A panel of Scottish Ministers have agreed to review the process for applying for Freight Facilities Grants, after it was found that companies had just three days to declare an interest in the £2m fund.
During a lively debate at the Rail Freight Group’s 17th Annual Scottish Conference, held on 9 March, parliamentarians from each of the major Scottish Political Parties agreed that the current process needed reforming.
There were suggestions from delegates that the complicated application process was partly to blame for the lack of take-up from firms, which had in part led to them being initially scrapped from the Draft Budget.
Alison McInnes MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrat Party, said the rail freight industry needed “certainty to invest” and accused the Scottish Government of thinking “too short term on transport policy”.
She said: “Recent research has shown that without the Freight Facilities Grants the road maintenance budget would have been perhaps £2.4m per annum higher. The reductions in Mode Shift Revenue Support in particular is worrying and could bring about a negative modal shift. We could start to see people switching back to road. I believe FFGs send a positive message to business that Scotland wants a more sustainable approach to freight transport.”
There were concerns that there is a lack of overall strategy and long term objectives for transport in Scotland and that the freight grants applications process needed to be greatly simplified.
Cathy Peattie MSP, Scottish Labour Party added: “I would like to see grants become more flexible and easier to apply for. The idea that companies have two or three days to apply for something doesn’t make any sense. There needs to be time for people to put their plans together.
“This money was available but companies had to apply between the 22nd and 25th of February, and if you hadn’t declared an interest by then, then tough! That is a bit scary. I’m delighted that there is money available but you (companies) need time to properly look at what you really want.”
Patrick Harvie MSP, Scottish Green Party added: “Any grants scheme has to bring about a positive change that would not be happening otherwise.”
Direct Rail Services was one company that took a very active role in the campaign to get FFGs reinstated and Tom Curry, business development manager at Direct Rail Services, said that leading up to the decision to scrap the grants, the level of applications “could and should of been higher”.
He said: “Speaking to various interested parties, they found the process overly bureaucratic and that the level of awards over the past ten years had been going down and down.” He added that in the past grant awards were at 100% of total project cost, but then dropped and remained steady at around 75%. In recent years however, funding awards dropped to 40% of the project costs.
“Looking at it from the outside, the Grants scheme has not been successful in attracting the right amount of applications and awards,” he added.
Peattie went on to say: “There is nothing (government policy) linking up short and long-term issues. We need to achieve synergies around rail freight, shipping and planning. At the moment things are separate in terms of strategy and that needs to be looked at to move forwards.”
Rob Gibson MSP, Scottish National Party, concluded: “I am going to ask the Minister to respond to the Rail Freight Group and try and get some answers before the election.”
RFG is also now looking into the possibility of creating a Scottish All Party Parliamentary Rail Group to drive the debate forwards and act proactively.
