Final phase of £150 million Cross Tay Link Road project delayed
Scheduled works on two Perth city centre bridges have been pushed back by a year each.
The works form part of the final phase of the £150 million Cross Tay Link Road project.
A Perth City Centre councillor has raised concern that the Perth City Centre Improvements phase is not forgotten.
A brief reference was made to the delays in an update on PKC's six-year composite capital budget for 2024-2030 put before the Finance and Resources Committee on Wednesday, April 30.
At Wednesday's meeting, Perth City Centre councillor Peter Barrett asked what the renewed timeline would be for the planned works on both the Old Perth Bridge (also known as Smeaton's Bridge) and Queen's Bridge.
PKC's strategic lead for Environment and Infrastructure Fraser Crofts explained: "We've had some further staff turnover within the team unfortunately."
"In terms of delivery of those two schemes, it's been pushed back by one year each."
Building work on the Old Perth Bridge has been postponed until 2026/27 and Queen's Bridge until 2027/28.
Mr Crofts assured councillors there were "ongoing inspections" of both bridges in terms of safety.
Cllr Peter Barrett asked that this final phase "doesn't get forgotten about".
The Liberal Democrat councillor said: "Obviously, we have all been really pleased to see the completion of the Cross Tay Link Road and the reduction in traffic that that has created in the Scone Main Street, Old Perth Bridge, Atholl St corridor which is really welcome in terms of road safety for residents and amenity for shoppers.
"But I am concerned the final phase of Transport Futures' Cross Tay Link Road (CTLR) project doesn't get forgotten about. And are the staff shortages going to have an impact on delivering the environmental and road safety improvements in the Scone Main Street, Old Perth Bridge, Atholl St corridor area?"
Councillors were told the rollout of national initiatives, as well as staffing issues, had impacted the planned works taking place.
Mr Crofts said: "In terms of the majority of the work we agreed to undertake on the back of the CTLR that has been carried out. We continue to work through the programme as we go forward.
"Members will be aware of some other national initiatives that have come our way, not least the pavement parking ban and the 20mph rollout as well.
"But we will work and prioritise, within the resources that we have, to deliver on all fronts. To the best of my knowledge, we are pretty much back to capacity now across the Traffic and Network team."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
15 hours ago
- Daily Record
Perth and Kinross Council spent £3 million on consultants over the past three years
A Perth and Kinross councillor believes the rising spend on outsourcing work is an "inevitable consequence" of cuts to the local authority's budget Perth and Kinross Council has spent around £3 million - possibly more - employing the use of consultants over the past three years. Between 2022 and 2025 the local authority awarded 31 contracts for consultants often due to a lack of resources or in-house specialist knowledge. The contracts range from £594,300 (exc VAT) for its Perth People Place and Perth Transport Futures programme - which includes the Cross Tay Link Road project - to £5625 (exc VAT) on VAT advice for Perth's new leisure facility PH2O. Most of the figures are publicly available on the government's Public Contracts Scotland website and exclude VAT. However there were no financial figures published for four of the 31 contracts awarded to consultants by PKC between 2022 and 2025. PKC has suggested this may be due to the information being "commercially sensitive". Explanations as to why consultants were paid to do a job rather than council employees was provided by Perth and Kinross Council in response to a Freedom of Information request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. In many cases it was blamed on a lack of council resources. A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: "Payments for individual consultants vary depending on the length and nature of the work involved. "In some cases, costs may not be published if they were commercially sensitive; for example if supplier rates could be worked out from the value of the contract." In many cases - such as the review of the council's arm's-length external organisations (ALEOs) - PKC said contracting out the work saved the local authority money. A PKC spokesperson said: "We have saved money by going direct to a consultancy for the options appraisal exercise they have undertaken as this was carried out over a much shorter time period than the temporary post and at a lesser cost." Vice-convener of Perth and Kinross Council's Scrutiny and Performance Committee Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey believes the mounting figures are the "inevitable consequence of the years of real-terms cuts we've seen to council budgets". Bailie Bailey said: "This is something that I'll take time to dig into the detail of in order to find and question any cases where spends look excessive. I'd like to thank the Perthshire Advertiser for getting this information into the public domain. "The headline figures are concerning but - to put this into perspective - the use of consultants sometimes allows the council to do more without having to employ full-time permanent staff. These numbers are therefore an inevitable consequence of the years of real-terms cuts we've seen to council budgets. Gone are the days when a council the size of Perth and Kinross can justify having all the specialists in the building all of the time." The amount of taxpayers' money spent on consultant fees to provide services to Perth and Kinross Council has risen over the course of the the three years. In 2022/23 the total cost was £721, 573. It rose to £779,553 in 2023/25 before soaring to £935,210 in 2024/25. All costs indicated on the Public Contracts Scotland website exclude VAT. Costs not listed include two contracts awarded in 2023 and 2024 for a Development Control Works Package. Explaining the need for a consultant to provide the package, a PKC spokesperson said: "As part of the Flooding Teams duties, we provide non-statutory consultation to all proposed development applications across Perth and Kinross. While we endeavour to appraise these in-house, during times of increased workload or flooding events where resources are stretched it is not possible to maintain the service and therefore, we require to utilise the support of an external consultant to ensure a continuation of the planning response. The consultant is also occasionally tasked with undertaking design work or focussing on larger, more complex planning applications which may be out with the skill set currently within the Flooding team."
