Chamber and committees

The Government will, of course, engage with Rhoda Grant on her legislative proposal in relation to the needs of individuals in rural and island communities, especially in the Highlands and Islands. The Government takes forward a range of interventions in healthcare, in transportation and in other aspects of public services that are designed to address the challenges that the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s report sets out. That will remain the Government’s focus as we take forward our programme of interventions in Scotland.

The Government remains committed to the dualling of the A9 and the A96—[Interruption.]—

—and is taking practical steps to advance those projects.

On the question of road speed, a consultation is under way. The reason why we are having a consultation is that there are different opinions about how best to tackle the issue. I am regularly pressed, as is the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, on the number of fatalities and accidents on our roads. We would be neglecting our duty if we did not examine what options are possible to address that situation.

I hear the comments that Mr Fraser puts on the record from an individual whom I know well and who contributes significantly on the subject. However, if members of Parliament want us to address the issue of fatalities on our roads, we have to explore what the options are for doing that. That is what the Government is doing.

I think that members of the public will be stunned that a Labour Government that promised to reduce fuel bills by an average of £300 has seen those bills increase in October, with the likelihood of further increases coming in January. To compound that difficult situation, the withdrawal of the winter heating payment means that more than 400,000 people on low incomes who have been eligible for that entitlement will lose it.

It is a very serious situation that pensioners in particular in our society are facing. I make the plea today, because it is absolutely central to what we need to do, that we get the UK Government to reverse the unwarranted cut in winter fuel payments, which is damaging the livelihoods and circumstances of pensioners in Scotland.

Those issues are very important, and Lorna Slater raises an important question about the impact of tobacco and alcohol misuse on the health of the population. The Government has taken significant action in relation to minimum unit pricing, and we will continue to focus on measures to tackle this significant issue.

As to the question of a public health supplement, that will be considered as part of the budget process. Of course, I am not at liberty to comment on those issues until the budget comes to Parliament in December.

The Government remains committed to its investment programme. We will take the action to support road safety measures that I set out in my earlier answer. The transport secretary is actively involved in dealing with many of those questions, and she hosted a road safety summit in February this year to review all current road safety measures. That will remain a very focused part of the agenda that the transport secretary and the Government take forward.

I recognise the seriousness and significance of the issue. The incident to which Mr Ewing refers took place in my parliamentary constituency, just to the south of Ballinluig. The Government has already invested in dualling a number of stretches of the A9. When I was travelling on the A9 on Monday, I saw the beginnings of the work that is under way on the next stretch of the road to be dualled, which is the Moy to Tomatin stretch.

As I indicated to Parliament in June, the Government will keep the programme under review to identify whether there is any way that we can move at a faster rate. Officials are in the process of considering the implications of resequencing or accelerating completion of the A9 dualling programme. The Cabinet Secretary for Transport has asked that a report on the findings of that work be published when it is complete.

I take the opportunity to extend my sympathies to the family of the individual who lost their life on the A9 on Tuesday, and to all those who were affected by the incident.

Mr Findlay might be in a slightly stronger position to provide analytical support to the Parliament if he had not been the person who argued that I should follow the example of Liz Truss. If I had followed the example of Liz Truss, we would have acute problems in the balancing of our budget this year, because Liz Truss and her loyal Scottish ally Russell Findlay would have taken us to the economic and fiscal disaster that she inflicted on the United Kingdom. All I can say is, thank goodness I never inflicted that on Scotland.

I point out to Lorna Slater that the Government already has in place higher business taxes on larger retailers. That is a source of great controversy, but we have it in place already, which takes into account some of the issues that Lorna Slater raises with me.

Lorna Slater also has to accept that I cannot disclose today the contents of a Government budget that has not yet been finalised. It will be finalised a week on Wednesday. It will be set out to Parliament and there will then be an opportunity for Parliament to debate those issues.

I do not think that Ash Regan has listened to a word that I have said in response to Michelle Thomson or Stephen Kerr, because I said that I am actively pursuing an option to maintain the refining capacity at Grangemouth. If that needs to be stated again, I will state it again to Parliament so that it is clearly understood.

Economic damage will be done if there is no intervention to prolong the life of the refinery at Grangemouth. If we do that, we will have the opportunity to secure carbon capture and storage and to take forward the other projects through the project willow exercise. That will provide a secure future for the Grangemouth site. Let there be no doubt about it: the Scottish Government is actively pursuing these opportunities to protect the workers at Grangemouth.