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:
- In November 2023, the Scottish Government stated that guidance similar to that suggested was already in development (Transport Secretary Statement on Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report, Scottish Government, 2 November 2023).
- In November 2025, the Scottish Government published "Public inquiries: guidance for Ministers and officials", which addresses independence requirements for inquiries, including considerations around the relationship between the sponsoring body and the subject matter under investigation (Public inquiries: guidance for Ministers and officials, Scottish Government, 24 November 2025).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
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
Source
Inquiry Edinburgh Tram Inquiry
Report Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report 01 Aug 2023
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Scottish Government Primary
Themes & Tags
Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Public project assurance methodology Public Inquiries Independence Conflicts of Interest
Recommendation age 2.8 yrs
Last formal update 941 days ago