Scottish Parliament Economic Recovery Plan 2010 Debate

BASF this week announced 232 job losses in my constituency – almost 2/3 of the jobs at the former CIBA plant are to go in the next three years. Proof positive the recession is not over.

Last September, John Swinney, in his budget statement told Parliament that he had “reluctantly decided to cancel the Glasgow airport rail link project”, also in my constituency. Since the GARL decision, the Scottish Government has had 2 unexpected cash windfalls; £23 million in the PBR and £82 million in the March budget. In fairness only £76 of the £82m goes directly into the Scottish budget as £6m is for student loans.

But the facts are that £100 million extra on top of what John Swinney thought he had last Sept has gone into the Scottish Government’s budget for this year.

So given that £100m windfall since September why will he not revive GARL?

After all, GARL is not a new project- but the only major “Parliament approved” project ever to be cancelled mid – construction.

If it was “reluctantly cancelled” why is it not being reinstated given the windfall?

P.O. can I raise an important procedural issue at my request- SPICe asked the Scottish Government at lunchtime: When will we know how the full £76m for this year will be spent? Scottish Govt officials replied- Not till October this year in the budget revisions. I would be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary could look into the accuracy and courtesy of that response.

Let me return to why GARL deserved reinstatement. Uniquely, it is a project estimated to be worth 1300 jobs in the future.

The Government has never questioned the accuracy of this job creation assessment.

SPICe told me: The figure of 1300 jobs created in Glasgow and Renfrewshire over a 20 year period by the Garl project comes from “assessment of Wider Economic benefits” produced for SPT by Roger Tym and Partners in June 2005.

They continued that this study is still on the Transport Scotland website suggest this is still considered by Transport Scotland and Government to be a robust bit of work. And they confirmed SPICe are not aware of the Scottish Government questioning the accuracy of the assessments contained in the report.

So the Government’s own website tells us GARL could create 1300 jobs in the west of Scotland – and yet they still say no.

That high long term job creation potential reflects the fact that GARL is linked closely with a major investment plan in the private sector. BAA planned £80-100m associated airport investment.

GARL will deliver spin-off jobs in leisure and commerce that other capital projects won’t deliver.

The axing of GARL has involved demolishing office premises and service yards and left brownfield scars in their place, making it impossible to easily attract those jobs back without significant investment.

So the opportunity to accelerate major investment and associated jobs from the private sector has also been lost at a time when we most need it.

Why with the new budget cash available have the Government decided against a project every major business organization in Scotland wanted? Why does the Govt keep saying no?

Recall John Swinney actually wrote the forward to Scotland’s current National Planning Framework, identifying GARL as a transport project of ‘national importance meriting early implementation’ . obviously now an ‘inconvenient truth’.

It is also an inconvenient truth that Mr Stevenson himself confirmed GARL had a better rate of return on investment capital with a higher Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.28, when compared to returns on other multi-billion now authorised projects.

The Government has also made clear they simply weren’t interested in looking at an independent engineering consultancy appraisal identifying a 30% saving in GARL costs- reduced fromTransport Scotland’s inflated £175m to just £120m (by avoiding the Airport’s fuel tanks).

Mr. Swinney did not want to know.

Just as Mr Swinney did not want to known when Network Rail volunteered GARL assistance.

The Government admits cancellation itself cost £16m – money down the drain. Others say it is up to £55m.

The SNP are demonstrating opportunism and inconsistency in their treatment of GARL and the west of Scotland. They have a cash windfall- use it on restoring the only capital project they have cancelled.

Every business organisation would applaud if Mr Swinney responded positively to this new windfall funding opportunity, by engaging in a dialogue for progress desired by all the rail link stakeholders and the business community, for a Scottish rail network meeting the needs and expectations of a 21st-century Scotland.