Edinburgh Trams Inquiry report finally released

More than nine years after originally announced, and almost eight since the preliminary hearing, the full Edinburgh Trams Inquiry report has finally been published – and it’s a big one! Coming in at just short of 1000 pages (there is a video released from Lord Hardie as well which comes in at 48 minutes), Lord Hardie’s report states that what happened was avoidable with much of the blame being put at the doorstep of arms-length company tie and the City of Edinburgh Council with the Scottish Government also criticised for their role in the project. The report also gives 24 recommendations to prevent anything similar happening again.

Costing over £13 million, the Inquiry has been much criticised for how long it has taken with the Council having also already pressed ahead with an extension to the original line and with no big cost overruns or major time delays it would appear that some lessons had already been learnt before the conclusion of this report. The Inquiry had originally been called by then First Minister, Alex Salmond, in 2014 with Lord Hardie appointed to run it and the first preliminary hearing heard on 6^th October 2015. It was felt necessary after the original Edinburgh Trams project only being a shadow of its plan (just a single line) and with significant cost overruns.

In summing up Lord Hardie said: “The inquiry process has been thorough and robust, but also complex, with literally millions of documents that had to be carefully reviewed and detailed contractual issues to investigate. This work has been time-consuming but necessary to produce a report which not only provides answers to what went wrong with the Edinburgh Trams project, but also clear recommendations for future transport projects.

“What is clear from the inquiry’s work is that there was a litany of avoidable failures on the parts of several parties whose role it was to ensure that public funding was spent effectively and to the benefit of Scotland’s taxpayers, and that the Edinburgh Trams project was delivered efficiently. Poor management and abdication of responsibility on a large scale have had a significant and lasting impact on the lives and livelihoods of Edinburgh residents, and the reputation of the city.”

The main findings of the report include:

• TIE (Transport Initiatives Edinburgh) departed from the procurement strategy that had been intended to manage risk out of the project
• There was a failure of TIE to work collaboratively with the Council and other partners
• Delay with the production of design due to poor performance from Parsons Brinckerhof (contractor)
• TIE underestimated the costs of the project and took on too many of the risks
• A lack of clarity on who did what in the complicated running of the scheme
• The loss of oversight from the Scottish Government when they in effect washed their hands of the project after trying to get it cancelled

24 recommendations have been made in the report, although many of these relate to Public Inquiries. Recommendations include:

• Business Cases should include an assessment of risk that takes into account optimism bias (including any revised Business Cases needed after altered assumptions)
• The assessment of risk should be the subject of peer review by external consultants with experience of similar large-scale projects
• Scottish Ministers and local authorities should be mindful at all times of their obligation to protect public funds and obtain value for money
• Procurement strategy for any future light rail project should make adequate provision for the uncertainties concerning location of utilities and redundant equipment belonging to present and past utility companies
• Governance structure of the delivery of a major project should ensure that there is clarity regarding the prospective roles of various bodies and individuals involved in its delivery.
• At all stages of the project there should be a collaborative approach to delivering it

In response to the release of the report, Cllr Cammy Day, Leader of City of Edinburgh Council, said: “I’m pleased that Lord Hardie’s Inquiry is now complete and will now read and digest his findings and conclusions in detail. As a Council, we’ve co-operated fully with the Inquiry since its announcement nine years ago and have always maintained that its outcomes will be beneficial in informing investment in similar major transport infrastructure projects, both here in Edinburgh and by other local authorities.

“We’ll consider our response, and any actions required, based on the findings and report back to councillors in due course. From a first reading of the report it’s clear that serious mistakes were made and that this had a significant impact on the city. There’s no getting away from the fact that the original project caused a great deal of disruption to residents and businesses, as well as damaging the city’s reputation and on behalf of the Council, I want to apologise for this.

“I won’t, however, apologise for building a tram system, or for our ambition to develop it further. After all, creating a better connected, environmentally friendly transport system is essential for a modern, successful city and we need to transform the way people move around if we are to achieve our net zero goals.

“Equally, we shouldn’t forget that, in the nine years since the line between Edinburgh Airport and York Place was built, the service has flourished to become a hugely successful transport route for thousands of residents and visitors each day. We’ve now launched passenger services on the completed line to Newhaven, the success of which was down to the hard work of the Council-led project team, but also thanks to lessons learned from the first project. The new route’s already proving to be extremely popular, with passenger numbers doubling in the first few weeks and August clocking in as Edinburgh Trams’ best ever month, with more than 1.2m customer journeys recorded.

“We’re already looking at options for expanding the network further – to the north and south of the city, and potentially also to neighbouring authorities – and it’s encouraging to see this is very much part of the Scottish Government’s plans too.”

• If you have the desire to read the report in full you can do so by visiting the Edinburgh Trams Inquiry website at https://www.edinburghtraminquiry.org/final_report/the-inquiry-report/