:00:00. > :00:09.Will converts, talking to the man who brought the art
:00:10. > :00:16.with the First Minister facing a claim that lives could be put
:00:17. > :00:20.at risk, because of delays in creating four new specialist
:00:21. > :00:24.trauma centres at hospitals across Scotland.
:00:25. > :00:26.Nicola Sturgeon says it's correct to take time
:00:27. > :00:32.Here's our political editor Brian Taylor.
:00:33. > :00:37.Here is the First Minister touring one in Dundee.
:00:38. > :00:43.They deal with casualties from major incidents.
:00:44. > :00:46.Plans to upgrade and integrate them were due
:00:47. > :00:56.Communities have been expecting these centres for two
:00:57. > :00:56.years and are now told to wait at least another three.
:00:57. > :01:02.I think they deserve a fuller explanation.
:01:03. > :01:02.Labour spotlighted Aberdeen and said an
:01:03. > :01:04.enhanced trauma centre there was vital to cope
:01:05. > :01:09.with emergencies that might arise in the North Sea.
:01:10. > :01:11.The life-saving medics told me what they're
:01:12. > :01:15.telling the Government, more delays will cost lives.
:01:16. > :01:16.The First Minister said initial plans had been
:01:17. > :01:32.But they decided to stick with four centres.
:01:33. > :01:35.We are not talking about creating from scratch four new
:01:36. > :01:37.facilities that currently don't exist.
:01:38. > :01:40.These four hospitals in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and
:01:41. > :01:46.Edinburgh already provide excellent trauma care.
:01:47. > :01:53.continuing to enhance what they do and to join up the services they
:01:54. > :01:57.provide with the services that other hospitals provide and with the
:01:58. > :02:09.service the ambulance service provides in an integrated network.
:02:10. > :02:09.These were robust exchanges, reflecting the emotive nature of the
:02:10. > :02:18.The opposition said a promise has been broken.
:02:19. > :02:20.But Nicola Sturgeon said that a plan had been
:02:21. > :02:23.sensibly restructured in the light of advice
:02:24. > :02:33.Snow and ice have caused disruption on Scotland's
:02:34. > :02:37.roads today with a spate of accidents and delays.
:02:38. > :02:44.Winter in Scotland - a season with many different faces.
:02:45. > :02:46.The picturesque, capable of turning into
:02:47. > :02:54.On the M74 this morning the conditions brought
:02:55. > :03:08.Across the country the snow has been patchy.
:03:09. > :03:12.But where it's fallen it has caused problems.
:03:13. > :03:15.Here just outside Dunblane you see the kind of
:03:16. > :03:18.problems that drivers have been seeing.
:03:19. > :03:24.It took six hours to free this delivery van.
:03:25. > :03:28.And Sir Chris Hoy was rescued by a gritter after his car spun off
:03:29. > :03:35.But the general picture for those monitoring major roads was
:03:36. > :03:42.We have had to deal with a number of incidents,
:03:43. > :03:48.some closed roads, we have had to deploy our gritters
:03:49. > :03:51.in fact we had 241 gritters out last night and we dealt with temperatures
:03:52. > :04:01.As those gritters were being put to work, the impact
:04:02. > :04:05.In the Highlands and Dumfries and Galloway
:04:06. > :04:13.Some ferry services to the islands were cancelled.
:04:14. > :04:16.Rough seas hinting at what lies ahead for some - strong
:04:17. > :04:18.winds, snow and ice all feature in a series
:04:19. > :04:21.of weather warnings that last until tomorrow evening.
:04:22. > :04:23.Staying mindful of what a Scottish winter is
:04:24. > :04:33.More than 500 jobs are to go at Kwik Fit Insurance Services
:04:34. > :04:35.in North Lanarkshire, after attempts to find
:04:36. > :04:41.Staff at the Uddingston contact centre were told it
:04:42. > :04:46.Owner Ageas said it had suffered the consequences of a change
:04:47. > :04:51.Ageas will now focus on finding alternative work for the 521 staff
:04:52. > :04:57.Yesterday's incident, which saw a lorry blown over
:04:58. > :05:00.on the Forth Road Bridge and the ensuing travel disruption,
:05:01. > :05:01.has raised questions about whether lorry drivers
:05:02. > :05:06.ignore warnings because of pressure to meet deadlines.
:05:07. > :05:08.As John McManus reports that's the claim of one driver who's been
:05:09. > :05:15.It was different on Wednesday, when the
:05:16. > :05:18.Forth Road Bridge was closed because of this accident.
:05:19. > :05:23.But it is not the first time high-sided vehicles have been
:05:24. > :05:32.This driver who was caught up in yesterday's delays says
:05:33. > :05:36.industry colleagues are under pressure.
:05:37. > :05:42.Our customer pays for the transport and they say to the
:05:43. > :05:44.company, if the load isn't there by the time
:05:45. > :05:46.that we stipulate, then you will be fined.
:05:47. > :05:53.IE, money will be taken off of our agreed price.
:05:54. > :05:59.That, they project that pressure on to the driver.
:06:00. > :06:02.There are no official figures on how many HGV ignore high
:06:03. > :06:09.But the police were sufficiently concerned about the
:06:10. > :06:11.dangers to lorries that it launched a campaign in October.
:06:12. > :06:13.The company running the Forth Road Bridge said
:06:14. > :06:15.it passes details of incidents to the police,
:06:16. > :06:28.It only takes one HGV to bring the bridge to a closure and the
:06:29. > :06:30.consequences of that we saw yesterday.
:06:31. > :06:32.And it was reliant on the drivers following the signage.
:06:33. > :06:35.Otherwise one HGV can close the bridge.
:06:36. > :06:41.This industry body posts advice on driving.
