Government accused over building project sweeteners
Dalmore House in Glasgow’s St Vincent Street. Fore are building a 94,000sq ft office complex in the centre of the city with a “cycle-in ramp”. The cash was handed over as part of the Government’s Scot t ish Par tnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres (SPRUCE) project. A Scot t ish Government spokesman claimed the fund is managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and suggested ministers have no control over who taxpayers’ money is given to.
He said: “These are commercial loans to be repaid to taxpayers at commercial rates that were provided through a fund for S cot t i sh i n f r a s t r uc t u r e regeneration projects that has been operating since 2011.
“The fund was original ly match-funded by the EU and is managed by the EIB.
“Decisions on these loans, including the commercial details, are made completely independent ly of Scott ish ministers by a specia l i s t inf rast ructure investment management firm, who were appointed af ter a publ ic procurement exercise carried out by the EIB.”
Praxis director Gary Roberts said: “It’s a repayable commercial loan – there’s no question that it has been given to Tarn Crag and SPRUCE has served its purpose to bring commercial development to Glasgow.”
In September, spending watchdog Audit Scotland ordered the Government to be more transparent about its funding of private firms.
It followed a row over multimillion- pound loans given to shipyard Ferguson Marine – owned by billionaire government adviser and tax exile Jim McColl.
Ferguson Marine are launching legal action against the Scottish Government’s ferry company, Caledonian Maritime Assets, over the £97million contract to build two new CalMac ships.
The firm claim “unforeseen complexities” in the project have led to extra costs – and want them to be covered by the public purse.
People expect their cash to support ethical practices