First Minister Humza Yousaf says he’s “sorry” his government has failed to meet its target to dual the A9 by 2025 – but “hopes” the public understands.
The SNP leader was quizzed about the delays as some of his party colleagues and Transport Scotland officials gathered in Inverness at an A9 Crisis Summit yesterday.
Highland MSP Fergus Ewing, and rebel SNP backbencher, said Mr Yousaf must “deliver or resign” as he demanded a new timetable.
Mr Yousaf insisted there is a “cast iron commitment” in place to dual the road between Perth and Inverness and quashed fears the Greens could prevent it.
He said he believed “most people” would recognise the rationale for not going ahead with the Tomatin to Moy section due to the high price quoted.
Speaking to the Press and Journal in Aberdeen, Mr Yousaf:
- Gave “cast-iron commitment” to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
- Committed to bringing revised timetable back in autumn.
- Said he “regrets” any delay to the timetable.
- Insisted the government is “sorry” for not meeting their target.
- And said the Greens will not impact the scheme.
Asked if he would apologise for the failure to deliver the scheme, the SNP leader said: “I regret any delay that’s there but what I won’t apologise for is the fact that we have made good on our commitment so far.
“We’re wanting to continue to deliver on dualling the A9. The fact the timetable has been delayed, I absolutely regret, because we know as well as being an important issue around connectivity, it’s an important issue in terms of safety as well.”
He added: “The government is of course sorry for where we don’t meet timetables that we initially wanted to.
“But I hope most people would realise the reason and rationale for that is because we have an obligation when it comes to public finances.”
SNP’s ‘shame’
Mr Ewing said it is his and the SNP’s “shame” that it has failed in its commitment to dual the A9.
The comments were made during the A9 Crisis Summit, hosted by the Inverness Courier at Eden Court in the Highland capital.
The SNP MSP for Inverness and Nairn said the first minister must now deliver the promise or resign.
Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan said she was not in a position to offer a new timetable.
The SNP first promised to dual the A9 in 2007 but admitted earlier this year this was “simply no longer achievable” because of economic pressure.
We confirmed on Monday that an update on the new timescale for dualling the A9 will be provided to the Scottish Parliament in autumn.
Criticism of contract
Mr Yousaf has tasked the team at Transport Scotland with looking at “whether we can do procurement better”.
It comes after civil engineers criticised the Scottish Government’s handling of the A9 upgrade and called for the existing contract to be scrapped.
Members of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association blamed a “dated” bespoke contract which places all financial risk on the contractor for issues such as weather and ground conditions.
The first minister said: “There was some criticism from CEPA and they were concerned about the procurement processes.
“I’ve asked the team at Transport Scotland to look at those criticisms and critiques and see if there’s any lessons we can learn in how we do procurement in government.”