Remit
Issues related to freight have emerged in a number of areas of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s work and it is therefore holding an inquiry into freight transport in Scotland relevent to its remit.
In undertaking its inquiry, the Committee is looking to identify and understand some of the challenges facing the freight transport industry in Scotland. This includes domestic and international links as well as the interconnectivity of rail, road air and sea freight services and to identify key areas for development, improvement and change.
The Committee is interested in hearing your views on all aspects of freight transport relevant to its remit and details on how you can contribute to the inquiry are accessible below.
The Committees have produced a short video setting out the context behind their Inquiries and what views they would like to hear:
Evidence
Oral evidence
The first evidence session was held on 4 February 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from the British Ports Association, the Freight Transport Association, Rail Freight Group and the Road Haulage Association.
Official Report 4 February 2015
The second evidence session was held on 25 February 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from Aberdeen Harbour, Babcock International Group, Forth Ports and Montrose Port Authority.
Official Report 25 February 2015
The third evidence session was held on 4 March 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from Freightliner, the Malcolm Group and the Russell Group.
Official Report 4 March 2015
The fourth evidence session was held on 18 March 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight at Heriot-Watt University, Derek Halden Consultancy and Kühne Logistics University.
Official Report 18 March 2015
The fifth evidence session was held on 1 April 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from the Cooperative Group, DFDS Seaways and Unifeeder.
Official Report 1 April 2015
The sixth evidence session was held on 22 April 2015 and the Committee heard from representatives from Tactran, SEStran, HITRANS, Transform Scotland and Network Rail.
Official Report 22 April 2015
The seventh evidence session was held on 29 April 2015 and the Committee heard from the Minister for Transport and Islands and Scottish Government Officials.
Official Report 29 April 2015
Written evidence
The Committee issued a call for views on 27 November 2014 with a deadline of Friday 16 January 2015.
Read call for views
Read the news release
The Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee is also undertaking a separate but related Inquiry on ‘Internationalising Scottish businesses’. The remit of the inquiry is:
“To understand the challenges and opportunities faced by Scotland’s exporters and aspiring exporters, and to assess the extent to which Scottish and UK Government services effectively assist Scottish firms to achieve their full exporting potential”.
Read the written submissions received
As our Inquiries are looking at issues that are complimentary, you may also want to contribute evidence to the EET Committee. Please see its call for views which goes into more detail about how you can submit evidence.
Report
The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee published its Inquiry into Freight Transport in Scotland on 29 June 2015.
Read the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee's 6th Report, 2015 (Session 4): Inquiry into Freight Transport in Scotland.
Debate
The Debate on the inquiry took place in the Scottish Parliament on 10 September 2015. You can read the Official Report of the debate here:
Official Report 10 September 2015