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Final bill for Fraser inquiry tops £700,000



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Published Date: 21 June 2008
THE final bill for the Fraser inquiry into the Holyrood construction fiasco was over £700,000.
Audited accounts for the inquiry published by the Scottish Government show Lord Fraser, the Tory peer who conducted the probe, received £127,659 in fees. And the overall cost was £717,426.

The inquiry into the spiralling costs and delays which bedeviled construction of the Scottish Parliament building was launched in June 2003, while contractors were still trying to finish the work, and concluded in September 2004, just weeks before the official opening.

It sat for 43 days and its findings criticised politicians and civil servants but found there was "no single villain of the piece".

The building was delivered three years late and at a cost of £414.4 million.

As well as Lord Fraser's fees, £215,684 was spent on legal support, and £169,940 on technical and PR consultancy.





The full article contains 156 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 21 June 2008 11:50 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: The Scottish Parliament
 
1

The Former Mr. Angry,

Perth 21/06/2008 15:34:48
So - there were a massive cost overrun, but no individual was really at fault and it was a big boy that done it and ran away. That's what you got for your £700,000 folks, quite apart from the 60s slum with bits of lego stuck on it which we call a parliament...
2

JayJay,

Right here 21/06/2008 16:00:14
I am fast reaching the point where I believe the political elite in this country believe themselves to be utterly untouchable.
They utterly f~*k up a construction project, appoint rank amateurs to run it, organise a build contract utilising a methodology that not one single contractor would ever use, allow consultants to link their payments to the headline contract uncapped and, all the while, tell great big whoppers over the suitability of the site (not suitable) and the end cost (£40m..no £120m...ach who cares its an architectural masterpiece).
When its all over, and we are left wondering who on earth picked a Spanish architect with no experience whatsoever of this sort of project (step smartly forward Kirsty Wark, that well know building expert and best mate of the former father of the nation Donald Dewar), they decide to have the inevitable "public enquiry". In time honoured fashion, some "respected" member of the political establishment hoves into view, and delivers a verdict that we see time and time again whenever the public sector is involved in a monumental botch job. "Lessons have been learned, and no-one was to blame".
Since I could have predicted that outcome the minute the enquiry started, why did it cost £700k plus to deliver a great big tin of whitewash.
We should all be enraged by this dreadful tale of incompetence. Sadly, people don't seem to be at all bothered that their taxes continue to be wasted by people who will never take responsibility for their own, substantial failings.
3

cheuchtar,

21/06/2008 19:24:58
This is only sweetie-money compared to the London Olympics. Originally 2.5 billion and reckoned to be 10 billion-plus at latest estimates. We are definately not in the same league!
4

Doh,

23/06/2008 11:40:31
"Lord Fraser, the Tory peer who conducted the probe, received £127,659 in fees"

"It sat for 43 days"

Nice work if you can get it.

I suppose he could of doen it pro bono but he probably doesnt like U2.
5

,

05/07/2008 16:28:13
Comment Removed By Administrator
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