Miles Briggs
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party · Scotland
“Angela Constance: It was always going to be the case that the old hospital would continue to be used while the new hospital was being built, which means that important investment is required in that regard.”
“The Sunday Mail reported on 26 April that ministers had failed to sign off on the business case for the new Monklands hospital prior to the election, so it is important that the cabinet secretary publishes the information that Scottish ministers knew during that period and that she explains why there was no statement to the Parliament bef…”
“I am happy to furnish Mr Briggs with further information about the process. When we deal with any full business case, it is important that that is thoroughly examined and scrutinised, out of respect for those who have compiled it.”
“The Nuclear Industry Association estimates that Scotland’s civil nuclear industry could have supported more than 10,000 jobs if the sector had experienced the same growth as has been evident south of the border, in England. The Scottish Government must reflect on the opportunities that the country will miss out on in years to come.”
“Whatever views members may hold on the nuclear power sector, there should be broad agreement that Torness has been one of the most significant economic and industrial assets that our country has ever had.”
“With the ongoing instability in the middle east and the consequent volatility of global gas prices, households and businesses are vulnerable to price shocks. New nuclear energy would put energy back in our own hands, protect us from fossil fuel price volatility and deliver much-needed energy security.”
The complete record
Every one of 469 lines we hold for Miles Briggs, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 10.
“I believe that this, among many other approaches that we are working with the council on, will help to reduce temporary accommodation pressures. Miles Briggs: Yesterday’s budget will result in Edinburgh again receiving the lowest funding per head of population from Scottish ministers, at the same time as it is the local authority that has the smallest amount of social housing stock and a rapidly growing population. Given that the waiting list for social housing in the capital is completely unsustainable, will the Government now commit to an Edinburgh-specific housing fund to address the housing emergency? Màiri McAllan: As I have said, we are working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council, among many other councils, to help it to tackle the multifaceted issue of homelessness and temporary accommodation pressures.”
“To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent announcement that the freeze on council housing allocation in Edinburgh will continue until March 2027, what support it is providing to the City of Edinburgh Council to address the housing crisis. (S6O-05570) The Cabinet Secretary for Housing (Màiri McAllan): The Scottish Government is working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council as one of the local authorities that is facing the most significant housing and homelessness pressures. Edinburgh’s allocation of £28.7 million from our £80 million acquisitions fund brings its total capital funding to more than £73 million this year, which is supporting it to acquire properties immediately for affordable housing. I welcome the council’s actions to meet its statutory duties, including directing stock to homeless households.”
“We will hold another in March, and I am keen to ask John O’Brien to attend it in order to ensure that MSPs across the political divide are kept up to date, although I recognise that we are approaching dissolution.”
“I have set out some of our work on the requirements for this to be an independent inquiry, which is hugely important. I have spent a great deal of time listening to survivors, which has also formed part of our thinking with regard to the inquiry. It is imperative that survivors have faith in the work of the inspectorates and the work of the independent inquiry. The broader work that I mentioned, which is to be led by John O’Brien, will sit alongside the inquiry. That unique piece of work will be hugely important for providing information and listening to survivors. As cabinet secretary, I have set up engagements for MSPs on a cross-party basis throughout this process. We held one such engagement in a parliamentary committee room in January with all the inspectorates and Alexis Jay.”
“At this morning’s Education, Children and Young People Committee meeting, I asked His Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary in Scotland how long decisions around the review and the reading of case files and datasets would take. He said that that would take another year or so. In her statement, the cabinet secretary said that she has been considering the issue carefully and looking at the available evidence, which continues to evolve. She has not answered the question of what new evidence has become available or what, beyond the Scottish Conservatives’ calls for the inquiry, the Government has based this decision on. Will she tell the Parliament today what additional information she now has? Jenny Gilruth: It is fair to say that the evidence base on the issue continues to evolve.”
“This bill now sits uneasily around where religious organisations can make contributions to education, and whether it would be much easier to remove that completely in case there are future challenges. I do not know whether that is what the Government necessarily wanted the bill to point to, but local authorities will probably want to start providing guidance from the Government, which we have not had an opportunity to see. Those are real concerns.”
