Kincraig campaigner Laura Hansler’s A9 dualling petition upgraded to a formal Committee Inquiry
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The Scottish Parliament’s public petitions committee has upgraded Kincraig campaigner Laura Hansler’s A9 petition to a formal committee inquiry greatly expanding the scope of its investigations.
The committee convened by MSP Jackson Carlaw has already come out of traps flying by calling “the original Scottish Government architect of the dualling plans” to give evidence.
An inquiry in this context is considered “an important tool used by committees to hold the Scottish Government to account and to scrutinise in detail its policy and administration in great depth.
On Tuesday it was confirmed by Transport Scotland the Tomatin to Moy section would costs about £35 million more, no contract would be awarded before the summer of 2024 and the section not completed until 2027.
That is why the members of the committee agreed to call the cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment Alex Neil on the background to the project and ongoing delays.
Mr Neil held the cabinet secretary position between May 2011 and September 2012 when the funding for the project was initially promised.
Following the autumn update on the A9 dualling the current cabinet secretary for transport Mairi McAllan will also be invited to return to speak again on the programme as it stands.
Mr Carlaw said: “We’ve already seen a significant level of public interest in this petition from Laura Hansler, calling on the Scottish Government to deliver on their 2011 commitment to fully dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness and improve road safety.
“Our public consultation on the A9 petition has received hundreds of responses from the communities along the route, individuals who regularly use the road and the businesses who rely on it.
“The committee have therefore agreed to upgrade our consideration of this petition to a formal inquiry and to invite the original Scottish Government architect of the dualling plans, former Cabinet Secretary Alex Neil, to now give evidence.”
The move is something of a win for Fergus Ewing who has been calling for an inquiry into the A9 dualling programme for months.
“The committee has already heard evidence which has influenced Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government,” he said. “By showing the strength of feeling evident from Petitioner Laura Handlers evidence.
“By exposing the flaws in Transport Scotland procurement but also setting out the solutions to attract more commercial interest following the fiasco of the original Tomatin to Moy tender which resulted in just one bid.
“We have forced Transport Scotland to improve their form of contract. We are just waiting on the industry responses once they see the detail but the early signs are that Transport Scotland is now using the NEC4 which shares risk on a fairer basis.”
In the meantime, the Committee’s call for views remains open until 15th September details of which can be found here: Dualling the A9: Petition PE1992 - Scottish Parliament - Citizen Space.
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