Forth crossing plan 'smacks of Holyrood building project'

Published on Thursday 15 January 2009 09:19

THE £2 billion plans for a new Forth Road Bridge smack of the Holyrood building fiasco, a local MSP said today.

Edinburgh West Liberal Democrat Margaret Smith, whose constituency includes South Queensferry, said uncertainties about the bridge project made it feel too much like the problem-plagued 414m Scottish Parliament scheme, which was finally completed three years late and ten times over budget.

First Minister Alex Salmond has repeatedly pledged the new crossing – scheduled to be finished by 2016 – will be built "on time and on budget".

But speaking ahead of a debate at Holyrood this afternoon, Ms Smith said the project gave the impression of being "cobbled together".

Last month, the Scottish Government announced it had effectively halved the previously estimated 4 billion cost of the bridge, cutting the number of lanes in each direction from three to two and designating the existing bridge for public transport use.

But Ms Smith said: "The way this project was originally consulted on was on the basis that the existing crossing was not able to stay in use. Now the plans are totally dependent on the assumption that it will.

"One minute it's going to cost 4 billion, the next minute we shave 1.7 billion off just like that."

Ms Smith said she was hoping to put her concerns to Finance Secretary John Swinney in today's debate.

She said: "I will be asking what interest he has had from contractors in tendering for this project and if he can guarantee the design will be ready when the tender goes out.

"Or will the real tender cost not be known because the design won't be known? It has the smack of the Holyrood building project about it.

"There are still a lot of uncertainties about the design and it costs a lot of money for companies to go through the full process of bidding and tendering."

She said there was a very tight timetable for the tendering and design work to allow construction work to start in 2011.

This afternoon's debate was expected to focus on the Scottish Government's decision to use conventional funding for the bridge despite the UK Treasury's rejection of its request to borrow from future years' budgets.

But the Government has admitted other projects are likely to suffer as spending is concentrated on the bridge.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy is to convene a meeting later this month between Mr Swinney and Treasury Minister Yvette Cooper on the issue of funding for the bridge.