“The debate has seemed very bureaucratic as we have gone through the amendments this afternoon, but we have heard about the bureaucratic burden that teachers and schools already face and the concerns that that will raise in the wider school community. I was lucky enough to attend Auchtergaven primary school in Bankfoot in Perthshire, which is in the First Minister’s constituency. At that school, we saw a valuable relationship with the Church of Scotland minister and his wife, who contributed so much to the school, from school Christmas plays to the work in the school halls. Fundamentally, the Church of Scotland was making a positive contribution to our school life.”
“Jenny Gilruth: We have heard a variety of views on the matter during the discussions on amendments this afternoon, and I am sure that we will hear more in the debate. However, the provisions that the Government has proposed do not seek to alter a parent’s right to withdraw their child from religious observance. I would welcome some reflection on that from Mr Briggs. Miles Briggs: The courts will have to judge whether the Government has overstepped the mark in the legislation, given the contradictory UNCRC and European human rights protocols that will now be in place. We will see who brings that forward. It is important that we look at what this means for teaching professionals.”
“As For Women Scotland has stated in its briefing ahead of today’s debate: “The Scottish Government must exercise its powers in a manner which is compatible with the requirements of Article 2 of Protocol No 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly the second sentence which has been incorporated into Schedule 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which states: ‘In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.’ Consequently, parents have a fundamental right, which the State must respect and protect, to raise their children in accordance with their own views and beliefs”.”
“Although data is not always available—it is estimated that 4,000 pupils in Scotland are currently withdrawn from RME and RO—ministers must now be concerned that the legislation is likely to be challenged in the courts. The fact that the bill has reached stage 3 in such a position is regrettable.”
“Scottish Conservatives have consistently expressed concern that the bill risks creating confusion and conflict within families, with unclear safeguards around how parental rights and children’s views would be balanced in practice, while also placing significant burdens on schools and teaching staff at the very time that they are telling us that they are facing so many other challenges. As I stated at stage 1, we support the principle of children being informed about and involved in decisions that affect them and their education, but we already have a system in place that makes sure that that happens at an age- appropriate stage in young people’s lives.”
“I thank the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee for its work on the bill, those who have given evidence and the organisations that provided briefings ahead of the various stages of the bill. From the outset, Scottish Conservatives have stated that we believe that it is important that children have a say in their education, but any change must also respect the crucial role that parents play in shaping their upbringing. As we have seen with the recent passage of the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill, the ability of ministers to incorporate the UNCRC into law is becoming more and more problematic. That is also quite clear from what we have seen in the passage of this bill.”
“The report by Marie Curie is a wake-up call for us all regarding unmet need. Does the minister recognise that, in the 2025-26 budget, there is currently a shortfall of £3.9 million in the amount that the sector asked for to be able to deliver parity in pay awards between national health service staff and hospice staff? What plans does the Government now have to make progress on a national funding framework ahead of the election? Jenni Minto: In the stage 1 budget debate last week, it was noted that the Scottish Government has increased its funding for hospices specifically to cover the difference in pay compared with NHS staff. We have increased the budget to £9.4 million. I am pleased to have supported that increase and that it gained support from members across the”
“The fact that our constituency boundaries have been redrawn during this parliamentary session demonstrates that, and 84 per cent of Scottish population growth over the next—”
“I welcome the cross-party review of university funding involving Universities Scotland and the Government, but the next Parliament will have to decide whether to save some institutions if they are not to go to the wall. The budget certainly does not seem to take account of that. The second key issue for me, as an Edinburgh and Lothian MSP—I hope that other members who represent that area and will be voting on the budget understand this—is that the budget does nothing to address the underfunding of Lothian. The City of Edinburgh Council remains the lowest- funded council per head of population, and NHS Lothian remains the lowest-funded health board per head of population. We cannot ignore the fact that we are seeing a significant change in Scotland: a movement of population from west to east.”
“It is telling that, after 19 years of the SNP in government, the Colleges Scotland briefing ahead of the budget was titled “A Budget to Save Scotland’s Colleges”. It talks about saving our college sector. We know that many of those institutions are in financial jeopardy. The budget might save them this year, but it will not do so in future years. Institutions across the country, such as Dundee and Angus College, remain in limbo regarding which investment plans they can take forward. With a significant backlog in maintenance and investment in our college estates, there is no clarification about which investments can be realised, and the sector now risks losing investment opportunities, too. We need a vision for our education sector.”
