Tories count cost of Holyrood project

The new estimated cost of the project is £278m

Money is being wasted on the Holyrood project which could be better spent on schools, police forces, hospitals and roads, according to the Scottish Conservatives.

The party's finance spokesman David Davidson said the Scottish Executive had been guilty of throwing money around "like confetti" since the project began.

He also called on ministers to give assurances that no more public money would be allocated to the parliament building.

Mr Davidson said he felt compelled to make his comments at the end of the year which has seen the estimated cost of the project soar to £278m.

David Davidson: "Grandiose parliament"

He said: "Nothing has done more to tarnish the reputation of this parliament than the handling of the Holyrood building project."

Mr Davidson said that the "whole saga" had been characterised by "incompetence, mis-management and misinformation" from day one.

"Public money, which should be spent on public services, is instead being squandered on a grandiose parliament for Scottish politicians," he said.

"The extra quarter-billion that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party voted to pour down the Holyrood money pit would be enough to build 83 primary schools, 25 secondary schools or three new state-of-the-art hospitals."

Mr Davidson said that cash for the project could also have financed one year's salary of 10,000 police officers, 11,360 teachers or 12,820 nurses.

However the Scottish Executive claimed it was delivering "record levels" of spending on public services within the existing budgets.

A spokesman said: "This means more money for schools, hospitals and improved services across the public sector."