Yousaf and Sturgeon could be grilled over unfinished A9 dualling
They're among politicians a Holyrood Committee have written to, requesting written evidence in an inquiry into the A9 Dualling project.
Last updated 30th Oct 2023
Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon could face questions from a Holyrood committee over delays in work to dual the A9.
Mr Yousaf and Ms Sturgeon are among politicians the Scottish Parliament's Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee have written to requesting written evidence in an inquiry into the A9 Dualling project.
The committee has also written to the current Transport secretary, Mairi McAllan, requesting a detailed plan to complete the dualling project by Transport Scotland officials, mentioned by Alex Neil who was formerly the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Secretary in 2011.
Other former Scottish Government ministers, who had responsibility for the A9 Dualling Project, will be asked what advice they received on progress towards dualling.
The committee launched an inquiry into the unfinished project after a petition was submitted to Holyrood urging ministers to address safety concerns over the road - which links Perth with Inverness - and publish a revised timetable for completing the project by 2025.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has previously made it clear work to dual the A9 will not be completed before the next Holyrood election in May 2026, while insisting the Government is still "absolutely committed" to the programme.
Documents and written evidence will then be used by the committee to inform next stages, including whether further written or oral evidence is needed.
Jackson Carlaw MSP, convener of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, said: "Following the evidence from Alex Neil, we've already heard that finishing the A9 dualling project 25 years late is unacceptable and it's clear that lessons need to be learned.
"This is important, not only to support completion of the A9 at the earliest possible date, but also to understand what went wrong and how mistakes can be avoided in the future.
"The committee have now requested the relevant documentation from the Scottish Government setting out what advice was provided by Transport Scotland to ministers in 2012 regarding the project.
"In addition to this, we've invited subsequent ministers who held responsibility for A9 Dualling, including Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon, to provide written evidence, following which we may invite them to appear in front of the committee if deemed necessary.
"In the meantime, we eagerly anticipate the Cabinet Secretary's promised update on the A9 dualling project to Parliament in the near future."
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: " We will, of course, continue to assist the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee in its ongoing considerations, and our focus remains on delivering the remainder of the dualled sections as efficiently as possible.
"This assistance includes consideration of any requests from the Committee for documents in accordance with our established processes."