Scotland’s First Minister Jack McConnell announced on June 12th 2003 that Lord Fraser of Carmyllie had been appointed to conduct an inquiry into the management of the Holyrood Parliament building project which is now two and a half years behind schedule with costs running approximately ten times more than the original estimate of £40m.

In addition, the Auditor General, Robert Black, will examine issues of financial probity and "value for money" in the discharge of his statutory obligations.

First Minister Jack McConnell has written to the Parliament’s Presiding Officer, George Reid, saying the inquiry must be independent of both the Executive and the Parliament.

In his letter, Mr McConnell said:

"I envisage two initial strands to the investigation. I have asked Lord Fraser of Carmyllie to look at the decision making prior to and since responsibility for the project was handed from the Scottish Office to the Parliamentary authorities in 1999 and he has accepted my invitation to take part. You and I also agreed that you would invite the Auditor General to examine issues of financial probity.

"I remain convinced that the investigation should be initiated as soon as possible and that it would not be in the public interests to await completion of the building project. However I am mindful of the need to ensure that the investigation is conducted in such a way that it does not delay the ongoing construction still further."

The First Minister added:

"The purpose of the investigation should be to produce a clear public record of events and a set of recommendations for future large-scale public construction projects. I envisage that the report of the investigation would be submitted to the appropriate Parliament Committee to allow further additional scrutiny at that stage.

"People in Scotland rightly expect answers to all of their questions about the way in which the cost to the public purse has escalated, and the decisions and actions which have contributed towards the position in which we now find ourselves.”

While the investigation will not be a full public inquiry with the legal powers to compel witnesses to attend, Mr McConnell said that Lord Fraser would be prepared to "name and shame" anyone who failed to co-operate.