Joint Working Group with COSLA

ETI-10 Response Accepted in Part

Recommendation

Scottish Ministers should establish a joint working group with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities representatives to leverage Transport Scotland's project management experience and expertise for light rail projects.

Published Evidence Summary

The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:

- In November 2023, the Scottish Government stated that "effective collaboration sits at the heart of this Government" and cited the Verity House Agreement as a testament to its collaborative approach with local government (Transport Secretary Statement on Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report, Scottish Government, 2 November 2023).
- No published evidence that a specific joint working group with COSLA representatives has been established to leverage Transport Scotland's project management experience for light rail projects has been identified to March 2026.

Sources

Transport Secretary Statement

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: 'Effective collaboration sits at the heart of this Government, and the recent Verity House agreement is a testament to our commitment to embrace that collaborative approach.' The Government committed to championing close working with local authority partners. Source: Transport Secretary Statement, 2 November 2023.

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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

Inquiry Edinburgh Tram Inquiry

Report Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report 01 Aug 2023

View Source

Responsible Bodies

Scottish Government Primary

Themes & Tags

Public project assurance methodology Project Cost Escalation from Delays COSLA Transport Scotland Light Rail Collaboration

Recommendation age 2.8 yrs

Last formal update 941 days ago