Blame shared for Scots Parliament fiasco

21 Sep 00
The former Scottish Office failed to prepare a comprehensive procurement strategy when it began preparations for a new building for the Scottish Parliament, auditor general Bob Black said this week.

22 September 2000

In his first major report since being appointed earlier this year, Black criticised the management of the £195m project which has been dogged by soaring costs and delays.

He said the construction estimates for the project at Holyrood in Edinburgh had increased by 116% from £50m to £108m. Almost half the growth was attributable to a 47% increase in the total area of the building.

Black, appointed by the Scottish Parliament's audit committee to investigate the scheme, is critical of the management of the project by both the former Scottish Office (now replaced by the Scottish Executive) and the Parliament's cross-party corporate body chaired by Presiding Officer Sir David Steel.

The Scottish Office was responsible for the project until it was handed over to the corporate body in June 1999.

Managing risk and uncertainty should have been a key element of the scheme, Black stated, to help identify how best to manage the project's costs and programming during the design stage. He suggested that the project management could have explored more carefully alternative arrangements for consultants' fees, with financial incentives to achieve value for money.

The report shows that the estimate of fees payable to the consultants was £10m when appointments were made in 1998/99. With the significant increase in the estimated construction costs, the estimated fees soared to £26m.

The auditor general found that areas of the project management did not match Treasury guidelines.

When the project was handed over to the Parliament's corporate body, it should have satisfied itself about the the status and health of the project. 'It is unfortunate that an independent review did not take place,' said Black.

Steel said the report was useful and 'looked forward', and added: 'The report recognises the complexity of the task that lay before us.'

PFsep2000

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