Recommendation ETI-23: Criminal Sanctions for Misleading Information
From Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report, published 19 September 2023.
Recommendation
In addition to any civil liability arising from any sanction introduced in accordance with Recommendation 22, the Scottish Ministers should consider whether there is a need for a statutory criminal offence involving strict liability once it is established that the information and/or report was misleading by reason of the inclusion of false statements or the omission of relevant facts.
In brief (written by this site)
In November 2023, Màiri McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, stated that consideration was being given to creating a statutory criminal offence, noting an initial view that provision might already exist under the criminal common law of fraud (Màiri McAllan response, Nov 2023). The Minister confirmed that work to consider the recommendation would continue (Màiri McAllan response, Nov 2023). The record holds no update since the Scottish Government's response of November 2023 (Màiri McAllan response, Nov 2023).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
As for what the Government can do, the report recommended to us the development of specific sanctions under the civil law of damages, and made a call for a criminal statutory offence. We are giving careful consideration to both those recommendations. Our current view is that there might already be provision for such developments under the civil law of delictual liability and the criminal common law of fraud, but we will continue to consider the matter.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: This is the Cabinet Secretary's answer to a member's question after her statement to the Scottish Parliament on 2 November 2023, as recorded in the Official Report.
Site note: The source gives this passage once, for recommendations 22 and 23 together. The same words are recorded on ETI-22 and ETI-23.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Scottish Government has been found in the sources searched (last checked 31 January 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Scottish Government
Response