© Insider Narrative. All Rights Reserved.
Finance

Finance secretary corrects Budget after missing out A96 plans

This post was originally published on this site.

Steven McKenzie,Highlands and Islands reporterand

Kirsten Campbell,Scotland political correspondent

imagePA Media Finance Secretary Shona Robison announces the draft Budget for 2026-27 to MSPs at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. She stands in the debating chamber at a desk with two folders in front of her. She has short, tied back fair hair and wears a pink top and black and white scarf and is speaking. John Swinney sits next to her and looks on, as do other MSPs in the background.PA Media

The finance secretary has committed to fully dualling the A96 after the route was missing from a Scottish government Budget document.

Shona Robison said the A96 Inverness to Aberdeen corridor should have been included in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline – as well as mentions of key sections of the trunk road such as a Nairn bypass – when it was published on Tuesday.

She blamed a production error but said the document had now been corrected.

Independent MSP Fergus Ewing accused the Scottish government of making “schoolboy howlers”, while Conservative MSP Douglas Ross said the omission of the entire route had amounted to a “monumental failure”.

‘One error’

In Holyrood, Ewing asked Robison to make a correction and to apologise for “what appears to be a series of schoolboy howlers”.

He said officials should have been “all over the detail of a vital document”.

Ross said the Scottish government had committed to fully dualling the A96 for more than a decade.

He added: “We are supposed to believe none of them noticed – not a single one realised – they had omitted to include dualling the A96 from their budget document.”

imageGetty Images An aerial image showing rows of houses in Nairn and, at the bottom of the image, the A9 where it crosses the River Nairn. Nairn Harbour and the Moray Firth are visible at the top of the picture.Getty Images

Ross also accused Robison of making the same omission in her Budget speech on Tuesday.

Robison said “one error” had been made in the document, adding: “We are looking into how exactly this happened but my understanding is it would appear to be a production error in the document.”

The document says upgrades of the A96 from Inverness to Nairn, including a bypass at Nairn, as well as the A96-A9 Inshes to Smithton section and A96 corridor would be added to the Scottish government’s delivery plans once businesses cases and funding was agreed.

imageGetty Images Three cars travel along the A9 where it passes through the hilly Drumochter Pass. There is snow on the ground and, on the right hand side, large electricity pylons.Getty Images

Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has told MSPs the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness was an “absolute priority” for the Scottish government.

She said the project was on course to be completed by the end of 2035, with half of the road to be done by the end of 2030.

The original target date for the whole project had been 2025.

Hyslop said remaining sections would now be paid for from the Scottish government’s capital budget – rather than using public and private investment.

Ministers announced a further £200m for the work in Tuesday’s Budget.

Opposition MSPs said the money was a “drop in the ocean”, and questioned when future funding would be delivered given shortfalls in the capital budget.