Flagship SNP projects running more than 29 years behind schedule

Scotland’s major infrastructure projects are running more than 29 years late, according to new analysis.

The latest update to the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan shows many of its biggest developments are at least a year behind schedule.

Across all 19 of the projects included in the list, delays are estimated at 10,719 days – equivalent to more than 29 years.

The second of two CalMac ferries is set to come in seven years behind schedule if it is operational by next September.

The NHS Forth Valley Treatment Centre was originally set to be operational by December 2022 but, according the August 2024 Major Capital Projects progress update, the project continues to be delayed.

Elsewhere, HMP Highland is at least two years behind schedule.

Construction on the new jail will be completed in July 2026, with a date only then agreed for when the facility will actually receive prisoners.

Delays may be even worse

NHS Lothian upgrades to the Edinburgh Cancer Centre at the Western General Hospital were completed and operational earlier this year.

However, the original plan aimed to be operational in November 2022.

Elsewhere transport and further education projects across Scotland are also running hundreds of days behind schedule.

Despite the SNP missing its own delivery goals by almost three decades, these figures are actually understated.

Upgrades to the A9 have been continually pushed back. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

For example, the £1.3 billion plan to replace Monklands hospital in North Lanarkshire has been paused meaning no completion date apart from its original 2031 schedule is available.

In addition, decarbonising rolling stock on the Fife Railway through electrification was to be achieved by December 2025.

But a “refresh” of the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan means timescales and costs for this scheme have yet to be determined.

Using the government’s own figures, the project was set to take three years and two months to complete. Therefore it is estimated at 1,158 days behind schedule.

Two health service projects, the Forth Valley National Treatment Centre and the Aberdeen Baird Family Hospital and ANCHOR Centre, do not actually have completion dates associated with them.

In these cases, the next infrastructure update, set for June 2025, has been used as an operational date.

Crumbling infrastructure

Scottish Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra accused the government of allowing the “fabric of our country” to crumble.

He said: “Once again the SNP’s chaos and incompetence is wreaking havoc with Scottish public services.

“From our hospitals to our public transport to our prisons, the SNP is letting the very fabric of our country crumble.

“These devastating delays have meant longer NHS waiting lists, less reliable transport links, and the early release of hundreds of prisoners.

“It’s time for an end to this damaging SNP mismanagement and a focus on delivery.”

One of the delays which has caused the most anger – including within the SNP’s own group of MSPs at Holyrood – is around dualling the A9.

Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing made a direct challenge to SNP leader John Swinney to speed up the project after warning his constituents are “10 times more likely” to lose a loved one to a road death than if they lived in the central belt.

A 49-year-old man was killed in a four-vehicle crash on the A9 near Ballinluig last month, with a further three people taken to hospital.

The A9 will be not be upgraded between Perth and Inverness until 2035 under the newest timetable – a decade later than expected.

What does the government say?

The Scottish Government said infrastructure investment is a key factor in securing economic growth.

It added that it has a “strong record” in delivering projects, with substantial improvements made.

A spokesman said: “Since the current Infrastructure Investment Plan was published, we have delivered major road enhancements such as dualling the A9 from Luncarty to Pass of Birnam, major rail enhancements such as the Levenmouth Rail project, and improvements to our health and justice systems such as the Hospital Expansion Programme and the National Facility for Women Offenders.

“Whilst progress is being made to deliver key infrastructure investments and major projects have been delivered, we face significant pressures on our capital budget as the high level of inflation experienced in the construction sector has permanently increased the cost of delivering infrastructure.

“The Scottish Budget prioritises funding to deliver on the first minister’s priorities, which include growing the economy.”