Edinburgh tram inquiry chairman paid more than £1m

The man in charge of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry has been paid more than £1m for the role, new figures show.

The inquiry was established in June 2014 to find out why the tram project was over budget and five years late.

The probe is chaired by Lord Hardie and Transport Scotland has revealed he earned just over £1m for the role between 2014 and August 2021.

An inquiry spokesman said Lord Hardie was paid on the basis of a daily rate for the hours that he worked.

The senior judge's report was completed and sent to the printers on 26 April but has still to be made public.

Lord Hardie's pay deal was only made public after the Daily Record newspaper successfully appealed to the Scottish information commissioner against Transport Scotland's decision not to make his earnings public knowledge.

The sum disclosed is up to August 2021 - when the Daily Record first submitted a freedom of information request - and the total amount paid to Lord Hardie will be revealed after the final report is published.

The tram inquiry has cost the taxpayer more than £13m to date with the majority of the inquiry's outgoings spent on staff and legal fees.

A spokeswoman for the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry said: "Lord Hardie is being paid on the basis of a daily rate for the hours that he works on inquiry matters.

"The daily rate is the standard fixed by the Scottish government for retired judges."

A Transport Scotland spokesman said Lord Hardie had been paid a total of £1,056,181.59 for his role as chairman of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry between 2014 and August, 2021.

He added: "We have agreed to fund the costs of the trams inquiry until completion, final costs will be published in due course.

"In terms of how many people are employed by the inquiry and how much they are paid, as a statutory inquiry, it is independent of the Scottish government.

"We look forward to receiving Lord Hardie's findings to inform future major tram and light rail infrastructure projects."