An out of court settlement has been reached between the City of Edinburgh Council and DLA Piper over the legal advice the former received during the original tram project. But the terms of the agreement mean that the exact amount won’t be revealed.
The Council had been seeking £200 million from DLA Piper over what they said was negligent legal advice provided to tie (the arms length company set-up to administer the original tram project). The legal action was started before Lord Hardie’s inquiry but as suspended whilst that was ongoing.
It had been due to be heard at court but an update to a full Council meeting states that it was resolved out of court in March 2026.
It is also revealed that the Council have agreed with parts of Lord Hardie’s report where he was critical of the role the Council played in the original project.
A report says: “The deputy monitoring officer has reviewed the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report and agrees with Lord Hardie that the council failed in a number of important respects to properly oversee the project – this contributed to the project being delivered late, at an increased cost and with a restricted scope. There were serious and systemic failings on the part of the Council which, overall, could be described as organisational incompetence.”