Holyrood managers 'not up to job'

Holyrood's top civil servant was not shown building cost increases

The civil servant in charge of the Holyrood project did not think the parliament's management committee was handling the job, it has emerged.

The concerns were voiced in a damning memo from Barbara Doig to parliamentary chief executive Paul Grice.

The details came as Mr Grice was giving testimony to the Holyrood Inquiry into the cost of the project.

He also revealed he was not shown warnings that the parliament's costs were higher than official estimates.

Mr Grice said the project sponsor, Mrs Doig, did not show him reports prepared for civil servants by their cost consultants.

He said the she provided him instead with a "synthesised" version of the material produced by the consultants.

MSPs 'not told'

But it was also revealed that Mrs Doig believed the parliament's corporate body, the committee overseeing the building project, ignored advice, failed to keep up with the facts and criticised some member's attendance of meetings.

Mr Grice, who originally gave evidence to the investigation in November, admitted he had little opportunity to check what he was being told.

He said he had to rely on his directors, including Mrs Doig, when responsibility for the scheme passed from the former Scottish Office to the Scottish Parliament in June 1999.

Asked whether he had carried out a review of the staff he inherited for the project, he said: "I didn't take the opportunity to do a formal review."

I was aware that there was tension on both sides - Barbara Doig and the corporate body Paul Grice Scottish Parliament chief executive

Holyrood's most senior civil servant admitted he was advised not to freeze contracts on the new site - until a review was completed, because it would have incurred extra costs.

Mr Grice said the corporate body had considered halting work at the site in 1999, while MSPs decided exactly what they wanted.

It was decided, though, to press ahead because they were concerned about wasting money and because MSPs had voted to give the project the go-ahead.

The inquiry then heard details emerge that Mrs Doig had made a stinging criticism of MSPs on the corporate body in a letter to Mr Grice in February 2000.

As project sponsor, she said they were not up to the job of delivering such a high profile building.

'Patchy' attendance

She accused them of not reading the necessary documents, ignoring advice, having a "patchy" attendance record at meetings, constantly changing their minds and finding it difficult to remember facts.

She had been in charge of the project since March 1998 but three months after making the comments she was offered another job within the Scottish Executive, which she accepted.

Mr Grice told the inquiry: "I understand her anxieties. She was not given an opportunity to say 'right, that's fine, but let's stand back and I will take you through the weaknesses'."

Mr Grice added: "I was aware that there was tension on both sides - Barbara Doig and the corporate body. It happens - each side feeling that the other ought to be doing better and I sat in the middle.

Until the final claim is settled you won't know the final cost of the building Paul Grice Scottish Parliament chief executive

"My short-term action was to try and keep the show on the road and in the long-term I needed to remedy this.

"Clearly, the corporate body is the corporate body. I started thinking about remedying this with a change in leadership in the project team."

Mrs Doig was offered another post as head of external relations, and she took up in May 2000.

Mrs Doig's letter may prove a focus of further questioning, with MSPs from the corporate body appearing on Wednesday and Mrs Doig herself due to give evidence on Thursday.

During his evidence Mr Grice also warned that the cost of the building at the bottom of the Royal Mile could keep rising even after it is finished and MSPs have moved in because of the type of building project.

"Even assuming you finish the building this summer you will still get claims beyond that point. Until the final claim is settled you won't know the final cost of the building," he said.

The Scottish Parliament's chief executive was explaining how the cost went through the £109m barrier.

Mr Grice said he decided not to tell the committee in charge, the corporate body, of the increases - because he did not have confidence in the cost accountants' figures.

The inquiry into the Holyrood project, led by Lord Fraser, is trying to discover why costs have rocketed tenfold - from £40m to £401m.