Building Design

Lord Fraser last week spoke out for the first time in the inquiry to question why MSPs were not told of new cost estimates when they voted in 1999 to continue with the building. Before the vote, civil servants told late First Minister Donald Dewar that the building would cost £62 million, but did not inform him about higher estimates of £89 million drawn up by cost consultant Hugh Fisher. Fraser said: “It looks rather as though those who were involved in this were determined to keep the figure down as low as possible, even to the point of concealing it from the Parliament in the hope that the project would go ahead.