“In my time today, I will focus on two key challenges that the budget fails to address and on which the next Parliament will have to act. The first is the long-term sustainability of our education sector. It is increasingly clear that the challenge to the future sustainability of our university and college sector is one that the Parliament will have to face and that the next Government must address. On the specific funding that the Government has provided for colleges, the £70 million uplift in the budget might seem positive, but it is misleading. The Education, Children and Young People Committee sought clarification and found that that figure includes the £30 million spent on the Dunfermline learning campus in 2025-26, which means that the uplift is £40 million.”
“That alone was never going to be good enough to protect children, so I welcome the Scottish Government’s move to support the bill and ensure that it passes through the Parliament. A legal framework should establish not only lines of responsibility, training standards and a reporting requirement but the safety that every one of us expects children in our schools to enjoy. For that reason, Scottish Conservatives will support the general principals of the bill at decision time. 15:02”
“The Education, Children and Young People Committee’s consideration of, and unanimous support for, the bill has provided that critique as well. It is unacceptable for children to return home having been restrained and for their parents and carers to be provided with no information that an incident has taken place. It is unacceptable that such incidents are not recorded and that, when we are often talking about non-verbal children, we do not know what restraint has taken place. Calum was restrained at age 11 by four adults. The training is also not being recorded and we do not know what level the training providers are training people up to. De-escalation should always be the first point of call. I acknowledge that Scottish National Party ministers have looked to improve guidance.”
“A number of parents have highlighted to me the current postcode lottery not only in how schools use restraint but how they record incidents and communicate with parents what has gone on in the school day. As the convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee has already put on record, we need to understand and learn from the concerns that the EIS is expressing. The committee did not shy away from trying to probe those because the concerns that have been highlighted cite workforce pressures and the legal standing of the bill. There will be cross-party support for the bill, but we have an important role as parliamentarians at stage 2 in the committee and at stage 3 before the election to ensure that the EIS’s questions are answered.”
“On Friday 24 September 2010, when the school bus dropped Callum home at 3.25 pm, his face was ashen, his lips were blue and he was wearing different clothes from those that he had left in the morning—a thin T-shirt, shorts and plimsolls, no underwear and no coat. His own clothes were soaked in urine and stuffed in a plastic bag. That should not be happening in Scotland in this day and age and I hope that, through the opportunity that the bill presents us with today, we will ensure that no parent or carer in our country ever faces a similar situation. A number of constituents have told me of their children’s experiences. In every case, they have not been able to get answers from those who they trust with their children’s education, safety and wellbeing.”
“I, too, pay tribute to Daniel Johnson for the work that he and his office have undertaken on his member’s bill. Having taken forward two consultations, I know just how much pressure that work will have put on his office. I want to use this opportunity, as other members have, to pay tribute to the member for getting the bill to where it is today. It is a few years ago now that I had the pleasure of meeting Beth, Peter and Calum Morrison in Parliament at a round-table event that Daniel Johnson held so that Parliamentarians from across the chamber had an opportunity to hear what the issue was. I remember keeping a document that Beth gave us, which outlined the experience that Calum had, and that takes me back to why we are here today.”
“To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to address the reported issues with teacher job shortages, caused by temporary teacher contracts. (S6F-04602)”
“The Government’s general policy is to move to digitised systems and to ensure that we can have digital patient records, digital prescribing and digital applications that allow patients to interact with them. That is the general overview, but I will come back to the member on the specific principles involved in the project. Rape and Sexual Assault in Hospitals (Protection) 7.”
“When the cabinet secretary and other colleagues visited the old eye pavilion at my invitation, he would have heard that patient records are currently in paper form. Given the closure of the eye pavilion and the fact that those records had to be stored in halls and distributed around temporary services, will the digitisation of patient records and scans be taken into account in the design of and funding for the new hospital? Neil Gray: It was remiss of me not to reference the fact that Mr Briggs was at the meeting in the Parliament and that he helped to organise the visit to the eye pavilion. I was grateful to have the opportunity to see it. I will need to get back to Mr Briggs about where we are on the paper records.”
