Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 16 January 2025
16 Jan 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
A9 Dualling Programme
I am not sure where the member’s comment that the statement would be brought forward into 2026 came from. That would be a matter for Parliament. I am very keen to move things forward, so I take responsibility for trying to bring the statement to Parliament in such a state that there can be proper accountability, which is required in relation to such a major decision.
I have been updating Parliament since December 2023 and I will continue to update it and local MSPs on progress. The design and development of the different sections will involve engagement with and input from local residents, businesses and communities. With the Tomatin to Moy construction work starting in earnest in the autumn, following preparatory works that have already started, there will be continuous dualling work until 2035. I reiterate that, as I said to Mr Ewing, there will most often be work on more than one site on the A9 at any given time. I trust that that will be recognised in members’ contributions today.
15:19In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-16085, in the name of Jackson Carlaw, on behalf of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committ...
Jackson Carlaw (Eastwood) (Con)
Con
One of the frustrations of opening a debate on behalf of the committee is that I cannot freewheel in my usual style; I have to adhere to a text, which is ver...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn) (SNP)
SNP
Does Jackson Carlaw agree that the committee looked at not only what went wrong but how to put things right in the future? In that respect, the evidence that...
Jackson Carlaw
Con
I hope to say more about that, and I am quite sure that Fergus Ewing will not miss the opportunity to do so himself. Like me, Fergus Ewing will have been sl...
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport (Fiona Hyslop)
SNP
I begin by thanking all who contributed to the committee’s work on this inquiry, which arose from its consideration of petition PE1992, which was lodged in 2...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
Will the cabinet secretary accept an intervention?
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I would like to move on. On Tuesday of this week, Transport Scotland published a report on its assessment of rescheduling and acceleration proposals for the...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
Will the cabinet secretary give way now?
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I will come to you shortly, Mr Ewing. The report published earlier this week shows that rescheduling and reversing the procurement sequence of the sixth and...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
The Tomatin to Moy section was announced by Michael Matheson in February 2021 but will not be completed until 2028, taking seven years from start to completi...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I remind members to always speak through the chair. Cabinet secretary, I can give you the time back for the intervention.
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There were a number of points in Fergus Ewing’s intervention. As he will know, because he has attended the briefings th...
Jackson Carlaw
Con
Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I was about to close, but, if I have time, I will take the intervention, Deputy Presiding Officer.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Please be brief, Mr Carlaw.
Jackson Carlaw
Con
I note the commitment to come forward with a statement following the consideration of matters at the end of this year. The commitment is to bring forward a s...
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I am not sure where the member’s comment that the statement would be brought forward into 2026 came from. That would be a matter for Parliament. I am very ke...
Maurice Golden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
As a member of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, I thank all those who have participated in the inquiry and those who have supported ...
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
I am already accountable to Parliament. I answer questions and I respond. I have given statements and will continue to do so. I report to the Net Zero, Energ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Interventions will need to be slightly briefer, although we have a bit of time in hand. I will give you the time back, Mr Golden.
Maurice Golden
Con
The cabinet secretary will be aware that I sat on the Parliamentary Bureau—
Fiona Hyslop
SNP
So did I.
Maurice Golden
Con
—and I am aware of the voting on that issue. The bureau is where the Scottish National Party could back the establishment of a specific committee or, as part...
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I thank the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for its thorough report. The committee not only took evidence on the petition but included a...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
I thank the committee for its scrutiny of the petition on dualling the A9, and I congratulate Laura Hansler on successfully getting her petition through the ...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I seek confirmation from Mark Ruskell and his party that they are signed up to the dualling of the A9, not just to safety improvements and roundabouts, which...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Speak through the chair. Mr Ruskell, I will give you the time back.
Mark Ruskell
Green
I thought that the debate was primarily about safety improvements, in which dualling has a role to play. However, as Mr Mountain will know, it is about much ...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
I welcome the committee’s debate and its final inquiry report, and I thank all those who were involved in making it a reality, including the petitioner. The ...
Emma Roddick (Highlands and Islands) (SNP)
SNP
You do not have to wander very far in Inverness or strike up many conversations there to find somebody who has a lot to say about the A9 dualling. I admit to...