Economy Committee Calls For Lessons To Be Learned From Failed Energy Technologies Institute Bid

1 July 2008

Findings from a parliamentary inquiry published today have called for the Scottish Government to learn lessons from the failed bid to bring the headquarters of a new £1 billion energy technologies institute to Scotland.

The investigation by the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee followed the decision in 2007 to locate the new institute in the Midlands at Loughborough University at the expense of Aberdeen, Glasgow or Edinburgh under a Scottish consortium bid.

Convener of the committee Tavish Scott MSP said:

“It is an understatement to say that Scottish organisations were surprised when Loughborough University was awarded the new energy technologies institute. Our inquiry therefore sought answers to why the Scottish bid was unsuccessful.

On the bid process and choice of proposed Scottish site to host the institute, the convener said:

“Our inquiry received contrasting evidence on the formation of a single Scottish bid and on the decision-making process that saw Glasgow go forward as Scotland’s proposed location. As a result, it has been impossible to reconcile these differing views and it is highly regrettable that our work has been stymied by the lack of detailed paperwork and lax record keeping within the Scottish Government.”

On the role of civil servants and Ministers, he added:

“We are disappointed that the Economy Minister, Jim Mather MSP, was unable to provide the committee with more detail on the interaction between Scottish Ministers and civil servants on the internal decision-making process to choose the location that should be proposed to host the institute.

“As a result our committee has recommended that the Scottish Government’s Permanent Secretary instigates a “lessons learned” review, reports his findings to us on completion and implements any recommendations in time for any future opportunities of this nature.”

Looking forward Mr Scott said:

“The establishment of the institute by the UK Government is a very welcome and important initiative. Despite the efforts by a Scottish consortium to win the competition to host the headquarters we were unsuccessful. This is regrettable but the committee believes it is now time to move on.

“We fully support the efforts of Scottish organisations, many of which were involved in the bid, to compete for research commissioned by the newly established energy technologies institute. We will play our role in helping them and are confident that the Scottish Government will do likewise.”

Full report

The committee’s Report on the Energy Technology Institute is available on the Scottish Parliament’s website. Report on the Energy Technologies Institute