Anger at £20k bill for slats on Scottish Parliament

Published on Wednesday 26 November 2008 09:09

SCOTTISH Parliament bosses are spending £20,000 to remove and treat dozens of wooden slats from the outside of the Holyrood building.

Officials said after four years exposed to the elements, the laminated oak "louvres" needed a fresh coat of resin to help prolong their life.

A cherry-picker was hired to take down the slats from the glass corridor which MSPs use to get to the debating chamber.

The wood was then piled in a lorry before being taken away for treatment.

But today, one long-time Holyrood critic said the exercise highlighted the ongoing expense resulting from the elaborate design of the controversial 414m Parliament building.

Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said: "It's no pleasure to remember asking the questions about the maintenance costs of the building long before the die was cast – but at that time it was very easy to dismiss any questions and comments as negative troublemaking.

"It underlines that there really was a flawed process in building the whole place. The proof of it is now becoming quite obvious – and it's pretty expensive proof at that."

Earlier this year, two sections of the canopy over the public entrance to the Parliament were removed.

The coating on the oak poles was said to be nearing the end of its life and officials wanted to test alternative treatments to extend their life.

A few months later, the rest of the poles making up the canopy were also removed – and they have still not been put back.

At the time, the Parliament said it could not say how much the work would cost.

But today, a Parliament spokeswoman confirmed the 20,000 bill for the slats from the glass corridor.

She said: "This is part of our ongoing programme to maintain the exterior oak features.

"This treatment should last several years before it needs to be done again."

The spokeswoman said the work was not funded from the annual maintenance budget because it did not need to be done every year and instead the money to pay for the removal and treatment of the louvres was being found from elsewhere in the Parliament's budget.

She said timber on any property had to be protected against the effects of weather.

"There is a duty on us to maintain the integrity and unique design of the Parliament building," she said.

"There is a long-term rolling programme to maintain the exterior oak around Holyrood."

She could not say what the next stage of the maintenance programme would involve.