Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Official Report 790KB pdf

Point of Order

Before I move to the next item of business, I understand that Derek Mackay would like to say something in relation to the point of order raised earlier today by James Kelly on the statements that the minister made on the Forth road bridge.

Presiding Officer, I would like to respond to the earlier point of order from Labour. Let me be clear: the fault in the specific piece of bridge truss that we are repairing now was not broken in 2010. The fault that we are currently repairing occurred in the last few weeks. The specific part that we are currently working on was not identified as in need of repair in 2010. In 2010 the works proposed were for a far greater area. A decision was taken by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority that it was not necessary to replace the entire area, which would have involved a lengthy and unnecessary closure of the bridge. Instead, a less-disruptive set of works was put together, which was under way. MSPs have all been invited to a technical briefing.

My priority is to get the bridge fixed and to get people moving across the Forth road bridge again. That is what I and this Government will remain focused on.

There is a point of order from James Kelly.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have listened to the minister’s response and I have studied carefully the statements that he made yesterday and on “Good Morning Scotland” this morning, and the points remain. His statements were contradictory and therefore I seek—[Interruption.]

Order.

I see your guidance, Presiding Officer, as to what powers are available to MSPs when a minister has misled Parliament.

Mr Kelly, I think that you should be very careful before you suggest that a minister has misled Parliament.

On your specific points, if a member thinks that a minister may have given misleading information to the Parliament, he or she may raise that with the Scottish Government under the Scottish ministerial code.

In addition, if a member realises that he or she has given incorrect information in a contribution in the chamber, there is a procedure for adding information to the Official Report and for publicising that correction.