Holyrood building still on target

Revealing the roof of the chamber was a "key milestone"

The new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood is still on target to be completed in July, according to Presiding Officer George Reid.

In his latest monthly report, Mr Reid said the overall cost of the project had stayed at £401m since November.

However, delays in completing the committee towers and the need to speed up work to meet the July date could lead to additional costs.

The building project has been dogged by spiralling costs and delays.

The original estimate was that a building costing about £40m would open in the summer of 2001.

A string of delays has contributed to the cost of the building rising to more than 10 times its original figure.

Key milestone

Since Mr Reid became presiding officer after the elections in May 2003, he has made completing the project something of a personal crusade.

In his latest report to the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee, he said that the cost had shown no increase for the third consecutive month.

The cost sits at £396.5m plus a programme contingency of £4.6m, Mr Reid said.

However, the previous progress report put the cost at £389.4m, with a contingency of £11.8m.

Mr Reid revealed that £7.2m of this latter "risk" figure had been "allocated into commitment".

He said there remained £4.6m unallocated to works but extra costs could lead to more money being required.

The Scottish taxpayer will be horrified to learn that the cost of Holyrood is set to rise again Fergus Ewing SNP finance spokesman

"The prolongation on the towers and the need for some acceleration measures in these areas is likely to mean that this figure will need to be reviewed in time for my February letter.

"Once the cost consultant has seen how Bovis intend to complete, he will be able to make an accurate estimate of exactly how much is required."

Scottish National Party finance spokesman Fergus Ewing said: "The Scottish taxpayer will be horrified to learn that the cost of Holyrood is set to rise again."

He called on the Westminster government to pay back the money to Scottish taxpayers that has been lost as the cost of the building soared.

Elsewhere in his report, Mr Reid praised the progress that had been made on the building.

He said that a "key milestone" had been reached when scaffolding was removed from the laminated oak-beams of the debating chamber roof three weeks ahead of schedule.

This was possible because overtime payments to site workers were authorised over the Christmas period.

Completion target

He said that the MSPs' offices were now complete and fully functioning and telephone systems were installed and working.

Office space had been allocated and furniture choices were being made by members, he said.

According to the report, the next phase is for information technology and other fit-out works to progress.

It said that the floor of the chamber was nearing completion and building services were well advanced.

The completion target continues to be July 2004, which would allow business to commence at Holyrood in September.