ETI-15 Response Accepted

Qualified Project Management

Recommendation

Project promoters should appoint procurement and project managers with qualified, experienced permanent employees who have successfully delivered similar projects on time and within budget.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- In November 2023, City of Edinburgh Council Leader Cammy Day stated that the Council broadly agreed with Lord Hardie's recommendations and noted improvements had been implemented for the successful delivery of the Trams to Newhaven project (City of Edinburgh Council response, November 2023).
- In a subsequent Council committee report (16 November 2023), the Council noted that the Trams to Newhaven project had demonstrated improved procurement and project management practices (City of Edinburgh Council Committee Report, 16 November 2023).
- No published formal framework requiring appointment of experienced permanent employees for light rail project management has been identified to March 2026.
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)
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Under Consideration City of Edinburgh Council Initial Response
02 Nov 2023

Council Leader Cammy Day stated: 'We know that serious mistakes were made in the construction of the original tram line, which caused a great deal of disruption and concern for residents and businesses, as well as impacting the Council's reputation. Once again, I want to apologise for this.' The Council broadly agrees with Lord Hardie's recommendations but notes that since the original tram project, several processes and strategies have been put in place which helped successfully deliver the Trams to Newhaven line. The Council has not published a formal detailed response to individual recommendations. Source: Council news release, 2 November 2023.

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Accepted City of Edinburgh Council Follow-up
16 Nov 2023

The Inquiry Report highlights a number of instances where there was insufficient experience in delivery to give assurance that the project would be properly managed. The procurement and project management of a project is key to success and demonstrable experience should be secured as part of light rail delivery. It is recommended that the Council should adopt this Recommendation. Source: Chief Executive's report to Transport and Environment Committee, 16 November 2023. Note: City of Edinburgh Council statuses are drawn from the Chief Executive's report to the Transport and Environment Committee (16 November 2023), referred to the full Council on 14 December 2023. This report appears to have been formally adopted but independent confirmation has not been obtained.

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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
Source
Inquiry Edinburgh Tram Inquiry
Report Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report 01 Aug 2023
View Source
Responsible Bodies
City of Edinburgh Council Primary
Themes & Tags
Public project assurance methodology Project Cost Escalation from Delays Project Management Staffing Qualifications
Recommendation age 2.8 yrs
Last formal update 927 days ago