No tie required

 arms-length company won’t be resurrected for trams inquiry

The City of Edinburgh Council has today written to the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry to state that, while it will continue to participate fully in the process, it will not revive the dormant company formerly known as tie Ltd.

The Inquiry has asked the Council to consider whether tie, which operated from 2002 until 2011 as an arm’s length company and is ultimately owned by the Council, should be a core participant in the Inquiry.

However, the revival of the company would involve appointing new officials who would require legal representation at the Inquiry, leading to significant additional cost, which the Council does not believe to be in the public interest.

The Council has committed to full participation in the Inquiry, and to providing information to the Inquiry in relation to the role of tie, which was under its ownership.

Council Leader, Andrew Burns, said: “The Council continues to support the Inquiry, as it has done throughout, and to be fully open and accountable. By applying to be a core participant we have committed to playing our part in the proceedings and co-operating fully with the Inquiry.

“However, we do not believe that the considerable cost of reviving (tie) for the sake of the Inquiry is a justifiable expense; one which would ultimately be borne by the Edinburgh tax payer.

“The Council is the ultimate parent body of tie, and we have communicated our willingness to provide information about its role to the Inquiry.”

The Council will make independent legal advice available to current and former Council employees and elected members, should they wish it, when giving their written statements to the Inquiry.

Former tie employees will be able to give evidence about the role of tie to the Inquiry, if they are called on by the Inquiry to do so. However, the Council will not be funding legal advice to these individuals, although they will of course be free to appoint their own lawyers.

The Council’s participation in the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry will be detailed in a report to Council next Thursday (20 August).

The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry, chaired by Lord Hardie, was commissioned by Scottish Ministers and has been ongoing since June last year.

The Inquiry aims to establish why the Edinburgh Trams project incurred delays, cost more than originally budgeted and through reductions in scope delivered significantly less than projected. The official terms of reference for the Inquiry are to:

• Inquire into the delivery of the Edinburgh Trams project, from proposals for the project emerging to its completion, including the procurement and contract preparation, its governance, project management and delivery structures, and oversight of the relevant contracts, in order to establish why the project incurred delays, cost considerably more than originally budgeted for and delivered significantly less than was projected through reductions in scope.
• Examine the consequences of the failure to deliver the project in the time, within the budget and to the extent projected.
• Review the circumstances surrounding the project as necessary, in order to report to the Scottish Ministers making recommendations as to how major tram and light rail infrastructure projects of a similar nature might avoid such failures in future.