A local Labour MSP has stepped up pressure on the Scottish Government to start a promised public inquiry into the Edinburgh Tram project.

One hundred days since First Minister Alex Salmond promised that a public inquiry would take place, Kezia Dugdale has published a draft document that sets out her take on the issues that the probe should address.

Whilst there is no guarantee the Scottish Government will take heed of her findings, the MSP is calling for locals to share their thoughts on her proposals in a bid to put pressure on the Scottish Government to name a date for when the inquiry should start.

Commenting on her latest move, Ms Dugdale said: “It has now been more than 100 days since the First Minister committed the Scottish Government to a public inquiry into the trams in Edinburgh.

“The scale of just how out of control this project has gone makes the case for a public inquiry sooner rather than later increasingly urgent. I recognise how angry Edinburgh is about the spiralling costs and the missed deadlines.

“People want answers and they won’t get them from politicians. It is only through an independent inquiry we will get to the bottom of what is now a national scandal.

"I launched a consultation document on my website to encourage as many people and organisations as possible to share their thoughts on what they think a public inquiry should address.

"Only ministers can commission an inquiry and my hope is that by pulling the responses together and putting them to the Government I can get some momentum behind the push to get a deep and thorough inquiry started before even more time is wasted.”

To date, the Scottish Government has not confirmed when the public inquiry into the Edinburgh Tram project will begin.

SNP MSP for the city centre, Marco Biagi, supported the government’s stance: “There certainly has to be a public inquiry, everyone agrees on that."

"I do think that we need to look particularly at the period between 2003 and 2007 when several inflated claims seem to have been made for the project. But my preference for when a public inquiry should start is after most of the major decisions have been taken.”

"The City of Edinburgh Council will not be taking on another project of this scale any time soon," he added.

Recently Jenny Dawe, the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, has written to the first Minister to confirm local support for an investigation.

IN DETAIL:

Read the full text of the Tram Consultation launched by Kezia Dugdale.