Collaborative Delivery

ETI-19 Response Accepted

Recommendation

At all stages of the project there should be a collaborative approach to delivering it, including co-location of representatives from each organisation relevant to the particular stage, enabling issues to be addressed and resolved at the earliest opportunity, minimising risk of dispute escalation with associated delays and expense.

Published Evidence Summary

The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:

- In November 2023, the Council stated it broadly agreed with Lord Hardie's recommendations, noting that co-location of representatives had been successfully adopted on the Trams to Newhaven project (City of Edinburgh Council response, November 2023).
- The Council committee report (16 November 2023) acknowledged that co-location had proven advantageous on the Newhaven project (City of Edinburgh Council Committee Report, 16 November 2023).
- No published formal requirement for collaborative co-location in future major infrastructure 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)

This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify from published sources alone. The evidence above reflects policy commitments rather than measured outcomes.

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.' The Council broadly agrees with Lord Hardie's recommendations but notes improvements were already implemented for the successful Trams to Newhaven project. 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 describes some of the damaging behaviours adopted during project delivery by various parties. The advantage of co-locating representatives having an interest in project completion is understood and indeed was successfully adopted on the Trams to Newhaven project. 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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