A9 announcement plans shelved to allow input from new minister – Yousaf
A Government-initiated question – usually used to make an announcement – was tabled this week before being withdrawn.
Plans to make an announcement on the dualling of the A9 were shelved to allow input from Scotland’s new transport minister, Humza Yousaf has said.
On Monday, a Government-initiated question (GIQ) was tabled on the subject by SNP MSP Jim Fairlie.
GIQs are usually used to allow ministers to make an announcement on a specific subject.
But the question was later withdrawn, with the Scottish Conservatives claiming the announcement had been cancelled.
Between the question being tabled and subsequently shelved, Fiona Hyslop was appointed as transport minister following the resignation of Kevin Stewart on mental health grounds, and Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan’s remit was expanded to include more oversight of the portfolio.
During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said: “If (Douglas Ross) was here in this chamber, he would have seen that of course we have a new transport team in place.
“It is only right, of course, that I have asked that transport team to look at the detail of the dualling of the A9.”
It is not clear what the Government planned to announce, if anything, in relation to the road when the GIQ was first tabled.
An announcement is now expected in the autumn.
Meanwhile, the First Minister reiterated his promise to complete the long-awaited dualling project, which brought campaigner Laura Hansler to the Scottish Parliament this week to testify.
Mr Yousaf said: “We are, I am, this Government is absolutely committed to dualling the A9.”
But he stressed the need for responsible use of taxpayer money, an issue which caused further delay to the project when then transport minister Jenny Gilruth announced just one tender offer had been made for the Tomatin to Moy stretch of the road and it did not represent value for money.
Mr Yousaf said the Government has invested in road safety improvements on the A9.
But Tory leader Mr Ross responded: “That was perhaps one of the most disappointing answers I’ve ever heard in this chamber.
“Last year, deaths on the A9 were at a 20-year high, the First Minister was trying to say that the investment and the upgrades that we have seen were a success, but in a decade, the SNP have upgraded 11 miles of that route.
“Just over a mile a year, while too many families grieve the loss of a loved one.”
