First Minister John Swinney vows to progress the A9 dualling
The First Minister has put to bed fears the Scottish Government might de-prioritise the A9 Dualling programme after the finance secretary warned that “we cannot afford all of our capital commitments”.
Yesterday, Shona Robison confirmed the government outlined at least £500 million in savings and possibly as much as £1 billion ahead of the “painful” UK government budget in October.
Hers was not the only warning. Transport secretary Fiona Hyslop also voiced her concerns about Labour’s “austerity” spending on a visit to Tomatin last month.
But John Swinney moved to calm fears as he named the A9 dualling in his programme for government – essentially making it safe for at least another 12 months.
The Highlands featured more prominently than usual with direct mention of Nigg and Ardersier as part of the Highland green freeport while there were some points that could make businesses smile in the north.
“We will continue to invest in our infrastructure – the transport and digital networks that allow our economy to thrive,” Mr Swinney said.
“We will progress the dualling of the A9 and construction is expected to start before the end of this year on the Tomatin to Moy stretch and the procurement process is already underway on the Tay Crossing to Ballinluig stretch.
“To ensure Scotland remains a premier location for investment we will align government and public bodies behind a coordinated programme to attract investment in priority areas – such as net zero, housing and infrastructure.”
He continued citing the massive £350 million investment by Sumitomo in the Port of Nigg and another £350 million pouring into Haventus-owned Port of Ardersier.
Mr Swinney said: “We will build on recent successes such as the recent Sumitomo and Ardersier projects to promote a national project pipeline of investment opportunities.
“We will develop two green freeports and establish two new investment zones and with our commitment of up to £500 million of investment we will seek to generate at least £1.5 billion of private investment to support the offshore wind sector.”
And in what has been a long held demand from local businesses – though one reserved to London, not Edinburgh – the Scottish Government will push for a rural visa to provide local jobs.
He said: “We will expand Scotland’s migration service and continue to make the case for tailored migration including a rural visa pilot to support rural employers to recruit the people they need.”
