Meeting of the Parliament 08 February 2023
I recognise the strength of interest from members, and particularly Mr Fraser, who raises the issue of the A9 with the cabinet secretary and me on a fairly regular basis, noting his own interest in his region. I recognise that other members from the area do likewise.
Fundamentally, the Government has faced a number of challenges in recent times. Murdo Fraser might have heard the Deputy First Minister giving a response to a question from a member on the Conservative benches earlier this afternoon in which he set out some of the recent financial challenges that the Government has faced. First, there is the impact of the pandemic, which cannot be understated, particularly in relation to the construction industry across the piece—not just in relation to road building. Secondly, there have been inflationary impacts in relation to Ukraine and, layered on top of that, impacts from Mr Fraser’s colleagues down south in relation to the mini budget. All of that needs to be considered in its totality. That is why the work that Transport Scotland is undertaking to assess the market implications and determine where we can make the best progress in the quickest and most efficient way is hugely important.
I recognise some of the challenges here, and that is why, this afternoon, I have written to members to reassure them about the approach that I intend to take, working with members such as Mr Fraser.
It is worth reflecting on the fact that we have made progress in recent times. As I mentioned, we have invested £431 million in delivering the dualling programme. Of course, we need to adhere to statutory processes in relation to roads building, and that takes time. As the responsible minister, I would like to be able to move more quickly on this, but I recognise that there are processes that we need to adhere to in relation to road building.
More generally, I am keen to come back to the Parliament later this year with an update. The Tomatin to Moy section of the A9 has been challenging in ways that I do not think that ministers expected. It has been quite an unusual situation, as we have had only one tender in this instance. Therefore, we are moving forward at pace on the retendering of that specific section, and I will come back to the Parliament later in the year to set out the timeline that the member has asked for.