“We would propose bold and practical measures to invest in our colleges, fix Scotland’s broken apprenticeship system, address skills shortages and allow local employers to shape training to match their workforce needs, as others in different parts of the United Kingdom can. Sadly, this bill has been a missed opportunity for the Government and the Parliament to take forward significant legislation that would deliver for our skills sector. That is why the Scottish Conservatives will not be able to support the bill at decision time. 20:14”
“We hoped that current working relationships within our college sector, as part of the wider tertiary sector, could be more collaborative, so that colleges could be empowered to become the drivers of change, rather than merely receiving funding. Empowering our college sector to deliver opportunities in local areas needs to be reconsidered. Audit Scotland has said that the college sector has seen a 17 per cent reduction in real-terms funding in the past three years alone, which has resulted in colleges having to deliver significant annual savings, with fewer students and fewer lecturers. The Scottish Conservatives will work to make sure that the next Government and the Parliament in its next session genuinely develop a skills bill.”
“There are financial risks to successful existing programmes such as foundation apprenticeships, and the bill has the potential to negatively impact young people, particularly the most disadvantaged and those who are furthest away from the education system. The concerns that the association has expressed have not been taken forward. I hope that ministers will not see the bill as an end point; work needs to be done to protect apprenticeship places, especially foundation apprenticeships, as has been raised during the debate. The Scottish Conservatives hoped that the bill would be a genuine opportunity for a culture shift across our education and skills system.”
“I want every Scottish apprenticeship pound to go to the delivery of more apprenticeship places and opportunities, rather than expensive structural changes. I am also disappointed that, during the debate, the Government has not accepted the need for more and better transparency around the apprenticeship levy. We on the Conservative benches also agree with the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, which we have been working with. It believes that the bill lacks a systemic evidenced- based approach, and that there has been insufficient engagement with key partners, especially local authorities and employers.”
“The Scottish Conservatives wanted the bill to do more than simply change how apprenticeships are administered in Scotland. We hoped that it would be an opportunity to seriously address the growing skills shortages and gaps that exist across so many of our key sectors, which are vital for the future of our economy and this country’s prosperity. I turn to the concerns that were raised during the Education, Children and Young People Committee’s scrutiny of the bill. We on the Conservative benches continue to have serious concerns about the potential transfer costs. I note that the minister’s letter to the committee estimates that the “total cost over these six years now ranges from £2.1 million to £28.1 million, with a central estimate of £15.1 million”. That remains a significant concern.”
“We want our apprenticeship system to be more responsive and agile. That is what we have been working to try to achieve. The Scottish Conservatives want to see an apprenticeship system that works with businesses to deliver more apprenticeship places. Crucially, we want to address, rather than simply discuss, the huge skills shortages in the sectors that we hear about week in and week out. That is why we wanted the bill to go further to empower sectors to create more opportunities and focus on a demand-led approach. We wanted a bill that would help to provide training and retraining opportunities in Scottish firms, which would be at the heart of shaping skills development, as well as the courses that will be crucial for a host of sectors if we are to realise the potential of many growth areas in our economy.”
“Principally, it looked towards the need to deliver flexibility across post-school learning systems in order to achieve genuine agility and to ensure that learners at all stages of their lives, across Scotland, have the opportunity to gain skills and take up potential apprenticeship opportunities. I am sorry to say that the reality is that the bill does not reflect real delivery of the Withers’ report. From the outset, we have challenged ministers to go further and for the bill to be more radical. As Russell Findlay outlined two weeks ago, the Scottish Conservatives want to see economic growth at the heart of every Scottish Government decision, with a Government that is always on the side of the entrepreneur and the innovator and that is ambitious and aspirational for the small businesses that make our country tick.”
“As I stated during the stage 1 debate, “When Scottish ministers introduced the bill, we on the Conservative benches were open to the reasons and rationale behind it.”—[Official Report, 25 September 2025; c 71.] However, as we have looked at the bill, it has become clear that it is not going to deliver what ministers suggest that it will. It is worth reflecting on why the Scottish Government decided to legislate in this area. The independent review of the skills delivery landscape by James Withers in 2023 highlighted the need to focus on a new vision that meets the challenges of future needs.”
