SNP Government told to 'rein in costs' as Scotland's public inquiries bill tops £250m
Between 2007 and September 2025, the overall bill for the cost stood at £258.8 million.
The SNP Government has been urged to “rein in the costs” after the bill for Scotland’s public inquiries topped more than £250 million - a figure described as “eye-watering”.
Between 2007 and September 2025, the overall bill for the cost of public inquiries stood at £258.8m.
That total is up by £28.8m from December last year, data from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre [SPICe] showed.
It covers five ongoing public inquiries as well as five that have been completed.
Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary and member of the finance committee Craig Hoy said: “Public inquiries play an essential role in ensuring lessons are learned, justice is served and in helping to prevent future scandals or tragedies – and that’s why John Swinney must commit to a Scottish grooming gangs inquiry.
“But SNP ministers also have a duty to rein in the costs and duration of public inquiries, in the interests of taxpayers and victims alike. These eye-watering figures confirm that too many are ballooning in cost and dragging on for years on end.”
Scottish Labour business manager Martin Whitfield added: “Public inquiries play a vital role in delivering transparency and openness in public life, but these eye-watering sums show the pressure they are placing on public finances.
“Public inquiries should be a last resort, but this secretive SNP Government has made it increasingly difficult to get answers any other way.”
Details of the costs were published ahead of Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes facing questions from MSPs on the mounting bill.
Ms Forbes will appear before Holyrood’s Finance and Public Administration Committee, which is carrying out an investigation into the cost effectiveness of public inquiries, on Tuesday.
Ahead of that appearance, the SPICe research revealed: “The total cost of these inquiries, when completed inquiry costs are put into 2024-25 prices, is £258.8m (thus far).
“This is £9.3m more than when the last update was published in September.”
The Holyrood committee has been examining the cost effectiveness of public inquiries in the wake of the “growing demand” to hold them – with MSPs having considered whether this is “due to public service delivery failure”.
Ms Forbes is expected to be pressed on the Government’s approach to commissioning inquiries when she appears before MSPs. The committee is expected to publish its findings before the end of this year.
The most expensive inquiry is the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, a long-running probe into the abuse of youngsters in care in Scotland. As of September, the cost of that inquiry stood at £102m. It was announced in December 2014.
The Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry had cost £45.5m as of September, having started in December 2021.
Some £29.1m has been spent on the inquiry into issues with the construction of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow, and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh. It was announced in September 2019.
Meanwhile, the bill for the inquiry into the events surrounding the death of Sheku Bayoh in police custody stood at £26.2 million by September - having started in November 2019.
This was before Lord Bracadale resigned as inquiry chairman, prompting the rest of the inquiry’s legal team to stand down and throwing the future of the probe into uncertainty.
No costs have yet been accrued by the most recent public inquiry to be announced, which will examine the original police investigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005.
Previous inquiries have been less expensive. The probe into the explosion at the ICL plastics factory, which took place between October 2007 and July 2009, costed £1.9m
The Fingerprint Inquiry cote £4.8m and lasted between March 2008 and December 2011, while the Penrose Inquiry into contaminated blood finished in March 2015 after nearly seven years at a cost of £12.1m.
The Vale of Leven Inquiry into a C. diff outbreak cost £10.7m between April 2009 and November 2014. The Edinburgh Tram inquiry lasted more than nine years, ending in September 2023. It cost £13.1m.
Lots of public money has also been spent on the UK Covid Inquiry. Some £200m has been spent on the inquiry as whole, although it is unclear how much has been spent on the Scottish element of it.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Public inquiries provide important opportunities to establish facts and to learn lessons for the future in the most transparent means possible. In many cases, they are set up with the support of the Scottish Parliament.
“Public inquiries operate independently of government. All matters relating to the operation of an inquiry are for the chair, who has a statutory duty to avoid unnecessary costs.”
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