Transport Scotland is fit for purpose despite trams inquiry report – minister

The Scottish Government has “absolute faith” in Transport Scotland despite its involvement in Edinburgh’s delayed and over-budget trams project, MSPs were told.

Labour’s Alex Rowley had questioned if the transport agency is “fit for purpose” in the wake of a “damning” report from the public inquiry set up to examine why the trams took so long to deliver and cost so much.

Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan responded: “Is Transport Scotland fit for purpose? Yes it absolutely is.”

She said its staff “work exceptionally hard to deliver the running of our transport system and the development of major projects in Scotland”, citing the Queensferry Crossing as an example.

Ms McAllan went on to insist she has “absolute faith” in the organisation.

She said the almost 1,000-page report from the public inquiry is “ultimately is an historic piece of work”, adding that many of changes it recommends had been “instituted years ago”.

Publishing the report in September, inquiry chair Lord Hardie said Edinburgh City Council and Tie – the arms-length body it set up to deliver the trams – as well as Scottish ministers were “principally responsible for the failure” of the project.

His report said the decision of John Swinney, who was finance secretary in 2007, to scale back the involvement of Transport Scotland was a mistake.

As the Transport Secretary answered questions on the report in Holyrood, Conservative MSP Miles Briggs pointed out: “The former deputy first minister John Swinney is mentioned 156 times by name in the report, but not once today by Cabinet Secretary in her statement.

“After almost 10 years and £13 million of taxpayers’ money, there’s very little in this statement to accept SNP ministers have accepted their role in the failures around the Edinburgh tram project.”

Mr Rowley said: “Edinburgh council have had the good grace to acknowledge their mistakes and apologise, something this SNP Government seems incapable of doing.”

Ms McAllan said the Government had “considered really carefully all of the recommendations and all of the findings” in the inquiry’s report.

She said nine out of 10 “lead criticisms” in the report “clearly lie within the responsibility of City of Edinburgh Council and its arms-length body Tie”.

She noted that when the SNP came to power in 2007, the party had a manifesto commitment to abandon the trams project – a pledge which was ditched after a vote at Holyrood went against the Government.

Ms McAllan said “lessons must be learned from this report for all parties involved”.

She said ministers are “giving full consideration to the recommendations and any actions that follow, ensuring that lessons are learned and best practice followed for all major infrastructure projects across Government”.

With the public inquiry into the trams having cost more than £13 million and taken almost a decade to report, the Transport Secretary again made clear “the cost of this inquiry and the time it took to report are not satisfactory”.

However she added “These are matters over which Scottish ministers have no locus whatsoever. Questions of time, questions of cost, these are for Lord Hardie.”