Scottish Press Association

Ministers discussed ideas for a new Scottish Parliament as if they were “going to the grocers” without understanding the impact on cost, the chief architect at the former Scottish office told the official inquiry into the Holyrood fiasco today. Dr John Gibbons, the chief architect at the Scottish office following the 1997 Labour election victory said he was concerned about the price of the building right from the outset. He said he was concerned even before the devolution White Paper was published in July 1997 which estimated that a new building for the Scottish Parliament would carry a price tag of between £10 million and £40 million.