Scottish Government steps into trams fiasco at last

Published on Thursday 3 February 2011 17:12

THE Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency is to play an "active" role in the mediation process that will seek to end the bitter dispute that has brought Edinburgh's beleaguered tram project to a virtual halt.

Sources close to the project said Transport Scotland would now have to agree to any changes that formed part of a peace deal between Edinburgh City Council-owned tram developer Tie (the former Transport Initiatives Edinburgh) and the construction consortium led by German firm Bilfinger Berger.

These could include plans to build the 11.5-mile Edinburgh airport-Newhaven line initially only as far east as the city centre, which could affect Transport Scotland's 500 million funding for the 545m project.

The news emerged as Labour called for the agency to play a greater role in the project after ministers rebuffed the move for Transport Scotland to do so.

Edinburgh North and Leith Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm urged ministers to give Transport Scotland a bigger role in running the project, which was recommended in a report by Audit Scotland on Wednesday.

The public spending watchdog said the Scottish Government should "consider whether Transport Scotland should use its expertise in managing major transport projects to be more actively involved and assist the project in avoiding possible further delays and cost overruns".

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The report noted that the agency left the project board in 2007 following an unsuccessful attempt by the SNP to scrap the scheme after coming to power.

Mr Chisholm said: "It would be helpful if Transport Scotland became more directly involved. It is very odd they withdrew in 2007. They should certainly be sitting there at the table.

"The Scottish Government should have either rejected the (Scottish Parliament] vote to retain the scheme or got behind it.

"Instead, the SNP has tried to make political capital out of it."

Mr Chisholm added that Transport Scotland taking control of the scheme from the city council should remain an option, but he was not convinced that should happen yet.

Transport minister Keith Brown yesterday stressed the tram scheme was a council project and rejected calls for Transport Scotland to play a greater role. He said: "There is no question that we should try to change the governance arrangements at this stage of the contract - we are well into the contract now."

However, Mr Brown announced that Transport Scotland was part of the mediation process, which ministers had urged in an effort to settle the dispute. He said: "Obviously, Transport Scotland will be involved in the mediation."

The two-year-old dispute, over the cost of project changes and delays caused by other late-running work, has put back completion until at least 2013.The council now expects the scheme to cost at least 600m, which could require it to find 100m.

A total of 402m has been spent so far, with just 28 per cent of construction finished, although other work, such as moving underground pipes from the route and manufacturing the trams, is nearly finished.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "Ministers are keen to ensure the mediation exercise is given every opportunity to resolve this long-running dispute to the benefit of the people of Edinburgh, and to that end ministers have agreed that Transport Scotland will be available to assist the process."

A council spokesman said it was "open to discussions about the potential involvement of Transport Scotland".