Latest news with #KennethGibson
Scotsman
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Scotsman
Costly inquiries are all very well if we learn lessons from them
Lord Hardie's inquiry into the long and costly tram project cost £13 million Lord Hardie, the retired judge who chaired the nine-year long inquiry into Edinburgh's trams, admitted to MSPs last week that he was upset when he found out that the public were told about his £1 million pay cheque for his work on the investigation. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... He thought the revelation might lead to journalists 'pestering' him at home. As it turned out no-one, not even the most enthusiastic tabloid hack, knocked on his front door, so he was free to enjoy his post-retirement bonus with his family, unmolested by the press. As for the general public, well they had more things on their plate to worry about than Lord Hardie's bank balance – the cost of living crisis for a start. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Even more staggering than Lord Hardie's daily rate – set by the Scottish Government, which apparently has a fee schedule for retired judges – was the total cost of the inquiry itself. It cost tax payers £13 million, which works out about £1.5 million a year to produce a report that told us what we all knew any way. The 961-page report can be summed up in three points: the city council's original budget was way off track; the management of Tie – the arms-length company set up to deliver the tram system – was chaotic; and the Scottish Government ducked its responsibility for oversight of the project, despite giving it a £500 million grant. None of which came as surprise to any of us who had been subjected on a daily basis to the 'living hell' that was Edinburgh city centre during the construction of the (shortened) tram route. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad So why did it take nine years and £13 million to come to the same conclusion the average Edinburgh citizen had reached only months after the work started? Lord Hardie's evidence was to Holyrood's finance and public administration committee, which recently established its own inquiry into the cost of public inquiries. Kenneth Gibson, the committee's convenor, hit the nail on the head when he said his inquiry had 'the potential to be a really interesting piece of work given the significant sums of money that public inquiries often involve.' There are four public inquiries ongoing in Scotland right now, looking at the Covid crisis, hospital safety, child abuse and the death of Sheku Bayoh. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad So far the costs of these are estimated at a staggering £200 million. This is money the country can ill-afford to spend. How many social care staff would one public inquiry buy? Of course, public inquiries are important for finding out why bureaucrats bungled major capital projects such as the parliament building and Edinburgh's tram network, or what mistakes politicians made during a health crisis such as Covid. But they are not worth the reams of paper they are written on if no-one learns any lessons from them. Nor should any public inquiry take nine years. What on earth did Lord Hardie and his team find to ask questions about over a seven-year period? And why did it take two years to write the report? That works out at just over a page a day – which deserves a separate inquiry of its own.
Daily Record
30-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Ayrshire pub claims regional pub of the year award
The Village Inn in Fairlie has been chosen as the Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA Pub of the Year. An Ayrshire pub has been named as regional pub of the year for 2025 by CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale. Fairlie's Village Inn was selected following a rigorous judging process to be named the Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Pub of the Year. The popular pub will no go onto the national finals where it will represent Ayrshire and could be named Scottish CAMRA Pub of the Year. After a close-run competition, the Village Inn came out as the overall winner, with judges commending it for the quality of the real ales, friendly atmosphere and tasty home-cooked meals. Last week, Thursday, May 22, the pub was presented with its award by Lindsay Grant, Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA branch chair. A total of 26 CAMRA members from across the region turned out to celebrate the achievement and they were treated to a number of fine real ales. Currently, the Village Inn offers four ales including Jack Back and Stewart's 80/- from Stewart Brewing as well as Caledonian Brewery's Deuchars IPA and McGregor's by Five Kingdoms. Cunninghame North MSP Kenneth Gibson has also celebrated the achievement by submitting a motion to the Scottish Parliament which congratulates the pub and highlights "the contribution of owner Brian Flanagan and his team in achieving this recognition". A spokesperson for Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA said: "The Village Inn, Fairlie has been judged as Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA Branch Pub of the Year 2025. "A presentation was held recently on Thursday, May 22, to give licensee Brian Flanagan his award. "The Village Inn now goes forward to be judged against the other Scottish branch winners in this year's competition, with the overall Scottish Pub of the Year winner being announced at the end of July. "Thanks also to local MSP Kenneth Gibson for lodging a motion to the Scottish Parliament to congratulate the Village Inn, Fairlie for winning the Branch Pub of the Year 2025." The Ayrshire and Wigtownshire CAMRA branch holds regular socials every month to which anyone is welcome to attend and have a chat about anything whilst enjoying a pint of real ale. Recent socials have seen the enthusiasts enjoy the ales over in Fraser's Bar, Millport; the Weston Tavern, Kilmaurs; and the Harbour Bar, Troon. Full details of forthcoming events can be found online at The next North Ayrshire and Branch social will be held at the Glasgow Real Ale Festival held in the Briggait, Glasgow on Friday 20 June from 12pm.
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Cash-strapped NHS has had to foot the £12million bill for the SNP's public inquiries
The bill for long-running public inquiries has cost Scotland's beleaguered NHS more than £12 million in the past four years alone, figures show. National Services Scotland (NSS), the administrative arm of NHS Scotland, admitted that it has had to fork out £9 million in legal fees and £3.1 million in staff costs since 2021 to respond to inquiries that include the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry and the Covid-19 probe. Holyrood's finance committee is currently assessing if the number of public inquiries held in Scotland is value for money. The SNP 's Kenneth Gibson, who chairs the committee, has raised fears about the £100 million bill for the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, as it emerged that the total cost of all Scottish inquiries since 2007 has now ballooned to £230 million. Meanwhile, the probe into disgraced NHS Tayside surgeon Sam Eljamel has cost £1 million before the inquiry has even begun, official records show. The enormous cost to the NHS to respond to inquiries and defend its actions in some instances comes despite huge waiting lists and a GP crisis – and last night critics said the money could be better spent. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: 'Taxpayers will be appalled that the NHS has splashed out £9 million on legal fees. 'This is money that could have been spent cutting A&E waiting times or boosting the number of GP appointments available for patients. 'The sheer number of inquiries taking place speaks volumes about how the SNP are failing Scotland. 'On their watch no ministers or senior figures are ever held accountable for their mistakes. 'That leaves too many left without answers as to why failure has become so routine after 18 years of this SNP government letting down our NHS.' According to a submission to the Holyrood committee by NSS, the NHS in Scotland has spent £3.1 million since 2021/22 in responding to public inquiries. Meanwhile, Scotland's Central Legal Office has provided around £9 million in legal services to NHS Scotland boards for public inquiries since 2021, which includes the cost of counsel. The scale of the outlay has led NSS chief executive Mary Morgan to suggest that an independent advisory board should be set up to avoid spiralling costs to the public purse. She wrote: 'NSS suggests that the current processes for monitoring public inquiry costs are inadequate. Costs are significant.' She added: 'Costs are incurred by each participant to an inquiry. 'Costs are not reimbursed or reported consistently. There is no oversight of costs incurred. 'Public bodies involved in an inquiry incur costs to prepare for and participate in inquiries (including paying for staff time from the public body and legal representation). 'It may be helpful for inquiries to set out what costs should be recorded by participants and arrange for those to be reported to the inquiry and shared publicly on a regular basis (e.g. quarterly) to ensure that there is a consistent approach to providing information. 'NSS suggests that the independent advisory body could have a role in assessing and monitoring costs. Tight terms of reference are essential when a public inquiry is established to ensure value for money.'
