Claire Baker
Scottish Labour · Scotland
“Motion, as amended, agreed to, That the Parliament condemns xenophobia, racism and hatred in society, including recent instances of intimidation, violence and disorder; further condemns the actions and language of those who seek to stoke such sentiments and division; agrees that such beliefs and actions do not reflect those of the vast ma…”
“The UK Government has updated its planning policy, and there is a clear strategic approach to where data centres are sited, which is what members are calling for in Scotland. On the question around environmental impact assessments, at the moment, it is not mandatory for local authorities to carry out such assessments.”
“The Presiding Officer: The next question is, that motion S7M-00461, in the name of Neil Gray, on the National Security (State Threats) Bill, which is United Kingdom legislation, be agreed to. Are we agreed? Members: No. The Presiding Officer: There will be a division. Please cast your votes now. The vote is closed.”
“We need to be clear that climate change is an emergency that affects communities across the world and increasingly here in Scotland. We are seeing more extreme weather events, increased flooding, risks to biodiversity, pressures on food production, and growing risks to public health and infrastructure.”
“The Scottish National Party Government will go even further, putting in place the £2 bus fare cap across the whole of Scotland by the end of this session of Parliament. Climate action is improving the quality of our lives.”
“As I have made clear, collectively across the Parliament, we have agreed that we need to make progress on the targets, which are also legally binding by an agreement made here, and the committees have an important role to play. However, ultimately, the Government has to show leadership on the issue.”
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“The committee’s proposal for the introduction of a duty of candour is one that ministers should listen to. The petitioner submitted her petition in 2022 in the belief that 2025 was still the completion date. It is concerning that, by then, ministers were increasingly aware that that target was not deliverable. They also raised important points about the procurement model used by Transport Scotland, which was unattractive to contractors and resulted in there being only single bidders. The whole sorry saga has had a negative impact on public confidence in Transport Scotland and in the Scottish Government’s ability to deliver major infrastructure projects.”
“Although the former Transport Scotland chief executive defended ministers’ engagement, no one minister has been tasked with seeing the project through from beginning to end. The committee also identified concerns over future funding for the project. The decision to reclassify the non-profit distribution model in 2014 left a vacuum for a new private finance model. It was delay in addressing that aspect that led to Transport Scotland telling ministers, in 2018, that the 2025 target was unachievable. Although evidence to the committee argued that that was not clear advice and that, until late 2022, it was still possible that capital funding could fund the project, the committee sounded unconvinced by that argument and concluded that delays to the decision contributed to a 2025 completion date being unachievable.”
“In comparing the A9 project with the Queensferry crossing, it argues that the A9 project would have benefited from the appointment of a project director who was solely responsible for it. The director of major projects who was involved had overseen several major infrastructure sites, which led to the committee’s being unclear about the extent to which the A9 work had been prioritised and whether other transport projects had detracted from progress there. Furthermore, the committee raised concerns about the lack of ministerial continuity in that five different ministers had been responsible for the A9 project in a period of just over 10 years, while the responsibility for transport had frequently been moved between ministerial portfolios and levels.”
“There is always a debate about the behaviour of road users and the state of the road, but the Scottish Government made its decision on that debate when it committed to dualling the A9 from Perth to Inverness, and that debate should not be a distraction from its failure to deliver on a key infrastructure programme. The commitment to dual recognises the A9 as a key arterial route— referred to as Scotland’s spine—that provides a link from the Highlands to the rest of the country. It is a key route for many businesses and is of vital economic importance to Scotland. The committee’s report meticulously details the timeline and decision-making aspects of the project. It identifies the lack of leadership at project and ministerial levels as being problematic.”
“We regularly hear the passion and anger from MSPs in the chamber about the lack of progress and the lives that are being lost. With every road fatality, families and lives are devastated, and the poor reputation of the A9 is reflected in those figures. A recent freedom of information request showed that there have been 313 collisions between vehicles on the A9, with almost 200 of those on the single carriageway. Such collisions often cause fatalities, injuries, delays to travel and road closures, which have an impact on communities and businesses.”
“The petition, which was first brought before the committee in 2022, is clearly driven by safety concerns and expresses frustration at the delays in progress. It highlights the commitment to dual the A9 that was made in 2011 and calls for the completion of the work by 2025. As we start 2025 and the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee secures this debate, we all recognise the petitioners’ continuing disappointment over the timescale for the completion of the project. The petitioner wanted to highlight the exponential rate of fatalities on the road, arguing that the road is now barely fit for purpose, with an unsustainable influx of traffic on the infrastructure. Between 2011 and September 2022, there were 52 fatalities, and there have been more since.”
“I thank the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for its thorough report. The committee not only took evidence on the petition but included a reporter from the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. It then went on to undertake an in-depth inquiry, resulting in evidence from a wide range of Government ministers, starting with Derek Mackay and finishing with Màiri McAllan. We owe the committee thanks for the robustness of its scrutiny, its determination to get to the bottom of the saga and its commitment to exposing the failings and mistakes that have left us so far behind progress. The committee’s report arose from a petition called “Dual the A9 and improve road safety”, which was submitted by Laura Hansler and supported by the A9 dual action group.”
“That is why I can relay that there have been improvements in seat-availability performance, particularly over the past four weeks. However, I acknowledged in my first answer the situation in November. As I said, there were significant disruptions, during the period, due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure. Road Improvements 2.”
“In November, the cabinet secretary said in a letter that she had made it clear to ScotRail that the situation in Fife must improve as quickly as possible, but figures from ScotRail show that, in November, the 07:16 service from Perth to Edinburgh was short-formed on more than half of its timetabled journeys, which left passengers unable to board. The use of short-formed services is not reflected within the public performance measure, so do the Scottish Government and ScotRail take those services into account when assessing and improving service delivery for passengers? Fiona Hyslop: I am clear that improvement is needed. It is an issue that I constantly raise with ScotRail. I have asked for regular reports on the number of trains that are booked and on seat availability, and I have received them.”
“To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is responding to reports that 182 sexual assaults, including rapes, have taken place in hospitals in the last five years. (S6F-03721)”