Edinburgh MSP demands documents into Queensferry Crossing delay

Edinburgh Western Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton is calling for documents relating to the delay in completion of the Queensferry Crossing to be made public.

The Queensferry Crossing, the new Forth Bridge under construction. Picture; Ian Rutherford

The Scottish Government announced six weeks ago that the £1.35 billion bridge would not open to traffic until May next year – six months later than planned – due to bad weather.

But Mr Cole-Hamilton said a Freedom of Information request for publication of a risk register for the project was denied due to “commercial sensitivity”. He has now demanded a redacted register be issued.

He said: “This is the biggest public building project in Scotland for a generation and as such needs to be backed up by full transparency. It is still hard to understand how 13 days of bad weather resulted in a 180-day delay.

“Of course there are commercially sensitive documents that should not be published in full. But there is no reason that people should not get the answers they are looking for over the delay to the crossing that is now expected.

“The publication of a redacted risk register would confirm whether ministers were fully aware of the risk of delays to the project or whether they simply grossly misjudged the requirements of this project from the start.”