Rules broken over choice of Miralles as Holyrood architect

Published on Monday 26 June 2006 01:20

MINISTERS have admitted that European rules were broken when Enric Miralles was appointed as the lead architect for the Holyrood building project.

In a submission to the European Commission, the UK government conceded that Donald Dewar, the then Scottish Secretary, broke the rules when he chose Mr Miralles to design the Scottish Parliament building.

The architect was selected despite not having an adequate level of professional insurance cover, which should have disqualified him at a preliminary stage.

The government's admission could now pave the way for legal challenges from architects who tendered for the contract but were passed over in favour of Mr Miralles.

The admission was revealed by the European Commission after it had investigated a complaint from David Black, an architectural writer, about the way the project was handled.

The EC sent a formal notice to the UK government in March, warning that it had broken EU rules and asking for a response.

Replying, the government admitted rules were broken.

Earlier this month, the EC acknowledged the government's response.

It stated: "In their reply to the commission's letter of formal notice, the United Kingdom authorities acknowledged that the procedure in question was not conducted in a manner consistent with the requirements of public procurement directive 92/50/EEC - nor with the need to guarantee that the underlying treaty principle of equal treatment had been met."

There was good news for Westminster and the Executive, however, with the statement from the EC that, although rules had been broken, Europe did not intend to pursue the matter any further.

There had been fears that the EC might fine the UK government for the breach, but it now seems certain that no punitive action will be taken.

But Fergus Ewing, the SNP MSP who has been a consistent critic of the Executive's handling of the parliament project, demanded to know why ministers had only admitted this mistake now - not during the long-running Holyrood Inquiry. He suggested senior civil servants might have misled the inquiry.

He said: "Why didn't the Executive admit this at the Fraser Inquiry? Would this not mean top civil servants in Scotland - from Sir Muir Russell downwards - misled the Fraser Inquiry?"

A spokesman from the Scottish Executive said ministers were not aware of the government's response to the European Commission, so could not comment on it.