Holyrood enquiry to be screened online

The BBC is to provide a live stream of the Holyrood Inquiry on the internet for the duration of the proceedings to cater for the huge public interest in the spiralling costs of the new parliament.

Three cameras will be used to make every minute of the inquiry available online from the first day on 28 October.

Lord Fraser of Carmyllie has been asked to investigate the ever increasing costs of the new parliament, now put at about £401m.

The inquiry will sit for three days in the first week and for up to four days a week until Easter 2004.

Those expected to attend at the Scottish Land Court offices in Edinburgh include officials from the Scottish Executive, the parliament, the builders and the architects.

The head of the inquiry has promised to leave no stone unturned in the quest to find out how the cost rose from an initial projection of £40m to the current estimate of £401m.

A spokesman for the inquiry said: "We are pleased that a much wider audience will be able to keep up to date with inquiry proceedings, not only through print media but also now through TV and radio.

The first phase of the inquiry will focus on the events which have taken place throughout the life of the Holyrood project while the second phase will look at all the material received.

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, a strong critic of the handling of the project, said her main concern was the extent to which Whitehall departments would fully co-operate in providing all the documentation.

Lord Fraser expects to report his findings in the summer