“I thank the many organisations and businesses that have provided helpful briefings ahead of the stage 3 debate, and I also thank them for their work at stage 2. There has been concern out there about the potential impact of the bill on those organisations and businesses, and it has been clear, from speaking to them, that assurances have not been forthcoming. However, I welcome the constructive way in which the minister has engaged since his appointment, when he inherited the bill from Graeme Dey. I also welcome the Government’s acceptance of amendments at stage 2, and its engagement with a number of amendments that I lodged at stage 2 and which ministers have taken forward at stage 3.”
“I hope that members will support amendment 10, particularly given the points that were made at stage 2. 14:45”
“The Conservative members are supportive of amendment 10, but I want to ask the minister whether it is the Scottish Government’s vision that it will make colleges lead delivery providers for modern apprenticeships under the bill, with a minimum percentage of apprenticeships delivered through colleges as part of the colleges first approach that I tried to progress at stage 2. Ben Macpherson: The importance of colleges in the delivery of apprenticeships, as Mr Briggs rightly emphasises, should not be underestimated. We want our colleges to take the lead, but important roles are occupied in the current system by training providers. We want to enhance the system overall, and the role of colleges in the delivery of our apprenticeship system will continue to progress and become more important in the years ahead.”
“The definition of mainstreaming is something that the ASL work on definitions and categories can consider, but I invite Mr Briggs to discuss the matter with Ms McManus in more detail. It is true to say that we have a broad range of categories in ASN at the current time. In discussions with officials earlier, we considered some of the statistics around the social, emotional and behavioural needs category, which is the largest category. It is important that we look at the definitions in the round. They will all be considered through the data improvement work that I set out in December, but I invite Mr Briggs to pursue those matters further with Ms McManus, as I share his interest.”
“I very much hope that he and his colleagues will take forward my offer to engage with Ms McManus on the substantive work that she is leading in relation to the short, sharp and focused review, which was a key ask from Opposition members when we met last year. Mr Briggs spoke about the denial of specialist support. Staffing rates are hugely important in that regard. That is why, in this year’s budget and in next year’s draft budget, we have protected funding to increase teacher numbers—we were able to deliver on that last year for the first time since 2022—as well as providing protection for ASN spend, which I recognise is important. That has contributed to us having the second-highest level on record of pupil support assistants in our schools.”
“I hope that this is genuinely an opportunity for a new national approach that is focused on outcomes. During the cross-party conversations that we have had, the cabinet secretary has acknowledged that there is no definition of mainstreaming. That often results in a situation that fails everyone in the classroom, and parents and teachers have said that they want a new approach. What work will be undertaken in that area—for example, to develop ASN hubs and give all local authorities a definition of mainstreaming? Jenny Gilruth: I thank Mr Briggs for his question and for his welcome of the cross-party working on the issue.”
“I look forward to Willie Rennie being beamed in at some point. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement, because the Scottish Conservatives lodged a motion to call for a national review. I welcome the cross-party working and the manner in which the cabinet secretary is taking forward that work. It is completely unacceptable that parents and teachers are being denied the specialist support that they urgently need. Scottish National Party ministers have not delivered on the promised specialist staff numbers across the country at the very time that we see a decline in dedicated ASN schools. Families are being failed and teachers are being left to cope without the resources that are required to keep children safe and supported in the learning environment.”
“That will come largely from reducing bureaucracy for the sector, which is a process that has not progressed at pace. All those who are watching today’s proceedings will be underwhelmed by the bill. In the coming weeks, we all have the opportunity to look to significantly improve the bill to get it back on track. Ministers must be honest and admit that the bill will not meet the Promise and that, in the next session of Parliament, all those of us who are lucky enough to be returned, along with new MSPs, will have to step up to deliver the Promise by 2030.”
“I hope that ministers will make substantial amendments to the bill in that area and strengthen support for kinship carers. The minister has already suggested that she will take action in that area, but that challenge has not been met in the bill. As MSPs, all of us will have met and supported members of families—often grandparents—who are providing safe and stable kinship care. That comes from a place of love, but the costs and pressures of such arrangements are often not sustainable. We need to make sure that the bill includes more on kinship care and that kinship carers are put at its heart. I have not had time to expand on the new national social work agency, which will have to provide the workforce that is required to deliver the bill. Workforce planning must be strengthened.”
