit www.traffic.gov.scot
A member of the staff of the Scottish Ministers
Transport Scotland
George House
Glasgow
G1 2AD
Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)
Disclaimer
This document is a point in time assessment of the likely effects of The A85 Trunk Road (Oban) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) (No.5) Order 2024 on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people. This impact assessment should be read in conjunction with other impact assessments prepared for this proposal.
Scottish Government acknowledge the importance of monitoring and evaluating the impact of strategic decisions and legislation on children’s rights and wellbeing. Any information gathered during implementation of the legislation or strategic decision to which the impact assessment relates, will be used to inform future determinations of impact. Any new strategic decision or new legislation (including amending legislation) would be subject to a new CRWIA in line with the legislative requirements.
Introduction
- Brief Summary (Guidance Section 3.2, page 20).
[In accordance with section 17 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, this will either be:
- A bill that Scottish Ministers intend to introduce;
- A Scottish Statutory Instrument made by Scottish Ministers other than a commencement instrument; or;
- A decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children]
Type of proposal
(Please choose from either Bill, SSI or Decision of a strategic nature relating to the rights and wellbeing of children)
Applicable answer: SSI
Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.
Key Term Definitions:
- Prohibition – to officially and legally not allow something.
- Restriction – to officially and legally limit something.
- Authorise – to give official permission for something to happen, or to give someone official permission to do something
The proposal is an order with the title “The A85 Tyndrum - Oban Trunk Road (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) Order 2024”. This order allows part of the A85 trunk road to be closed for a period of time on 15th November 2024 when the type of traffic sign specified in the order is displayed (and see the schedule of the order for the specific length of road to be closed). This means that no person may use, or authorise the use of, any vehicle on that specific length of road during that period. The only exceptions are for emergency vehicles and vehicles involved in holding the event. The closure of this part of the A85 is to facilitate the safety of participants and viewers of the Oban Winter Festival.
Start date of proposal’s development: 16/10/2024
Start date of CRWIA process: 16/10/2024
- With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (Annex 1, deleted prior to publication), which aspects of the proposal are relevant to children’s rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 20-22).
[If there are no aspects of the proposed which are deemed relevant to the UNCRC requirements, please give a short explanation of that here] and contact the CRWIA team to discuss your response to this question.
During the closure of this section of road there will be no impact on children and young people’s ability to access school and/or childcare facilities, higher or further education institutions, hospitals, places used for recreational activity, and places of worship, as this is for a short period of time on a weekend. All local access routes around the closure will remain open. The closure is to maintain safety for the public parade. Access for all emergency services will be maintained at all times. The only aspect relevant to children and young people both directly and in-directly is the positive impact of protecting public safety by restricting use of this section of the road for a period of 30 minutes. Therefore, positively impacting article 6.
- Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal. (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 22-25).
[It might be that no aspects of the proposal are deemed relevant, and therefore, no evidence exists relevant to the assessment. If that is the case, questions 3, 4, 5 and 6 can be answered as n/a and question 7 can be answered as ‘no impact’].
From:
- existing research/reports/policy expertise
- consultation/feedback from stakeholders
- consultation/feedback directly from children and young people
Where consultation and engagement was carried out please tell us what you did (survey, focus groups etc) and a summary of what was said. If relevant include any key direct quotes.
Mapping routes show that while the following facilities have the potential to be impacted as they are close to the stretch of road affected by the order, there are no issues or restrictions to access them as a result of the temporary closure:
- St Johns Scottish Episcopal Cathedral
- St Columbus Cathedral
- Corran Esplanade Church
- Congregational Church
- Oban Youth Café
- Rainbow Childcare Oban
- 1st Argyll (Lorn) Scout Group
- Oban High School Air Cadets and Sea Cadets.
None of these facilities are directly accessed from within this section of road, all local access routes remain open, and pedestrians are still able to access all venues by foot. A short diversion around the closure is also available and the event is well publicised.
To ensure the safe running of this event, the specified parts of the A85 road is expected to be closed for around 30 minutes. Therefore, when reviewing all UNCRC requirements, the only article this order relates to is article 6, which is positively impacted by the closure of the stretch of road.
Statistics show a decrease in the number of road traffic incidents in recent years and while we know that this looks a much broader range of incidents than those cause what this order looks to impact alone, contributing to the reduction of road traffic incidents through this order and many like it will have a positive impact on children’s right to life, survival and development.
With UNICEF reporting in their child and adolescent road safety technical guidance that ‘road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged 5–19 years’ we look to reduce chances of this in Scotland by contributing to the improvement of road safety.
- Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed (Guidance Section 3.2, page 26).
Not Applicable
- Analysis of Evidence (Guidance Section 3.2, page 26).
Please explain what the evidence told you about the impact of the proposal on the rights and wellbeing of children and young people.