STV News
a day ago
- STV News
Survey to determine if Edinburgh has too many private hire drivers
A survey to determine whether there are too many private hire cars in Edinburgh has been approved by Edinburgh councillors. It comes after a group of taxi drivers in the capital handed over a petition to city councillors last month, asking for a review to be carried out. The drivers had also asked for a pause to be placed on issuing new private hire licences while the survey was carried out. But at Friday's meeting of the Regulatory Committee, councillors did not back a Green group amendment that would have called for that. According to council regulatory services head Andrew Mitchell, tendering for a survey would take about 12 weeks, and data collection would take place in the first half of 2026. In a deputation to the committee, city taxi driver Keith Auld told councillors: 'We believe every passenger deserves a professional journey. But we are undergoing unsustainable pressure. 'This is not healthy competition, it is over-saturation. And it is already having real consequences. We need fair, sustainable and regulated competition.' Mr Auld and other city black cab drivers say that private hire drivers, many of whom carry out work for apps like Uber and Bolt, end up undercutting their trade. According to them, this comes down to the lower cost to buy and run a hire car, with the vehicles allowed for use as taxis being very expensive and requiring public hire insurance. In addition, fares for black cabs are set by the council, while Uber, Bolt and other private hire providers have no minimum charge. They also argued in their petition that due to the low incomes drivers get from those rideshare services, many of them work for dangerously long hours. Officers said that 2,982 private hire cars were presently operating in the capital, while 1,090 taxis were also running. Mr Auld said that three new private hire cars were being added in the city every day, and that the number would reach 4,000 'in no time'. After the survey is returned to councillors next year, they may consider putting a cap on the number of private hire cars allowed in the city. In the meeting, councillors were supportive of the idea of a survey, but the committee stopped short of supporting the temporary freeze on licence grants. Green councillor Susan Rae put forward an amendment that would have called for this, but Mr Mitchell said that if the committee voted for it, the law could be broken. He said: 'There is no legal power to issue a moratorium. There would be no basis in law to refuse to consider an application on the basis of overprovision [without evidence]. 'In my view, an immediate moratorium is not something that would be competent.' Liberal Democrat councillor and committee convener Neil Ross endorsed his group's motion, which called for a survey to be conducted. He said: 'It would be helpful if we had a workshop for committee members to discuss other issues and elements of concern around the current numbers of private hire vehicles. 'I would be grateful if that were factored in. I'm proposing that we proceed with the consultation and overprovision survey. 'I'm also proposing that officers are alert to concerns raised by all members of the trade who have issues around long working hours. 'I think this is a sensible way forward, it follows the guidance that we have been given by the Scottish Government, it is a legally robust way of approaching the question.' Labour councillor Margaret Graham put forward an amendment for the city's administration, which asked that any survey look at the number of private hire cars parked in city streets. Conservative councillor Joanna Mowat said: 'I'm probably alone in this committee in having very great nervousness about interfering in the market. 'There is an element with any cap that is introduced with numbers, the danger of creating protected markets. 'I'm uncomfortable with that, from a political point of view, my natural mean is to be uncomfortable with protecting markets. 'I do think the terms of the petition that has been brought here today, about the public safety element, is something that means we should probably consider this. 'I don't for one minute think this is going to produce the information that everyone else seems to think this is going to produce. 'But we're not going to know that unless we carry out an overprovision survey.' The Labour group added the Green amendment to their addendum, and the Liberal Democrat group added a portion of the administration addendum to their amendment. Both positions were tied, and as convener, Cllr Ross made a tiebreaking vote that saw the Liberal Democrat position win out. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Sky News
3 days ago
- Sky News
House of Lords under fire for dropping rule that once caught out cricket legend and historian