“We need to look to the delivery of policies. Across Scotland, our IJBs are looking at what they could not do, rather than at what they could be doing in addition. We need to be mindful that the bill could result in a postcode lottery emerging. The Promise should not become that. It would be unacceptable if our IJBs were to end up having to take decisions about the delivery of the Promise that they will not be able to fund or deliver. Douglas Ross highlighted the issue of compatibility with the 2024 act, which the Government needs to move to fix. Paul O’Kane highlighted the poor engagement that, sadly, there has been with stakeholders and what they told the Education, Children and Young People Committee is missing from the bill.”
“We have heard about the welcome progress on addressing stigma in schools. That matter has been taken forward by the Promise Scotland and others outside this building. However, there needs to be a more nationwide approach to understanding care-experienced young people and to the educational support package and offer that they will be given. Our young carers have a number of similar challenges. The minister will be aware that I have also advocated for better palliative care funding for organisations such as CHAS. I highlight its concerns: it seeks clarification around children and young people with life-shortening conditions, who are also at the heart of the bill. I continue to be concerned about the decision making that ministers have decided will rest with IJBs, and I have highlighted that to the minister.”
“The “Linking Lives” app is a support tool for care-experienced young people that offers centralised resources on budgeting, housing, education and mental health and key links to organisations in that part of the world. I hope that ministers will consider a proposal for something similar for Scotland because having access to such a service could make care- experienced young people information rich. The Housing (Scotland) Bill, which recently went through the Parliament, did not put care- experienced young people at its heart. When we speak to homeless people, we hear that so many of them have had experience of the care system. I would like to see where the Government’s amendments to the bill at stage 2 will cross into other areas, such as that covered by the housing bill, to fix those other parts that should be at the heart of policy.”
“Willie Rennie also mentioned the important issue of aftercare and the right to return, which was at the heart of the work that the Education, Children and Young People Committee did in considering the bill. We should look to the positive work, which we did not have a chance to go and see for ourselves, that is being taken forward by North Yorkshire Council. That model has been highlighted again and again. We should look to the progress that the council has made in supporting care-experienced young people and empowering them to access information—an issue that is often at the heart of problems—through an app that it has developed.”
“Ross Greer and Willie Rennie mentioned family group decision making in councils such as in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I hope that that can be embedded as part of the bill. Intensive support provided early can make a huge difference to families, keep them together and prevent family breakdown. That whole-family approach can make a critical difference and provide the capacity needed to help families. Let us face it—such capacity will often not be available from social work or other services. I hope that improving support for families before they end up in crisis will be at the heart of the bill. Every parent and carer will face pressures. That is where family group decision making can help to provide workable solutions and, as Paul O’Kane mentioned, the scaffolding to keep families together. It is important that we grasp that opportunity.”
“We can pass legislation, but the change of attitude that they have brought since the Promise was made is important. I hope that the Parliament will make sure that we meet our side of the bargain. We can and must make sure that our children and young people who are currently in the care system or who may come into contact with it, and adults who have experience of it, are at the heart of this. From the outset, we have tried to engage with ministers on what that could look like. So often when we pass legislation, it is not about outcomes but about having a better process. We need to make sure that the bill does not end up in that space. In the time that I have, I will highlight several areas in which I want to see progress at stage 2 to help strengthen the bill.”
“I thank all the organisations that provided helpful briefings ahead of today’s debate. There is cross-party support for ensuring that the Promise that was made to care- experienced people is kept, and that is exactly what Scottish Conservatives have been working to help achieve. At the outset, as others have done, I thank the minister for her constructive engagement, which is important. However, I hope that she has heard the frustration and concern about where the bill stands and acknowledges that it needs significant change at stages 2 and 3. I pay tribute to those who are involved in the care sector. Over the past year in which I have been the Conservative education spokesperson, I have met them and I have seen the passion and commitment that the former First Minister outlined.”
“I will take a deep breath before I ask this question. To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the cross-Government co-ordination of infrastructure, what discussions the finance secretary has had with ministerial colleagues on when a decision will be made on the design and construction of a new grade-separated junction on the A720 Edinburgh city bypass at Sheriffhall, including what cost revisions have been undertaken. (S6O-05364)”