Is the A9 dualling project at risk due to Scottish Government spending cuts?
A huge swathe of capital projects as well as services could be at risk across the Highlands ranging from the A9 dualling to the now stalled new Raigmore maternity wards due to the latest Scottish Government cuts.
Finance secretary Shona Robison made the announcement in Holyrood yesterday afternoon and blamed the ‘austerity’ of the current and previous tenants of No. 10 Downing Street for many of the painful decisions she was taking.
The dry-sounding ‘Scottish Government Pre-Budget Fiscal Update’ revealed that there could be a budget blackhole of up to £1 billion and at least one of £500 million – prompted largely by £800 million of pay settlements north of the border.
These cuts would form part of the budget for the next financial year – 2024/25 – for which she has earmarked a budget date of December 4 but before then Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver a ‘painful’ UK budget in October.
While some of the cuts to funding services in Scotland may take some time to emerge, many in the north will be concerned about the impact on the capital funding due to historically low investment in the Highlands.
Ms Robison offered no clarity which projects would be hit but the largest by far is the A9 with a budget currently of more than £3.7 billion over the next 11 years.
The A96 is not yet on the capital plan and there is no certainty about its future.
Now there is also a degree more uncertainty about the A9’s future despite the huge efforts the SNP and Transport Scotland made to get the project up and running again after it stalled, badly.
Ms Robison has warned the money might not be there: “We also face significant pressures on our capital budget.
“The sustained high level of inflation the sustained high level experienced in the construction sector has permanently increased the cost of delivering infrastructure.
“This coincides with an expected real terms reduction to our UK capital funding of 8.7 per cent over five years – this equates to an accumulative loss of over £1.3 billion between 2023/24 and 2027/28.”
She continued: “These factors combined have reduced our spending power and we cannot afford all of our capital commitments.
“We will need to continue to make difficult decisions to make sure our capital programme is affordable and deliverable.”
The total savings announced yesterday are worth up to £500 million include emergency spending controls targeting recruitment, overtime, travel and marketing and copying the UK Government by means testing the Winter Fuel Payment.
Additional savings were made through slashing £23.7 million from Active and Sustainable Travel by ending the ScotRail peak fares pilot as well as more savings across different portfolios.
Health and social care was a big loser as savings there totalled £115.8 million from including taking £18.8 from mental health services while National Care Service/Adult Social Care lost £13.6.
