Reports & recommendations

Scottish Ministers should undertake a review of public inquiries to determine the most cost-effective method of avoiding delay in the establishment of an inquiry, including consideration of establishing a dedicated unit within the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and publishing regularly updated guidance for people involved in the establishment and progress of public inquiries.

In any event Scottish Ministers should not appoint as the sponsor of any public inquiry any department, agency or other government organisation where it, or any of its employees, has had any involvement in the project or other event giving rise to the establishment of the public inquiry.

The guidance mentioned in the first recommendation should include: advice concerning the circumstances in which civil servants in the inquiry team may properly transfer to posts, other than promoted posts, within other government departments or agencies; which positions within the administration of a public inquiry may be filled by the employment of agency staff; and whether longer-term contracts as temporary civil servants are more appropriate for particular positions that cannot be filled by permanent civil servants.

In the interests of protecting the public purse and maximising the benefits from public expenditure on major projects, the Scottish Ministers should contemplate establishing a joint working group consisting of officials in Transport Scotland and representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (“COSLA”) to consider how best to take advantage of:
• tolerating the risk of cost overrun that is always a possibility in risk assessments by including all public-sector light rail projects in the portfolio of large projects undertaken by the Scottish Government, including those to be constructed wholly within the geographical boundaries of a single local authority;
• the greater experience within Transport Scotland of managing major projects in the public sector; and
• the necessary skills and expertise within Transport Scotland to deliver the project on time and within budget.

Where a company, including an ALEO, knowingly submits a report or other information to local authority officials that is misleading by reason of the inclusion of false statements or the omission of relevant facts or where such officials knowingly submit misleading information to councillors, whether or not councillors act upon that information, the Scottish Ministers should consider whether there should be an appropriate sanction in damages against the relevant individuals within the company responsible for the false statements or omission of relevant facts, as well as against the company itself, and against the relevant local authority officials involved in misleading councillors.

In addition to any civil liability arising from any sanction introduced in accordance with Recommendation 22, the Scottish Ministers should consider whether there is a need for a statutory criminal offence involving strict liability once it is established that the information and/or report was misleading by reason of the inclusion of false statements or the omission of relevant facts.

The Scottish Ministers should also give consideration to the need for legislation to impose a similar duty of disclosure to that owed by policyholders to their insurers upon a company, its directors, employees or consultants and upon a local authority and its officials towards representatives of OGC or of Audit Scotland undertaking any review of a publicly funded project. Any such legislation should determine the appropriate civil and/or criminal sanctions to be imposed for breach of the duty of disclosure.