Chamber and committees

Cabinet secretary, why has a hybrid approach to A9 dualling been adopted? How does the total cost compare with the cost of a capital-funded approach?

How confident are you that the programme for dualling the A9 will come within the £3.7 billion budget? Is there any robustness in the figures that could back that up?

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to COSLA to seek its views on the action called for in the petition and to ask for information about its work on recommendation 14 from the temporary accommodation task and finish group report. In particular, the committee could ask about the engagement that COSLA has had so far with the Scottish Government on this work.

I wonder whether the committee would consider writing to the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, highlighting the petitioner’s submissions and seeking an update on the work to finalise and publish the voluntary code of practice for landowning maintenance companies.

Yes.

I wonder whether the committee would consider keeping the petition open and writing to the Minister for Transport once the fair fares review has been published, to seek details on any recommendations relate to the ask of the petition.

I wonder whether the committee would consider keeping the petition open and writing to the Scottish Government to ask whether it intends to carry out work relating to the issues that are raised in the petition and on whether it will undertake work to raise awareness about public rights to access different types of land and the law of trespass in Scotland.

The UK National Screening Committee is going to—

The number of applications to extend areas to sell alcohol was over several licensing boards, which shows that those shops are making greater profit from alcohol, because they would not change an area if sales—

I would argue against that. The small paper shop that I go to every day does not sell alcohol at all. It has been there for 20 years and is very successful.