Fresh row brews over Holyrood costs

A fresh row has erupted over the troubled Holyrood building after the widow of the £373m project's architect defied an ultimatum from the Scottish Parliament's presiding officer George Reid to cap her fees.

Earlier this month Reid gave all the consultants involved in the project until Monday last week to submit details of how they plan to curb their fees, currently running at tens of millions of pounds.

But in a letter to the Parliament's powerful finance committee, Reid singles out the wife of the late Holyrood architect Enric Miralles and her firm EMBT for failing to meet the deadline.

In his letter, Reid said it was "disappointing" Tagliabue alone had failed to respond to the proposals put to her by the Holyrood project's director.

"We have been engaged with all our consultants in very constructive discussions on fees until Benedetta Tagliabue failed to respond to Monday's deadline," said Reid.

A course of action is now being considered.

Meanwhile construction manager Bovis Lend Lease has reported that the completion timetable is going as planned, despite rumours the building won't be ready by the end of this year.

October will see the MSP office accommodation substantially completed with the final exterior detailing completed in November.