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Parliamentary News Release

068/2003

Monday 24 November 2003
 

LATEST HOLYROOD REPORT TO
FINANCE COMMITTEE PUBLISHED TODAY
 

Presiding Officer George Reid today provided Parliament’s Finance Committee with the latest information on the Holyrood project. Reports from Parliament’s consultants continue to show the programme on target, and the costs unchanged from last month.

Cost

The overall cost of the project is unchanged. Since October £4.2m has been moved from the risk reserve into construction commitment. This materialisation of risk is primarily a consequence of prolongation and delays previously announced.

Future programme

The overall programme to completion continues to target July 2004, which would allow business to commence at Holyrood two months later.

Progress on site this month includes:

• The last remaining scaffolding is now being removed from the MSP building and all floors are fully carpeted. Apart from some minor finishing, the building will be completed on target on 30 November.

• The next building on schedule to be finished will be Queensberry House. This will also be completed at the end of this month, apart from minor fit-out works in five rooms which will be finished by the second week in December.

• The first scaffolding below the Lobby rooflights has been dismantled and the engineering and design achievements of this complex structure can be seen and appreciated (images available).

• Interior fittings across Towers 3 & 4 are well advanced: the cellular offices are now largely in place and the raised access flooring and partitions are also well advanced.

• Steel flights for the public stair area are on site and ready to be installed. Glazing and steelwork has also begun in this very tight area of the site.

• The five main contracts covering provision of loose furniture and furnishings at Holyrood have now been successfully tendered and let. The Presiding Officer’s letter to the Finance Committee details savings of £636,958 against budget.

Additional information on all the latest developments on site, plus this month’s construction pictures, is available in Annex B to the Presiding Officer’s letter.

Presiding Officer George Reid said:

“Another month of steady progress and we’re closing in on target. We are within touching distance of the MSP building, Queensberry House, and in good shape going into 2004.

“The strategy is to close down areas of the site, reducing the number of ‘live’ work faces. The knock-on benefit of this is the opportunity to conclude individual works packages, move people off site and focus the remaining organisations on key areas.

“The completion of the MSP and Queensberry buildings is a significant step in that direction.”

Background

There is no change in the overall cost reported last month. This remains at £389.4m, plus a programme contingency of £11.8m.

There is a degree of slippage being reported, but Bovis are working to accommodate this so that it does not impact on the overall target completion date of July. Achievement of a number of key milestones as detailed in the letter will provide a good indicator of the likelihood of this being achieved.


 

For further information the media contact is:

Eric MacLeod: 0131 348 5389
email: eric.macleod@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 34 85000

For general enquiries, contact: 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome on 018001
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk
Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk

 
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