The Aberdeen City Region Deal has committed hundreds of millions of pounds towards infrastructure improvements across the North East, funded by both Scotland’s governments.
As part of an update into the progress of deal money getting to where it needs to go, I attended a strategic transport meeting for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
There was of course a lot of updates related to the city itself, but I was able to make sure that some transport issues in Banff and Buchan were also highlighted.
Some projects related to Banff and Buchan projects are already being mooted, albeit with little detail at this point.
These include the A90 being dualled north of Ellon and improvements to the A947 in capacity and safety.
I made sure to mention that other key roads require a strategy such as the A98, A950, and A956.
One of the big talking points was the prospect of the SNP’s workplace parking levy, or, ‘car park tax.’
As a means of discouraging the use of private cars for commuting, they appear to be missing the point.
Thousands of commuters from across Aberdeenshire travel into Aberdeen by car through necessity – due to lack of access to decent public transport.
If the tax is passed on to employees, it would be subject to VAT.
This could take the cost to almost £500 for each taxpayer driving to work.
They will be paying through the nose for parking, but that money won’t be reinvested in public transport.
At Westminster, I have been assigned to participate in another Public Bill Committee – this time on the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill.
Although I accept completely that immigration must be controlled, I believe that our businesses and public services must still be able to source labour from outside the UK (from the EU and beyond) if required. The replacement for the EU’s current freedom of movement should be sensitive to this.
This Bill, which brings to an end the freedom of movement from being in the EU, is one of several Bills that require to pass to enable a smooth departure from the EU and to ensure we have our own laws to cover what would otherwise be covered by EU law.
This Immigration Bill enables the UK to develop new Immigration Policy. Other UK Bills, for Agriculture and Fisheries (for which I was also assigned to be on the committee), which replace the Common Agriculture Policy and Common Fisheries Policy respectively, also need to be enacted as we leave the EU, to allow us to develop legislation that is more fit for purpose for these key sectors in Banff and Buchan.
Despite the current lack of cross-party agreement on how we should progress with Brexit, I am optimistic that a deal can be reached that will achieve a majority in the House of Commons.
We must deliver on the result of the EU referendum in 2016 and we must do so in a way that provides certainty and stability for business, communities and individuals.