Transport Scotland Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Funding: EIR release

Information requested

• A full list of projects by name, location, and lead partner/delivery authority that received awards from the £10 million of Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Funding for 2024/25 as announced on 8th October 2024.
• How the decision was reached to award funding to these projects.
• When these projects will have to spend the money by.
• Which projects were rejected or have not been awarded funding and why.
• Whether the rejected/unfunded projects were signposted to other funding opportunities.
• Whether Transport Scotland's delivery partners - such as Paths For All and Sustrans - were informed of these project awards - either by press release or email or verbal notification between Heads Of Programme or Transition Managers - before the announcement was made by the general public.
• Information on whether Transport Scotland have raised risks or concerns with programme leads and/or government ministers about the impact that delayed decision making on funding awards could have on ability to deliver to a high quality before the claim deadline.
• When Transport Scotland expect to be able to open applications for Tier 1 & 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Funding for financial year 2024-25, and how this application process is expected to play out.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Response to your request

1. I enclose the information you requested.

2. The answer to your questions are:

Q: A full list of projects by name, location, and lead partner/delivery authority that received awards from the £10 million of Tier 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Funding for 2024/25 as announced on 8th October 2024.
A: We had not yet made the awards and are currently finalising decisions before issuing grant award letters to successful applicants. However, we did confirm that the following three projects have confirmed that they will be able to deliver by the 31 March 2025: ‘Connecting Woodside’ St Georges Road/Charing Cross Active Travel in Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Glasgow City Council), Alva to Tillicoultry Safe Active Travel route in Clackmannanshire (Clackmannanshire Council) and Bell Street ‘Green Transport Hub’ - Active Travel Gateway Connections in Dundee (Dundee City Council).

Q: How the decision was reached to award funding to these projects.
A: The final decision for awards had not been reached, however applications were assessed by independent technical advisors to facilitate the decision making process. Active Travel Infrastructure Fund applications were assessed across the following sections:

Section 1 – Project Overview: This section provided an overview of information related to each project. Key project details were collated to understand the scope, funding requested, geographical location, total construction costs, proportion of funding sought, match funding source (where applicable), scheme length, project duration, and projected construction start and end dates. Additionally, projects were classified as being located in urban, rural, or island areas based on the Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification to ensure a fair and equitable spread of funding across Scotland.

Section 2 – Deliverability: Based on the evidence provided, this section assessed whether the project was deemed construction-ready, or set for construction to begin in FY 2024-25 if it was a multi-year project. The assessment considered applicants’ Bill of Quantities, Project Programme/Plan, Environmental Impact Assessment Report, Equalities Impact Assessment Report, Design Review submission (using the template in Appendix A of the Cycling by Design guidance), and any outstanding landowner issues.

Section 3 – Assessment Criteria: A qualitative assessment of each project was conducted against set criteria, with projects assigned a score. There were 10 assessment criteria in total. Each criterion was scored from 0 to 4, with 0 indicating the project did not contribute to the criterion and 4 indicating it provided a significant contribution. The criteria were based on mode shift; high quality (i.e., the project provides active travel infrastructure that is accessible, attractive, and easy to use for all, aligning with relevant design guidelines); integration; safety and security; access to employment; access to schools; access to other destinations; deprivation; community severance; and value for money.

Q: When these projects will have to spend the money by.
A: Any grant awards made will require to be spent by 31 March 2025.

Q: Which projects were rejected or have not been awarded funding and why.
A: The decision was not reached but discussions are ongoing with delivery partners who have applied for the fund.

Q: Whether the rejected/unfunded projects were signposted to other funding opportunities.
A: The decision was not yet reached but discussions are ongoing with delivery partners who have applied for the fund.

Q: Whether Transport Scotland's delivery partners - such as Paths For All and Sustrans - were informed of these project awards - either by press release or email or verbal notification between Heads Of Programme or Transition Managers - before the announcement was made by the general public.
A: A press release was issued the afternoon of Tuesday 08 October, after the announcement of the £10 million ATIF Tier 2 allocation at the Cycling Scotland conference. The press release highlighted three projects that will receive a grant offer letter in the coming weeks. The final decision on remaining project awards had not yet been made. We have no recorded information within the scope of your request of any verbal notification prior to the announcement.

Q: Information on whether Transport Scotland have raised risks or concerns with programme leads and/or government ministers about the impact that delayed decision making on funding awards could have on ability to deliver to a high quality before the claim deadline.
A: We do not hold any information on whether Transport Scotland have raised risks or concerns with programme leads and/or government ministers about the impact that delayed decision making on funding awards could have on ability to deliver to a high quality before the claim deadline.

Q: When Transport Scotland expect to be able to open applications for Tier 1 & 2 Active Travel Infrastructure Funding for financial year 2024-25, and how this application process is expected to play out.
A: The application process for Tier 2 2024-25 is now closed and applications are being reviewed before issuing grant awards to successful applicants. Tier 1 does not have an application process associated with it. Local Authorities are provided this funding directly through their General Capital Grant and have the flexibility to use it as they see fit to meet the active travel needs and priorities of people living and working in their communities.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.