The Scottish Government has defended its decision to directly finance the £1.7-£2.3bn new Forth crossing as a form of procurement that will ‘reduce the possibility of delay’.
Stewart Stevenson, the Scottish transport minister, has acknowledged that directly funding the project, which has a projected start date of 2011, would swallow up the majority of the Scottish Government’s annual capital budget of £3.2bn.
Stevenson told the Scottish Parliament’s transport, infrastructure and climate change committee last week ‘doing that would not be without consequences, but it is clear that we have the capital capacity’.
MSPs on the committee were concerned, however, that funding would be made available for other planned projects. Alison McInnes, MSP for Northeast Scotland, said funding the crossing from the capital budget would ‘have a profound impact on other key transport projects’.
Construction work on the proposed £396M Aberdeen western peripheral route (AWPR), to provide a bypass around the city, is planned to get under way in 2010/11 and continue into 2011/12.
McInnes was concerned that ministers had not decided on how the key project would be funded. But Stevenson said: ‘We are not at the point where we should take the decision on funding the Aberdeen project. We cannot be at that point until we have received the report from the public local inquiry.’
He insisted the Scottish Government was right not to consider using the private-finance initiative. ‘It is increasingly difficult to raise money from the markets for very large projects,’ he said.
‘About 100 PFI and public-private partnership projects in England and Wales have stalled.’ He maintained that the reduction in the cost of steel and cement and increased competition meant ‘there is every opportunity to get the best-possible deal’ for building the AWPR.
A Bill to build the new Forth crossing would be introduced later this year. Stevenson wanted ‘rapid parliamentary progress’, because procurement would take about 12 months.
The minister also expressed optimism that Transport Initiatives Edinburgh could control the costs of the Edinburgh tram project, including by using local contractors to carry out unanticipated work, instead of negotiating variations to the contract with Bilfinger Berger – despite further expected delays.
Register now for full access
Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.
Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors.
Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.
Already a registered? Login
