No more government money for a 'badly managed project'

At a Holyrood committee yesterday, the infrastructure secretary Alex Neil said any decision on its future must be based on "trusted and reliable" information.

The scheme has been "badly managed" according to Mr Neil who said ministers have not been asked to intervene.

"The Scottish Government has not been directly involved in the project and we've not received any requests to take over the project either directly or through Transport Scotland," he said.

"We've made it absolutely clear that we don't have any additional money to invest in the trams project of the 500 million allocated of Scottish Government money already.

"We just don't have the money to put any more money in even if we wanted to - although I'm not sure that we would.

"It's now back to Edinburgh council to get its act together and make a decision about the way forward."

Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw said "some sources" within the council had indicated that the Scottish Government may be set to provide a partial bailout of the project, but this was rejected by the minister.

"There is no way the Scottish Government can give Edinburgh council the capital to fill any or part of that entire funding gap," he said.

"We don't have the money to give them.

"We've just been talking about all our own projects that we have and the need to manage our own money very prudently, but we do not have any spare capital to put into the trams project."

The Cabinet Secretary said he was aware that a number options were under consideration at today's council meeting.

"They've got to have a really well worked out plan, with finances underpinned with proper research and reliable figures and make any decision about which option they're going to take based, hopefully, on reliable information that can be trusted to be as near correct as it's possible to be in these circumstances."

Mr Neil said the decision on whether to cancel the scheme or continue, and which route it then pursues, is a matter for the council.

"We haven't expressed any particular preference," he said.

"At the end of the day this project has obviously been very badly managed up until now and we really hope that the council will now get its act together and whatever decision it takes, then execute that decision as quickly and efficiently as possible."

The SNP tried to scrap the trams project soon after coming to power in 2007, but were outvoted in the Scottish Parliament by the combined opposition parties.

Mr Neil said the 500 million of government money which has gone on the project could have been better spent in the capital or elsewhere around the country.