§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the estimated cost of the furnishings and fittings of the new Scottish Parliament buildings, indicating separately the cost of information technology and television facilities; and which of these are included in the £50 million cost referred to his answer to the hon. Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) of 28 January 1999,Official Report, column 385. [77798]
§ Mr. Dewar[holding answer 25 March 1999]: An initial estimate of £3½ million was made in March 1998 for budgetary purposes to cover the cost of purchasing furniture and fittings for the new Scottish Parliament building. The actual cost of the furniture cannot be calculated until the building designs are finalised, and will depend on the state of the market at the time of purchase and the extent to which we can re-use furniture from the interim accommodation.
An initial estimate of £4 million was made in March 1998 for budgetary purposes to cover the purchase of Information and Communication Technology equipment, including televisual production equipment. The actual cost of the ICT equipment will depend on operational experience of the systems being used in the interim accommodation, on the decisions made by the Parliament itself in the light of that experience, and the state of the ICT market at the time of purchase. It is likely that a substantial portion of the hardware and software installed at the interim accommodation will be re-used at Holyrood, and this will also have a bearing on the final costs.
Neither of these estimates is included in the estimated construction cost budget of £50 million excluding VAT and fees referred to in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 28 January.