Forth Crossing Act
The Forth Crossing Bill became an Act of Parliament on 20 January 2011 and provides powers to the Scottish Ministers to construct a new crossing over the Firth of Forth to the west of the Forth Road Bridge.
View the Act on the Legislation.gov.uk website.
View Bill information on the Scottish Parliament website.
The scheme comprises:
- the construction of the new crossing and connecting roads to link to the road network;
- the upgrading of existing roads and junctions; and changes to the designation and responsibility of ownership of specified existing roads.
The Act came into force on the following dates:
3 February 2011: Parts 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, schedules 9 and 10
18 March 2011: Parts 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9, schedules 1 – 8 and 11
Forth Crossing Bill Process
Scottish Ministers introduced the Forth Crossing Bill to the Scottish Parliament on 16 November 2009 outlining proposals for the Forth Replacement Crossing and published the Bill on 17 November 2009. It was the first hybrid Bill of its type ever taken forward in Scotland.
Transport Scotland produced a full suite of accompanying documents to support the Bill and staged public information exhibitions in November and December 2009 to make this documentation available for public inspection. These documents can be found in Forth Crossing Bill - Supporting Documents section.
As part of the Parliamentary process there was a 60-day objection period during which time objections to the Bill could be made to the Scottish Parliament. In total 90 objections were submitted.
Officials from the project team gave evidence at various Committee sessions as part of its consideration of the Forth Crossing Bill at Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Timeline
November 2009 - May 2010: Stage 1 (Preliminary)
- Introduction of Bill and commencement of objection period for directly affected parties
- Forth Crossing Bill Committee established
- Committee calls for evidence and conducts preliminary consideration of objections as part of its consideration of General principles and produces a report incorporating evidence from other standing Committees (Finance/Subordinate Legislation)
- Forth Crossing Bill Committee published their Stage 1 report
- Stage 1 debate. The Parliament voted on the general principles of the Forth Crossing Bill and on the Financial Resolution and agreed it should proceed to Stage 2. See Official Report
June – November 2010: Stage 2 (Consideration) Phase 1 (dealing with objections)
- Committee appoints assessor Prof Hugh Begg
- Committee manages written correspondence process with the Promoter and Objectors
- Assessor hears evidence from the Promoter and Objectors
- Assessor reports his findings to the Forth Crossing Committee and publish their Stage 2 report
Phase 2 (amendments to Bill)
- Stage 2 debate
December 2010: Stage 3 (Final)
- Stage 3 debate
- Royal Assent: 20 January 2011