Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2023
20 Dec 2023 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
A9 Dualling
I begin by acknowledging Murdo Fraser’s point about there having been a delay in my update. I had hoped to give this update some weeks ago, and I am always seeking to expedite progress in this regard. Unfortunately, the A9 dualling project is a complex project—indeed, it is 11 complex projects—but, as of today, it is a complex project with a comprehensive delivery plan. I hope that even Murdo Fraser can welcome that.
The critical theme in all the points that Murdo Fraser raised is about certainty regarding both the Tomatin to Moy section and the remainder of the programme. The plan that we have set out today has sought to foreground certainty of delivery. However, as I said in my statement, we have carefully balanced that with the other factors that we must consider: the need to minimise disruption, market capacity and, of course, affordability.
With all of that taken into account, the plan that we have published today provides the greatest certainty that I am able to provide, bearing in mind that this is a large project with significant complexities and interdependencies, all of which are susceptible to a variety of external factors, not least the financial volatility that we have become so accustomed to under Murdo Fraser’s Government.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a statement by Màiri McAllan on the A9 dualling programme. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement...
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition (Màiri McAllan)
SNP
Following the Deputy First Minister’s budget statement yesterday, I am pleased to have the chance to provide more detail on completing the dualling of the A9...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that were raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes, after which time we will ...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement, although we have been waiting for the update since February and here we are, on the second-...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I begin by acknowledging Murdo Fraser’s point about there having been a delay in my update. I had hoped to give this update some weeks ago, and I am always s...
Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
The SNP first committed to dual the A9 back in 2007. Today, 16 years on and excuse after excuse after excuse later, the cabinet secretary expects us to be ha...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
This Government has a proud history of delivering major projects. Interruption. There is a plethora of major projects, and I have absolute confidence—but, at...
John Swinney (Perthshire North) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the reaffirmation of the Government’s commitment to dual the A9, which builds on the successful completion of a range of capital projects—including...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I thank Mr Swinney for eloquently reeling off the plethora of major projects that the Government can be proud of having delivered. On the point about his l...
Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
Time and again, SNP ministers came to the chamber, appeared in front of committees or pledged in public that the A9 would be dualled in full between Invernes...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
Presiding Officer, I am not sure that that was parliamentary language, but that is entirely your decision to adjudicate on.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Cabinet secretary, please resume your seat. I heard what the member said and I noted carefully the way in which he phrased it. It is, of course, absolutely u...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
As I said, it is for you to adjudicate on. The member’s question centred on the inquiry that the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee is un...
Audrey Nicoll (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
Will the cabinet secretary say a bit more about the mutual investment model that she referred to in her statement? What does it entail and what are its advan...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
Yes, I am happy to say more about it. As I said in my statement, the mutual investment model is one that has been developed and used by the Welsh Government....
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
The announcement that one section will be dualled in the next four years is not going to pacify my constituents’ anger about the lack of progress. The Govern...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I hope that the member was listening to my response to Jamie Halcro Johnston, when I made it absolutely clear that it was not until 2022 that Transport Scotl...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn) (SNP)
SNP
On the way to the chamber this afternoon, and quite by chance, I bumped into an Invernessian who reminded me that he had lost friends on the A9. That was a s...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I thank Fergus Ewing for his question and for his determined campaigning on the matter since I have been in post and long before that. He mentioned in his op...
Beatrice Wishart (Shetland Islands) (LD)
LD
Yesterday, we heard of another serious crash on the A9 near Invergordon, and my thoughts are with those who were taken to Aberdeen royal infirmary after the ...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I echo to Beatrice Wishart what I said to Fergus Ewing and a number of others—I reassure her, in the first instance, that the certainty of delivery that she ...
Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (SNP)
SNP
I declare an interest in that I spend about 10 hours every week on the A9. The cabinet secretary may recall that, just a matter of weeks ago, the Tories said...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I understand entirely the sentiments that Kate Forbes expresses. My clear objective today is to set out that this is a new optimal delivery plan and that it ...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
In the dark days of winter, we now get the promised autumn statement on the A9—I suppose that it is better late than never, considering the time that we have...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I again point out to Edward Mountain the irony that, while his party was compiling what it calls research—and what I would call a little ridiculous—and press...
Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green)
Green
The cabinet secretary rightly highlighted safety on the A9 as the overriding priority. The Green group is behind the appropriate action that is needed to cut...
Màiri McAllan
SNP
I am grateful to Mark Ruskell for highlighting that, as far as the Government is concerned, the principal driver of the work is improving safety. As I mentio...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
That concludes the statement. I apologise to the few members whom I was unable to call.