EC drops inquiry into Holyrood building project (revised)

The European Commission (EC) has dropped its inquiry into the Holyrood Scottish Parliament building debacle, saving the Scottish Executive from the threat of a massive fine and a legal reprimand.

The inquiry centred on the breaking of European Union competition rules over the award of key construction and design contracts.

The Scottish Parliament and Sir Robert McAlpine went to court in a 12-month case after Bovis Lend Lease won the management contract for the £430m deal, despite sending in the highest tender. The case was settled earlier this year without any admission of liability on either side, and each party paid its own costs.

The EC was also concerned that the design contract went to Enric Miralles although the Spanish architect did not have adequate professional insurance to cover the job.

Scottish Parliament Minister Tom McCabe claimed that the EC had dropped the case "in the light of actions taken in Scotland, including the Fraser Inquiry, to help ensure the difficulties experienced on Holyrood do not arise on other projects".

McCabe also claimed that the Executive had now drawn up new guidelines on construction procurement and introduced a procurement training programme.

In a statement, the Scottish Executive said that both itself and the Scottish Parliament "acknowledged that in certain respects, procedures were not consistent with EU rules and that it was accordingly difficult to demonstrate the underlying principle of equal treatment had been met".

[Editor's note: Paragraph 3 of this story was revised on 18 October to correct an error in the original story, which had incorrectly claimed that the Scottish Parliament had made a compensation payment to Sir Robert McAlpine.]