Whether he will make a statement on the ownership of the land currently being developed as the landscape scheme associated with the new Par…

The idea of incorporating the area of the Royal Park comprising the site of the former Royal High School playing fields as landscaping around Holyrood dates back to Enric Miralles' earliest concept for the Parliament project. The Parliament is the client for these works and the finalised scheme design was approved by the Corporate Body earlier this year. The land in question was owned by Scottish ministers and under the jurisdiction of Historic Scotland. The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has concluded that this was not a satisfactory long-term arrangement, considering in particular the issue of responsibility for maintenance of the landscaped area. For this reason, we have agreed with Scottish ministers that the Parliament will buy this portion of land. The District Valuer has valued the land at £20,000 and this sum will be transferred to Historic Scotland from the Holyrood Capital Budget. The budget assigned to the landscape scheme will be transferred by the Scottish Executive to the Parliament. The transfer of the land and budget will take effect from 17th October 2001. In all other respects the work will proceed as planned.