SNP “credibility on the line” amid fresh A9 dualling delay concerns

The Scottish Parliament’s first-ever full debate on the country’s largest infrastructure project – the A9 dualling programme – has heard of fears that more delays are expected despite government assurances.

The SNP originally promised to finish the £3.7 billion project this year – 18 years after first promising to dual the road between Inverness and Perth – before having to set a new deadline of 2035.

Transport Scotland’s response to the findings of the petitions committee inquiry into the project has now forced the Scottish Government to defend itself over a period of failure which has seen just 11 miles of dualling completed in 10 years, says the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald.

Petitions committee convener Jackson Carlaw’s motion for the debate called for a dedicated committee to “provide oversight and maintain momentum on scrutiny of long-running, multi-session infrastructure projects, such as the A9 dualling programme”.

‘Excessive secrecy’ from the government led by former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was one of the reasons given by the inquiry for allowing problems and therefore delays to mount, hence the call for more oversight. This also saw SNP veteran Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing,

question earlier this week whether Ms Sturgeon’s “heart was ever in the project” which he – and petitioner Laura Hansler – want speeded up to make the 110-mile stretch safer in a hope of reducing the chances of adding to the hundreds of fatalities on it so far.

And with the SNP keen to re-establish credibility and public trust in the run-up to next year’s Holyrood elections, politically the A9 has never been more important.

Opening the debate, Mr Carlaw underlined this point, saying: “What did become clear to the committee was that a lack of clarity over the availability of funding resulted not just in a failure to deliver this project on time but that the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland’s

unwillingness to be open and transparent about the challenges being faced has also damaged public trust in the government’s ability to deliver the dualling programme.

“The delays experienced are quite frankly unacceptable for those who live and work in the north of Scotland.”

He said the petitions committee was “slightly disappointed” by Transport Scotland’s response to its recommendations and added: “This was an opportunity to reflect, to reset, to reboot and to restore public confidence that we won’t have have a parliament of MSPs in 2035 having this [same] debate, having had another inquiry into why we still don’t have a completed A9.”

Over the last week, since Transport Scotland and transport secretary Fiona Hyslop released their response to the inquiry – including a rejection of the idea of a memorial for all those who have died on the road.