SCOTTISH Parliament bosses have decided to close the building to the public on Sundays in a bid to save cash.
The number of visitors to the £414 million parliament has fallen short of the forecast levels since it opened three years ago.
And officials believe ending Sunday opening will save up to £250,000 a year in operating costs and through better schedu
ling of maintenance.
The change will take effect from Sunday, February 10.
The announcement comes just weeks after the cross-party Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) announced charges for tours of the building are to go up from £5 to £6 from April 1.
Consultants forecast in 2002 the parliament building would attract up to 700,000 visitors a year in the first three years.
But official figures show there were 371,755 visitors in 2005-06, the first full financial year at Holyrood, and 317,755 in 2006-07.
Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson said Sunday opening had served its purpose, but it was now time to "take stock". He said: "Initially, the SPCB decided to open for seven days a week at Holyrood to facilitate the huge public interest in the new parliament building.
"This worked well with over a million visitors having visited the parliament to date.
"However, three years on, our data on visitor numbers and behaviour indicate Sundays are relatively quiet days. The SPCB has decided that we will therefore concentrate our activities on a six- day week."
The parliament said in the summer months Holyrood received an average of 1330 visitors on business days, compared to 730 visitors on Saturdays and 475 on Sundays. And in the winter the figures were 1100 for business days, 600 on Saturdays and 430 on Sundays.
Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said the parliament should not "throw in the towel" over Sunday opening, especially in the summer when the area around Holyrood was busy with tourists.
She said: "If they want to market the parliament, they should be open the same days as other visitor venues in the area."
Our Dynamic Earth is open on Sundays all year round, but closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the winter.
And the Palace of Holyroodhouse is open every day, except during Royal visits.
Ms MacDonald said: "If the commercial attractions find it financially positive to open on a Sunday, it takes a bit of imagination to work out why the parliament does not."
The full article contains 414 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
