Whitehall challenges 'cut-price' Forth bridge

Published on Saturday 10 January 2009 18:53

THE UK Government is to challenge SNP ministers over their decision to back a cut-price Forth road bridge, in a move set to intensify the bitter row over the £2.3bn crossing.

Scotland on Sunday can reveal that Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has asked SNP ministers to attend talks this month, where he intends to raise concerns over their plans for a scaled-down crossing.

Ministers opted last month to build a new bridge with only two lanes in each direction with a hard shoulder, rather than three. The approach roads will be dual carriageways instead of motorways.

The SNP said this enabled it to cut the cost from an expected 4bn to around half, but Labour claims businesses have already raised concerns that the bridge will have insufficient capacity to handle expected traffic volumes.

The dispute opens a new front in the row between Labour and the SNP over the bridge. It comes a week after Scotland on Sunday revealed UK ministers had turned down a request from the SNP Government to advance it the cash to pay for the bridge.

That refusal has triggered a war of words between London and Edinburgh. The SNP last night stepped up the attack, pointing to the growing number of bodies and politicians who believe the Scottish Government should be able to borrow funds to enable it to spread the cost of the bridge over a number of years.

Scotland's leading public finance agency, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, is warning the SNP's decision to fund the bridge from its annual budget as it is built will result in "a huge volume of other priorities not being met".

Murphy has now invited Finance Secretary John Swinney for talks on January 27. Labour ministers have suggested the SNP either saves up funds now, or considers a privately built bridge.

In a letter to Swinney, he says: "It is important that this vital transport link is built in the right way, to the right specification and is on time and on budget."

The reference to the "specification" of the bridge shows UK ministers want to open up the talks to include the decision by SNP ministers to back a cut-price crossing. One senior Whitehall source said:

"We're saying let's sit down with open books. They can tell us why they think this bridge is the right one. If the business case stacks up, then fine.

"But the danger would be that you strip the cost of a 4bn bridge back to 2.3bn, pay for it from public procurement and then, through delays and over-payments, you end up paying 4bn anyway. That is the kind of thing to be avoided."

A spokesman for Swinney said: "We will be delighted to meet with the Treasury to discuss the funding arrangements for the bridge, which should certainly involve the ability to phase the cost over a longer period.

"A thorough analysis on the bridge specifications was undertaken by the Forth Replacement Crossing project team and the Scottish Government is progressing on their recommendations."