Earlier today, along with four councillor colleagues, I attended a briefing with the council's Chief Executive and with John McClelland, author of the independent review of the V&A at Dundee construction project budget and the huge budget overshoot, during which Mr McClelland explained the detail of his findings.
His report is over 30 pages long and he has made eight key recommendations and I will be scrutinising the report in detail before it is discussed at the council's Policy & Resources Committee on 24th August.
However, what is glaringly obvious from the report is the failure of cost management and technical support at the time of the architectural competition and judging panel decision. The underprovision in the original budget cost estimates clearly account for the majority of the budget overshoot. Additionally, there was a lamentable failure to properly report back to and update councillors.
The V&A at Dundee project now has to be completed and it is vital that all recommendations raised in John McClelland's report are acted upon promptly and efficiently.