Mapping evidences showed that no facilities would have reduced access as a result of this order which allowed us to rule out impact to articles 14, 28 and 31.
The statistics and guidance mentioned above demonstrate the risk children and young people in particular face in relation to road safety. As this is an A road, not closing this road was identified to have potentially dangerous consequences and therefore has the potential to have an increased risk for children and young people. Therefore, the evidence allowed us to conclude the positive impact closing the road would have on article 6
- What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 26)
Not Applicable
Conclusion
- As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all UNCRC requirements, what is the potential overall impact of this proposal on children’s rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 26-27):
(Please choose from positive, negative, neutral or no impact, Please note you can have both a positive and negative impact on children’s rights.)
Children’s Rights (Annex 1)
Applicable answer(s): Positive
If you have answered no impact to question 7, please move onto question 10.
- If you have identified a positive impact on children’s rights, please describe below how the proposal will protect, respect, and fulfil children’s rights in Scotland. (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 27-28).
As this is an A road, not closing this road was identified to have potentially dangerous consequences and therefore has the potential to have an increased risk for children and young people. Therefore, there was the positive impact closing the road would have on article 6 was identified.
- If a negative impact has been identified please describe below. Is there a risk this could potentially amount to an incompatibility? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 28-29).
Please contact your SGLD Adviser to discuss any negative impacts and risk of potential incompatibilities.
Mapping routes show that access to the following facilities for children and young people or their families, carers, representatives etc., as a result of the closure, is not impacted:
- St Johns Scottish Episcopal Cathedral
- St Columbus Cathedral, Corran Esplanade Church
- Congregational Church
- Oban Youth Café
- Rainbow Childcare Oban
- 1st Argyll (Lorn) Scout Group
- Oban High School Air Cadets and Sea Cadets.
Therefore, while they were close to the stretch of road, further evidence gathering found no impact.
Mitigation Record
What options have been considered to modify the proposal in order to mitigate negative impact or potential incompatibility issues?
Please summarise mitigation actions taken below
Please copy and paste the following three headings for as many risks or negative impacts which you have identified and explained in questions 7 and 9.
Issue or risk Identified per article/ Optional Protocol
Not Applicable
Action Taken/ To Be Taken
Not Applicable
Date action to be taken or was taken
Not Applicable
- As a result of the evidence gathered and analysed against all wellbeing indicators, will the proposal contribute to the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland? (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 29-30).
(Please choose from yes, no or not applicable)
Applicable answer: Yes
If yes, please provide and explanation below:
Safe
As this is an A road, not closing this road was identified to have potentially dangerous consequences and therefore has the potential to have an increased risk for children and young people. Therefore, it is determined there would be a contribution to the safe wellbeing indicator.
- How will you communicate to children and young people the impact that the proposal will have on their rights? (Guidance Section 3.2, page 31)
Providing information to children and young people on how their rights are being or will be impacted helps to ensure that policy-development is transparent. Are you publishing a child-friendly or accessible CRWIA?
The CRWIA will be published and has been written in accessible language so as to allow for children and young people to understand its content and the potential impact (or no impact) on their rights.
Post Assessment Review and sign-off
- Planning for the review of impact on children’s rights and wellbeing (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 31).
As part of the decision-making process, plans for reviewing the impact on children’s rights and wellbeing need to be developed.
- How will the impact of the proposal on children’s rights and wellbeing be monitored?
- When will you review and update the CRWIA if required?
Due regard will be given as to the development of any new facilities surrounding the closure area which has the potential to impact children and young people, and this will be taken into consideration in future CRWIAs if this stretch of road is closed again..
- Sign off (Guidance Section 3.2, pages 31-32).
Policy Lead Signature & Date of Sign Off: 17/10/2024
Deputy Director Signature & Date of Sign Off:
Date CRWIA team first contacted:
Confirmation of engagement with SGLD: (please insert engagement date)
(Please save for your records but delete this line prior to publication so as not to breach rule 2.38 of the ministerial code)
Once signed off, please send to CRWIA@gov.scot and to comply with section 17 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 and please follow the publication guidelines within section 2.2 of the internal CRWIA and SoC guidance. Additionally, to comply with section 23 of the act, if the proposal is a bill or SSI, please complete the Statement of Compatibility, the template for which can be found on Saltire. Guidance on this is available in section 5 of the internal guidance document.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Compatibility Consideration and Narration of Statement of Compatibility
The Scottish Ministers have made the following statement regarding children’s rights.
“In accordance with section 23(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the Act), the Scottish Ministers certify that, in their view, The A85 Trunk Road (Oban) (Temporary Prohibition on Use of Road) (No. 5) Order 2024 is compatible with the UNCRC requirements as defined by section 1(2) of the Act.”