Councillors ‘misled’ over trams dispute, inquiry hears

Councillors were “misled” in relation to one of the largest and most controversial projects in Edinburgh’s history, a former council leader has told an inquiry.

Donald Anderson claimed elected members and council officers were “deliberately denied access” to information about the city’s trams project by officials at Tie (Transport Initiatives Edinburgh), the local authority’s arms-length company tasked with handling the scheme.

Mr Anderson, the Labour leader of Edinburgh City Council from 1999 to 2006, was giving evidence for a second day at the official inquiry into the capital’s troubled trams project.

The probe, chaired by Lord Hardie, is examining why the trams were delivered late, over-budget and with a truncated route.

Mr Anderson told the hearing that key figures should have been given access to information about adjudications in a dispute with contractors in 2009, but were instead given “interpretations” about what was going on.

“I think there was an attempt to maintain on the part of Tie an interpretation of the adjudications that was much more positive than was actually justified by the adjudication results themselves,” he said.

“So in that sense, I do firmly believe that elected members and senior officers of the council were misled.”

Mr Anderson made the comments in exchanges with Douglas Fairley QC, who is representing various individuals listed as core participants in the inquiry.

The former leader also told the inquiry that utility work in preparation for the on-street tram works was “not carried out efficiently and effectively”.

Lord Hardie said he would take account of all of the evidence and form his own view of the situation.