Major infrastructure schemes north of the border need to demonstrate more clearly that they are affordable, viable and represent value for money, the spending watchdog Audit Scotland has said.

It looked at five key transport projects and concluded that Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government must improve their public reporting of large schemes and ensure that forecast building costs are more accurately presented.

The five schemes reviewed by Audit Scotland are the Forth Replacement Crossing, Aberdeen bypass project, rail improvements between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a host of motorway upgrades on the M8 and the Borders Railway project.

“The estimated full public spending commitment for these five projects has not been reported until now and the forecast building costs for some have been incompletely or inconsistently reported,” said Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner.

“These projects will cost an estimated £3.8Bn to build and will tie up about £7.5Bn of public money over 30 years. It is important for the Scottish Government to demonstrate that this spending is affordable.”

Transport Minister Keith Brown responded by saying that no Scottish Government since devolution has embarked on such an ambitious programme of transport infrastructure investment. But he added: “We will take forward the report’s recommendations to see where further improvements can be made and I look forward to leading a debate in the Scottish Parliament on major transport projects later in the year.”

(Photo: Mark Lawrence)

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