_20250509_Transport Minister Letter - A1 Litter Responsibilities
Argyll and Bute Council · 11 September 2025
Back to Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee — 11 September 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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John Muir House Haddington East Lothian EH41 3HA Tel 01620 827827 eastlothian.gov.uk Our Ref: LR/EH/090525 9 May 2025 Ms F Hyslop MSP Cabinet Secretary for Transport The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh Via email: Fiona.Hyslop.msp@parliament.scot Dear Ms Hyslop Re: A1 Road Network – Litter Management Responsibilities Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990: Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (CoPLAR), the Council understands its duty to ensure land under our control is kept clear of litter and ensure public roads, for which the Council are responsible, are kept clean, so far as is practicable. At East Lothian Council on 29th April 2025, a report regarding Litter Management Responsibilities on the A1 Road Network was considered and available here - A1 Road Network - Litter Management Responsibilities. The majority of the A1 in East Lothian has been delivered under special orders with Scottish Ministers (and their appointed contractor currently BEAR Scotland) responsible under the Act. There are two sections not part of the special roads order: a. From the border with Edinburgh Council to Old Craighall. b. From Thistly Cross to the border with Scottish Borders Council. The Council has maintenance responsibility of section a. above as Roads Authority. Section b. is not held in Council ownership and there is no responsibility for roads maintenance, repairs or grass cutting which is undertaken by BEAR Scotland. This section has therefore not been zoned by the Council; however, the Council undertakes litter management by default as it has not been included in the special order contract. Council resource relating to cleansing and litter management is contained within the Amenity Services, Environmental Health and Community Protection budgets. There is no specific allocation of budget explicitly for litter prevention strategies and the Council will determine priority of spend from within available resource on a case-by- case basis. Litter is not caused by the Council but by the behaviour of individuals. This contributes towards the pressures on local services.
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As a local authority experiencing significant housing and population growth set in National Planning Frameworks, the demand for our Services continue to grow. This is expected to impact our future capacity required to adhere to the standards identified based on the range of priorities and areas requiring attention under the act. We prioritise areas based on the factors identified in the act with a focus on population centres of high footfall. The provision of additional local resource is extremely challenging within the current backdrop of public sector finance, and it is therefore likely that any future expenditure on litter prevention and clearance will be required to be managed within existing resource. The Council is part of an A1 Litter Coordination Group organised in conjunction with BEAR Scotland, Transport Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Borders Council. We have worked in collaboration to undertake litter picks of section b. (above) in March 2023, April 2024 and April 2025. The Council has a regularly reviewed risk assessment for litter picking and a Safe Operating Procedure (SOP) for this task on the A1. Bins are strategically located in laybys and cleared daily by Council staff. Litter picking verges adjacent to the A1 carriageway carries a higher risk to staff than other areas due to the proximity to and speed of traffic. Measures including lane closures have been identified as required mitigations under the Council SOP. Transport Scotland have funded lane closures solely for the purpose of litter management to allow the Council’s safe operating procedure to be adhered to. BEAR Scotland undertake litter management on the rest of the A1 between Old Craighall and Thistly Cross. The BEAR risk assessment allows the specialist road contractor to undertake litter picking on other sections without the need for a lane closure or in conjunction with other cyclical maintenance and planned closures for other purposes. At Council on 29th April, it was agreed to write requesting a review of responsibilities for the full section of the A1. We would welcome a move towards consistency with areas part of the special roads order and the transfer of litter management to the specialist road contractor BEAR. This would allow the Council to focus resources on population centres, local road network and area of ownership and responsibility. Under the current arrangements, having different operators on the trunk road presents logistical and practical challenges. A Review may wish to consider whether the current model and responsibilities creates a higher combined cost across public sector agencies and best use of resources. Sections of the A1, and other trunk roads sit within Scottish Local Authority boundaries. A review may consider a consistent approach across all trunk roads. I have therefore copied this letter to other Local Authority Chief Executives and COSLA who may wish to consider their local context and provide additional information regarding this subject.
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I trust that the information contained within this letter helps provide the context. We are happy to engage in further dialogue with partners to consider this matter and look forward to your response. Yours sincerely Laurence Rockey Chief Executive c.c Councillor Norman Hampshire, Council Leader Paul McLennan, MSP Colin Beattie, MSP Martin Whitfield, MSP Craig Hoy, MSP Chief Executives – Scottish Local Authorities Chief Executive - COSLA Chief Executive – Transport Scotland