Lord Fraser says that Scottish ministers were too far removed from the project to be able to control costs.

Lord Fraser has said that the Holyrood fiasco could have been avoided if ministers had more control over the project.

The Fraser Report recommended that ministers be properly briefed by civil servants and be given more influence over public projects.

The conservative peer said that first minister Donald Dewar, who died before the project was completed, had been given inaccurate information by his civil servants and had relied on then for cost information.

Fraser also said that costs rose on the £431m building partly because of designs changes required by the client. Lord Fraser said: “Whenever there was a conflict between quality and cost, quality was preferred.” Frasers’ recommendations including the following:

  • There must be a transparent record of the selection of designers, consultants or contractors on public projects.
  • When “signature” architects work with Scottish-based architects there should be a rigorous evaluation of the firms’ compatibility.
  • Construction management as a procurement method should be used only in the last resort for public building projects as all the risk lies with the client.
  • Only those who have a thorough understanding of European Union procurement rules should be put in charge of public projects.
  • The views of independent consultants should be put directly before ministers and not filtered through civil servants.
  • Security and safety issues should be included in the original design brief and not be added on at a later date.