An admission that the cabinet has never discussed the SNP Government’s failure to meet its target to dual the A9 by 2025 has today been branded “astonishing and unacceptable”.
Shadow transport minister Graham Simpson slammed the “shocking indifference” to the plight of road users after a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Conservatives prompted the shock revelation.
Despite Transport Scotland first informing ministers in early December that the timetable was unachievable, and then transport minister Jenny Gilruth informing parliament of this in February, the cabinet have yet to discuss the matter.
The SNP first pledged to dual the A9 – which has a terrifying death toll from accidents – in 2011, and campaigners have voiced their fury at the painfully slow progress since.
Scottish Conservative shadow transport minister Graham Simpson MSP said: “It’s astonishing and unacceptable that the SNP’s failure to deliver on this essential, life-saving infrastructure project has never even been discussed at cabinet.
“It highlights the shocking indifference of ministers towards campaigners and those who have already lost their lives on this death-trap trunk road.
“It’s more than four months since the then-transport secretary was informed by Transport Scotland that the timetable could not be achieved and two months since Jenny Gilruth admitted as much in parliament.
“So it beggars belief that this has not been a major – or even a minor – topic for debate in cabinet. Ministers ought to be straining every sinew to address their appallingly slow progress in dualling the A9. It’s literally a matter of life and death.
“It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the influence of the car-hating Scottish Greens on the Nationalist coalition means this project – and a similarly vital one to upgrade the A96 – is simply not a priority for the SNP.
“If that’s the case, it’s shameful and unforgiveable.”
Notes
The Scottish Government has confirmed the fact that the 2025 target to dual the A9 would be missed has still not been discussed in a Cabinet meeting by ministers. An FOI response said ‘I can confirm that the fact that the 2025 target to dual the A9 would be missed has not yet been discussed at Cabinet.’ (Scottish Government, FOI Response, 17 April 2019, See attached)
The transport minister announced that the A9 would not be dualled by 2025 on 8 February 2023, blaming the Ukraine and the pandemic. The parliamentary update stated that there would be a delay to the A9 and that awarding the Tomatin to Moy contract to the sole bidder would ‘not represent best value for the taxpayer’. Jenny Gilruth said ‘This procurement process coincided with external factors including the pandemic, disruption caused by Brexit, and the war in Ukraine, with the inflationary impacts of those all affecting significantly the construction market.’ (Transport Scotland, 8 February 2023, link)
The Scottish Government decided not to award the Tomatin to Moy project contract on 3 February 2023 – two months after being advised by Transport Scotland. The FOI request asked the Scottish to confirm when they decided that the Tomatin to Moy project did not represent value for money. It stated, ‘The Scottish Ministers decided that no contract award should be made for the Tomatin to Moy project on 3 February 2023.’ (Scottish Government, FOI Response, 10 March 2023, link)
The transport minister was informed by Transport Scotland that the A9 could not be completed by 2025 on 7 December 2022. The FOI response stated, ‘The Minister for Transport was informed on 7 December 2022 of Transport Scotland’s view that the published completion date of 2025 for the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness should no longer apply.’ (Scottish Government, FOI Response, 10 March 2023, link)
In 2022, it was reported that 13 people died in 8 fatal accidents on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. These have all been on the main roads between Inverness, Aberdeen, and Perth. This includes three members of an American family killed in August on an ‘accident blackspot’ and Alan Jones, the lorry driver ‘with a big heart’, who died in the early hours of the 30 September. (Daily Express, 24 October 2022, link; Strathspey and Badenoch Herald, 9 February 2023, link)
The A9 saw 21 fatal accidents and 257 non-fatal accidents between 2018 to 2021. An FOI published on the Scottish Government website confirmed that between 2018 and 2021, 21 fatal accidents and 254 non-fatal accidents occurred on the road. (Scottish Government, FOI Response, 7 December 2021, link)
In 2011, the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) committed to upgrade the A9 by 2025. The plan was to turn the A9 between the cities of Perth and Inverness from a single to a dual carriageway. (A9 dualling Perth to Inverness, Transport Scotland, accessed 31 October 2022, link)
The promise to fully dual the A9 was first made in an SNP manifesto in 2007 - over fifteen years ago. It said, ‘The case put forward by organisations including the AA motoring trust proves that a range of measures – including dualling of key roads, such as the A9 – would contribute to fewer lives being lost.’ (SNP Manifesto, 2007, link)