Holyrood estimate 'most expensive'

The inquiry is looking at the oriiginal cost estimates

The initial estimate for the Scottish Parliament building was for the "most expensive" option, the Holyrood Inquiry has heard.

A leading civil servant said the costings of between £10m and £40m were supposed to offer a structure of High Court standards and not a "bog-standard building".

The inquiry, led by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, has been trying to establish why the cost has now risen to an estimated £400m.

Counsel for the inquiry, John Campbell QC, said the original estimate contained in the July 1997 devolution white paper had been for a fairly basic building.

The quotations in the 6 June submission I would not describe as being for a bog standard building Alistair Brown Former civil servant

However, Alistair Brown, a former director of administrative services at the Scottish Office, said he had reached different conclusions in two submissions he made to the then secretary of state, Donald Dewar, on 6 June and 12 June, 1997.

He said: "The quotations in the 6 June submission I would not describe as being for a bog standard building.

"From what I can recall, of the cost basis of the advice, the costs were for a High Court building standard for the public areas of the building and office standard for the rest, MSP offices and so on.

"High Court standards are the most expensive line within a quantity surveyor's ready reckoner for costings."

Lord Fraser asked where the £10m figure had come from.

He said the figure appeared to cover the cost of refurbishing the old Royal High School on Calton Hill - one of the site options for the building - but did not allow for ancillary buildings and accommodation.

Mr Brown said: "This is informed speculation on my part but in the discussions on the parliament accommodation options in the period leading up to the finalising of the drafting of the white paper, there was a lot of discussion about innovative financial solutions, call it PFI (private finance initiative) if you want."

The aim was a building of High Court standards

He said a suggestion had been put forward on the use of PFI by Wendy Alexander, who was then a special adviser to Mr Dewar.

Mr Brown said: "Miss Alexander suggested that the potential range of figures used might be very wide if consideration was given to the use of private developers, who would develop an income stream as a consequence of putting up the capital.

"I would suggest that would have been part of the thinking on the wide range of £10-40m.

"In other words, the £10m was for initial one-off costs associated with establishing a parliament building provided by developer and leased."

However, Lord Fraser said: "I don't recall that in the white paper it said that a £10m figure might be available if you used innovative financial arrangements."

Lord Fraser later pointed out that Graham Munro, the then head of Historic Scotland, had suggested in September 1997 that Calton Hill was the best option.

He said: "In a pretty powerful way, he is expressing that in his view Calton Hill was the best of all possibilities, notwithstanding the willingness both he and Historic Scotland had to see some adjustments to what was on Calton Hill for a new building and some adaptations.

Possible locations

"It doesn't seem to have been pursued that vigorously."

Mr Brown insisted that the Calton Hill option remained on the table "right up to the wire".

The inquiry heard that the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, prevented the Scottish Office publishing a shortlist in September 1997 of three possible locations for the parliament ahead of the devolution referendum.

The three possible sites then under consideration in Edinburgh were Leith, Haymarket and Calton Hill, which included the Old Royal High School.

Mr Brown said: "The secretary of state felt that, well it was at the death of the Princess of Wales and it wouldn't be appropriate for a shortlist of sites to be made before the referendum."

Also that month, Mr Dewar ruled out the idea of allowing MSPs to choose their own site for a parliament following their election, Mr Brown said.