Campaigners have criticised a change to the rules around declarations of interest in the House of Lords as a "retrograde step" which will lead to a "significant loss of transparency". Since 2000, peers have had to register a list of "non-financial interests" - which includes declaring unpaid but often important roles like being a director, trustee, or chair of a company, think tank or charity. But that requirement was dropped in April despite staff concerns. Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy, and a former Liberal Democrat MP, wants to see the decision reversed. "It's a retrograde step," he said. "I think we've got a significant loss of transparency and accountability and that is bad news for the public. "More than 25 years ago, the Committee on Standards in Public Life identified that there was a need for peers to register non-financial interests because that could influence their decisions. I'm confused as to what's happened in the last 25 years that now means this requirement can be scrapped. "This process seems to be all about making matters simpler for peers, rather than what the code of conduct is supposed to do, which is to boost the public's confidence." Westminster Accounts: Search for your MP Rules were too 'burdensome', say peers The change was part of an overhaul of the code of conduct which aimed to "shorten and clarify" the rules for peers. The House of Lords Conduct Committee argued that updating non-financial interests was "disproportionately burdensome" with "minor and inadvertent errors" causing "large numbers of complaints". As a result, the register of Lords interests shrunk in size from 432 pages to 275. MPs have a different code of conduct, which requires them to declare any formal unpaid positions or other non-financial interests which may be an influence. A source told Sky News there is real concern among some Lords' staff about the implications of the change. Non-financial interest declarations have previously highlighted cases where a peer's involvement in a think tank or lobbying group overlapped with a paid role. 4:23 Cricket legend among peers to breach code There are also examples where a peer's non-financial interest declaration has prompted an investigation - revealing a financial interest which should have been declared instead. In 2023, Lord Skidelsky was found to have breached the code after registering his role as chair of a charity's trustees as a non-financial interest. The Commissioner for Standards investigated after questions were raised about the charity, the Centre for Global Studies. He concluded that the charity - which was funded by two Russian businessmen - only existed to support Lord Skidelsky's work, and had paid his staff's salaries for over 12 years. In 2021, Lord Botham - the England cricket legend - was found to have breached the code after registering a non-financial interest as an unpaid company director. The company's accounts subsequently revealed he and his wife had benefitted from a director's loan of nearly £200,000. It was considered a minor breach and he apologised. 'Follow the money' Lord Eric Pickles, the former chair of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, believes focusing on financial interests makes the register more transparent. "My view is always to follow the money. Everything else on a register is camouflage," he said. "Restricting the register to financial reward will give peers little wriggle room. I know this is counterintuitive, but the less there is on the register, the more scrutiny there will be on the crucial things." 'I was shocked' The SNP want the House of Lords to be scrapped, and has no peers of its own. Deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart MP is deeply concerned by the changes. "I was actually quite horrified and quite shocked," he said. "This is an institution that's got no democratic accountability, it's a job for life. If anything, members of the House of Lords should be regulated and judged by a higher standard than us in the House of Commons - and what's happened is exactly the opposite." Public confidence in the Lords is already at a low ebb after the PPE controversy surrounding Baroness Michelle Mone, who took a leave of absence in 2022. The government has pledged to reform the House of Lords and is currently trying to push through a bill abolishing the 92 remaining hereditary peers, which will return to the House of Commons in September. But just before recess the bill was amended in the Lords so that they can remain as members until retirement or death. It's a change which is unlikely to be supported by MPs. A spokesperson for the House of Lords said: "Maintaining public confidence in the House of Lords is a key objective of the code of conduct. To ensure that, the code includes rigorous rules requiring the registration and declaration of all relevant financial interests held by members of the House of Lords. "Public confidence relies, above all, on transparency over the financial interests that may influence members' conduct. This change helps ensure the rules regarding registration of interests are understandable, enforceable and focused on the key areas of public concern. "Members may still declare non-financial interests in debate, where they consider them directly relevant, to inform the House and wider public. "The Conduct Committee is appointed to review the code of conduct, and it will continue to keep all issues under review. During its review of the code of conduct, the committee considered written evidence from both Unlock Democracy and Transparency International UK, among others."
