Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has said the findings and conclusions highlighted in the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee report into the A9 Dualling Programme must be given “absolute priority” by the Scottish Government.
The Committee carried out an inquiry into the A9 Dualling Programme following a petition being submitted to Parliament by campaigner Laura Hansler.
There have been 52 fatalities on the road between 2011 and September 2022, the majority of which have occurred on single carriageway sections. During the course of the Committee’s inquiry (2023-2024), 11 people have lost their lives on the A9.
The SNP previously committed to dualling the A9 by 2025 from Inverness to Perth. However, the SNP Government has now set a new deadline to dual the A9 by 2035 but already there are concerns about potential delays with this new date.
Speaking after the debate in the Scottish Parliament earlier today, Rhoda Grant said “The inquiry undertaken by the Committee has been both meticulous and robust and I welcome its findings.
“The Scottish Government previously committed to dualling the road by 2025. We are now looking at 2035 but already there are concerns about potentials delays.
Ministers were heavily criticised during the debate for not having prioritised the route and for allowing the 2025 deadline to drift past.
There are also safety concerns on the A9 north of Inverness. The Scottish Government is focused on its failing commitment to dual up to Inverness from Perth however, safety concerns will continue to remain between Inverness and Scrabster. There are a concerning number of accidents north of Inverness too and they are just as important but overlooked.
Mrs Grant continued “The Committee report calls for clarity in key decision points for the rest of the A9 Dualling Programme including specific dates when funding requires to be available or released.
“It also recommends that a dedicated Parliamentary Committee should be established to provide oversight on major infrastructure projects like this. A Parliamentary Committee was established to oversee the Queensferry Crossing project in the central belt so the same level of priority should have been put in place here too but it wasn’t.
“The people of the Highlands, and the wider Islands, have been treated abysmally but more than that, families are grieving the deaths of their loved ones who have died on this road.
“The Scottish Government must now make this an absolute priority.”
A clip of Rhoda’s participation in the debate can be accessed via the following link:- Meeting of the Parliament, Continued from 16/01/2025
The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations are detailed below.
- The Scottish Government’s failure to reach agreement on programme funding significantly contributed to progress stalling as the programme was reaching the procurement and construction stages. In addition to the funding issue, an unwillingness from Transport Scotland to address industry concerns about the balance of risk in its design and build contracts also led to programme drift.
- The Committee believes this could have been avoided and challenges addressed more efficiently had there been an individual whose main or only focus was to progress the A9 dualling programme.
- A lack of open, external discussion of the challenges being faced in the delivery of the A9 dualling programme has negatively impacted public confidence in Transport Scotland and its ability to deliver major infrastructure projects within the timescales it says it will.
- The Committee would welcome clarification from the Cabinet Secretary on where exactly the A9 dualling programme sits within Transport Scotland’s priorities for capital funding, and what provisions, including staff resource, have been allocated to support delivery of the programme over the next decade.
- The Committee welcomes the commitment that Transport Scotland will provide six-monthly updates to both the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, and other interested Members of the Scottish Parliament on the progress of the A9 Dualling Programme.
- The Committee recommends that, in addition to the six-monthly updates to both the Net Zero, Energy and Transport (NZET) Committee, and other interested Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport also provides statements to Parliament at key milestones, aligned to the delivery plan published in December 2023.
- The Committee recommends a dedicated Parliamentary committee should be established to provide oversight on major infrastructure projects being pursued by the Scottish Government, specifically where the project is likely to run over multiple parliamentary sessions.
- The Committee remains concerned that funding will be available when it needs to be, and is unconvinced by the then Cabinet Secretary’s assurance there is a contingency to use capital funding to ensure the project is completed by 2035 should MIM be unsuitable. The Committee asks that the Scottish Government, in its response to this report, clearly sets out the key decision points for the rest of the A9 dualling programme. This should include details of key funding decisions, specifically dates when funding requires to be available or released.
- The Committee is concerned that there is already an anticipated delay to the completion of the Tomatin to Moy section, and seeks detail from the Scottish Government, in its response to this report, on the action being taken to prevent and mitigate against further delays to the A9 Dualling Programme.
- The Committee recommends that the Scottish Government consult on the proposal for a national memorial, by engaging with the petitioner and affected families on what kind of memorial they would like to see. This consultation should also explore possible locations for an appropriate memorial.
- The full report is available via link:- https://bprcdn.parliament.scot/published/CPPP/2024/11/1/8f65ceeb-cf08-4cd6-8450-58602b333637/CPPPS062024R02.pdf