I NOTE with interest your recent coverage of the work of Scottish Canals (“Historic canal network set for £35 million revamp plan”, The Herald, September 7). Scottish Canals is an organisation which prides itself on communicating effectively and transparently with our customers, stakeholders and staff. Your article may have raised expectations and given the impression that we are preparing to begin a planned and significant programme of works.
This article stemmed from the publication of a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) on the Scottish Government portal as part of the procurement process inviting interest in our Contractor Works Programme which is due for renewal. While the maximum value of the framework is £35m, made up of historical spend, planned projects and aspirational ambitions it is clearly stated in the PQQ that works included in the value of this framework are dependent on securing the necessary funding. As such there is no guarantee that the overall value of the Framework Agreement will reach this level.
This isn’t to say that we don’t have exciting plans for Scotland’s canals. We are committed to safeguarding the heritage of the network and investing to deliver the long-term sustainability of an important national asset
Steve Dunlop,
Chief executive, Scottish Canals,
1 Applecross Street, Glasgow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here