ETI-2 Response Accepted in Part

Inquiry Independence

Recommendation

Scottish Ministers must not appoint any department, agency, or government organization as inquiry sponsor where it or its employees had involvement in the project under investigation.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Scottish Government accepted this recommendation in principle on 2023-11-02, stating that guidance similar to that suggested was in development (Transport Secretary Statement, 2 November 2023). Public inquiries guidance, which addresses independence, was published on 24 November 2025, setting out considerations for Ministers and officials when deciding whether to establish an inquiry (gov.scot).
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.gov.scot, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted in Part
Accepted in Part Scottish Government
02 Nov 2023

The Scottish Government stated that guidance similar to that suggested is already in development. Source: Transport Secretary Statement, 2 November 2023.

Read Full Response
Progress Timeline
Official Report
02 Nov 2023

Initial status based on Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council responses to the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report (September 2023).

Source
Report Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report 01 Aug 2023
Responsible Bodies
Scottish Government Primary
Recommendation age 2.6 yrs
Last formal update 874 days ago