:06:42. > :06:44.Drivers are not under pressure from operators to
:06:45. > :06:49.ignore road traffic signs and any safety advice.
:06:50. > :06:52.Across Scotland, high-sided vehicles and high winds
:06:53. > :07:05.The punctiality and reliability of train services in Scotland have
:07:06. > :07:09.improved over the last month according to figures
:07:10. > :07:13.But although it's the third period in a row that the company has
:07:14. > :07:16.reported an improvement it's still operating below the target set
:07:17. > :07:24.The timely arrival of a train during a snow flurry in Glasgow today.
:07:25. > :07:26.The punctuality of services got better,
:07:27. > :07:29.but they're still below the targets set by the Government.
:07:30. > :07:33.We are not at the level we want to be at.
:07:34. > :07:36.What we are busy with is a rolling programme
:07:37. > :07:41.that will continuously improve punctuality.
:07:42. > :07:43.In the last month almost 90% of services ran within
:07:44. > :07:51.Which ScotRail say is proof they're heading in the right direction.
:07:52. > :08:00.You can get to where you want to go easily.
:08:01. > :08:04.When there has been delays, there is replacement buses
:08:05. > :08:07.and I can't say we have been stuck anywhere.
:08:08. > :08:10.We could probably do with having slightly nicer trains I would
:08:11. > :08:15.Some new trains are promised from September.
:08:16. > :08:17.But issues like the signalling fault at Haymarket
:08:18. > :08:22.yesterday will continue to put a dent in the figures.
:08:23. > :08:25.Milngavie station - one of many stations where
:08:26. > :08:29.services were disrupted throughout the Central belt.
:08:30. > :08:32.This is a busy commuter line and one traveller said
:08:33. > :08:42.It used to be that the service was generally very reliable.
:08:43. > :08:44.And now every week I often get a taxi home
:08:45. > :08:51.from work if the trains are significantly delayed.
:08:52. > :08:54.Events on the network can affect services anywhere
:08:55. > :08:58.and that is what you get when you have a network as busy as ours.
:08:59. > :09:02.So we have a total focus to minimise the effect
:09:03. > :09:09.of signalling failures or rolling stock failures.
:09:10. > :09:13.Last week's disruption at Airdrie as a child's
:09:14. > :09:17.scooter was thrown onto overhead lines.
:09:18. > :09:19.ScotRail says things will continue to improve.
:09:20. > :09:30.Their challenge is to convince their customers of that.
:09:31. > :09:32.An agreement has been reached to ensure that foreign workers
:09:33. > :09:34.on freight boats serving Orkney and Shetland are paid
:09:35. > :09:46.This cargo boat waits for a weather window to sail to Aberdeen.
:09:47. > :09:49.But there is good news for the crew on board.
:09:50. > :09:51.An agreement has been reached to ensure
:09:52. > :09:56.all the seafarers are paid at least the minimum wage.
:09:57. > :10:00.And a new charter arrangement will see the operators
:10:01. > :10:05.of the Lifeline ferry contract take over the running of cargo vessels.
:10:06. > :10:12.The crew were being paid less than the minimum wage.
:10:13. > :10:16.As soon I became aware of the situation, we
:10:17. > :10:20.now have agreement in place to pay at least the minimum wage.
:10:21. > :10:22.The RMT union has launched a high-profile
:10:23. > :10:32.They called on the Scottish Government to intervene.
:10:33. > :10:34.They held a protest at the quayside in Aberdeen and marched
:10:35. > :10:44.If you had let us know were coming today, we
:10:45. > :10:49.could have done our homework and found out exactly what the issue is.
:10:50. > :10:58.However, it is a Scottish Government contract
:10:59. > :11:01.and RMT remain absolutely convinced and certain
:11:02. > :11:11.that the rates of pay that are collectively bargained by this
:11:12. > :11:18.The new contract comes into force next month.
:11:19. > :11:23.Time now for the weather outlook for tonight and tomorrow.
:11:24. > :11:33.on. It is a cold and icy night for some.
:11:34. > :11:46.I hear low warning is enforced. As that rain moves south, it will turn
:11:47. > :11:52.to snow. Over the north, this is the next few hours if you are driving,
:11:53. > :11:57.atrocious conditions on some of the roads with blisters likely and is
:11:58. > :12:05.now being blown around by severe gales. Very wintry indeed. --
:12:06. > :12:12.blizzards. Creating quickly tomorrow but in this week still some snow
:12:13. > :12:16.showers and windy conditions, especially on the coast. For many it
:12:17. > :12:22.is a cold and icy start. Temperatures around one or two
:12:23. > :12:27.Celsius. Further north, a sprinkling of snow showers across the
:12:28. > :12:32.north-east and north-west. Very windy indeed, especially around the
:12:33. > :12:39.coast. Those big waves are likely to crash over at times, potentially
:12:40. > :12:45.dangerous at the coast. For most, a bright, sunny and crisp day but icy
:12:46. > :12:51.in places and quite chilly despite the wind is dying down. South of the
:12:52. > :12:58.border, a wintry start but largely dry. It will be chilly with those
:12:59. > :13:03.north, north-west wind is -- wins. Snow showers for parts of Northern
:13:04. > :13:07.Ireland and the north-west of Scotland. Temperatures are around
:13:08. > :13:14.three Celsius but I don the wind-chill. Snow showers drifts off
:13:15. > :13:18.into parts of your shirt and Dumfries and Galloway and the East.
:13:19. > :13:24.Another cold day on Saturday. Some sunshine and perhaps a few showers.
:13:25. > :13:30.Turning milder by Sunday. That's Reporting Scotland. From everyone on
:13:31. > :13:31.the late team, good