UK: The long-awaited report of the inquiry into why the Edinburgh tram project incurred delays, cost more than budgeted and was reduced in scope was finally published on September 19.
The construction of the line from the city’s airport to Newhaven was initially budgeted at £545m with opening envisaged for 2011. However, the inquiry found the best estimate of the total cost of the truncated line from the airport to York Place, which opened in 2014, was £835·7m.
The 957-page report contains criticisms of many companies, organisations and individuals. Inquiry Chair Lord Hardie said he wished to highlight the actions of City of Edinburgh Council, its project company Transport Initiatives Edinburgh, and Scottish ministers.
He said TIE’s ‘mismanagement played a significant role in the failure to deliver the project on time and within budget’. The principal cause was the infrastructure contract, the terms of which led to disputes over interpretation and work stopping until these could be resolved. Council officials provided councillors with misleading reports, while Scottish minsters’ instruction that Transport Scotland should scale back its involvement had removed important safeguards.
Recommendations
The report makes 24 recommendations for consideration by Scottish ministers.
The first four are about how future inquiries should be undertaken. Recommendations specific to light rail schemes include:
- where the business case assumes that design, approval and utility diversions will have been completed before the award of the construction contract, contract negotiations should be delayed until they have been achieved, or a new business case should be prepared;
- business cases should include an assessment of risk that takes account of optimism bias, with peer review by external consultants with relevant experience;
- guidance on optimism bias should be updated regularly and be light rail specific;
- identification and management of risk should be an integral part of the governance of all major public sector contracts;
- there are recommendations for the future governance and oversight of projects, including a greater role for Transport Scotland and minuting of discussions and decisions;
- procurement strategy for any future light rail project should make adequate provision for the uncertainties around utilities, with a requirement that the route should be cleared well in advance of the infrastructure contractors commencing work. The report is not prescriptive about how these risks should be managed, saying it is sufficient for promoters to be aware of such risks and demonstrate proposals for managing them;
- promoters should appoint a procurement and project management company with suitably qualified and experienced permanent employees that has delivered a similar project successfully or can demonstrate that it will be able to do so;
- all parties should engage to clarify design criteria;
- the governance structure should follow published guidance and ensure clarity regarding the roles of the bodies and individuals involved;
- there should be a collaborative approach to delivery at all stages of the project, with co-location of representatives of each organisation;
- the directors, employees and consultants of the company responsible for procurement and delivery, including an arm’s length organisation wholly owned by the local authority, should not submit information that is deceptive or misleading. Scottish ministers should consider appropriate sanctions if this happens.
The cost of the inquiry to the end of July was more than £13m.
Responses
Commenting on the report, the Scottish government’s Cabinet Secretary for Transport Mairi McAllan said ‘the inquiry took too long, was too costly and in some instances the evidence heard does not support the conclusion drawn. Clearly all organisations and individuals who gave evidence to the inquiry, including the Scottish government and Transport Scotland who have just received the report, must take our time to consider the detail and the recommendations. Having done that I will provide a more comprehensive response to parliament, and respond to members’ questions, in due course.’
Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day said ’it’s clear that serious mistakes were made and that this had a significant impact on the city. There’s no getting away from the fact that the original project caused a great deal of disruption to residents and businesses, as well as damaging the city’s reputation and on behalf of the council, I want to apologise for this.
‘I won’t, however, apologise for building a tram system, or for our ambition to develop it further. After all, creating a better connected, environmentally friendly transport system is essential for a modern, successful city and we need to transform the way people move around if we are to achieve our net zero goals.’
He added that the council was ‘already looking at options for expanding the network further — to the north and south of the city, and potentially also to [serve] neighbouring authorities — and it’s encouraging to see this is very much part of the Scottish government’s plans too’.
