Black to look into Holyrood costs

10 Jul 03
Scotland's auditor general Bob Black is to head his own investigation into the soaring costs of the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh alongside the inquiry conducted by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie. Stressing that he also had extensive powers to .

11 July 2003

Scotland's auditor general Bob Black is to head his own investigation into the soaring costs of the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh alongside the inquiry conducted by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie.

Stressing that he also had extensive powers to call for access to documents and papers and seek explanations from people, Black said he hoped to produce a report by next summer – a timescale that fitted well with Fraser's plans.

Black said: 'I am sure that by working on this together we can produce two documents that reinforce each other and are complementary and between them will tell the whole story from the beginning to the conclusion of the project as to what happened.'

The inquiry follows mounting concern about the management of the Holyrood project. From an original 1997 estimate of £40m, the cost has risen to at least £375m.

Fraser said: 'The people of Scotland expect the truth, they deserve the truth and I am determined that they will get the truth. If a whitewash was expected, the wrong person has been appointed.'

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