Scottish government 'committed to protecting Freight Facilities Grant'

Date: 2/6/2011

A scheme designed to encourage more haulage firms to make use of alternatives to congested roads in Scotland is something the country's government is keen to protect, it has been revealed.

The Freight Facilities Grant was an initiative that the Scottish parliament had wanted to cut before it was re-elected, but now ministers have announced a 'partial retrenchment' to these proposals.

According to the Freight Transport Association (FTA), this decision is to be welcomed, as it notes it has worked hard to ensure there is cross-party support for the scheme.

Chris MacRae, FTA's Head of Policy for Scotland, says: "The Transport Minister's support for encouraging more sustainable transport is welcome news at a time when the pressure is really on to improve environmental performance across the country."

He adds that the grant will help to relieve pressure on the road network and boost supply-chain efficiency if it is more widely adopted.

Recently, Lafarge Cement UK made use of the fund to invest in the necessary facilities to allow it to move goods by rail rather than using roads.

Next week (June 7th), the FTA will host the Logistics Carbon Reduction Conference in London, where Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, will appear to speak about what the freight sector can do to help the UK meets its emissions reduction targets.

Posted by Mary Treen