Members of the Scottish parliament have expressed dismay at the latest £38 million rise in costs for their new building.

The cost of the new building is now estimated at £375 million, a further rise on the £338 million predicted earlier this year.

Additional costs include £18.75 million for construction, £6.1 million in fees, £8.25 million for site running and construction management costs, and £4.6 million of VAT.

Taking evidence from senior MSPs and officials involved in running the project, members of the parliament's finance committee expressed anger at the latest cost over-run.

Committee convener Des McNulty said there was "widespread anger" at the cost rises.

And Labour's Kate Maclean said it was "a disgrace...and the single biggest issue that has brought the parliament into disrepute over the last four years".

Robert Brown, a member of Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body which has legal responsibility for the building project, accepted that the anger was justified.

Members of the SPCB "share the widespread dismay and anger" at the latest increase in the construction bill, he told the committee.

He said that the architects, project managers and construction companies had "struggled to cope" with the complexity of the project.

"The main cost pressure since January has been the delay in finalising the construction design details with the contractors," he said.

He blamed the increasing costs on contractual "constraints" and noted that there had also been higher bomb blast requirements.

Brown said the aim now was to "build it as quickly as possible" but added that the SPCB "cannot give guarantees".

He said there was a 95 per cent chance of completion by the end of the year.

"The further on we get, the more certainty there is on costs and completion," Brown said.

And Brown, a Liberal Democrat MSP for Glasgow, admitted the costs and delays had been "damaging" to the reputation of the parliament.

"The corporate body intend to do everything we possibly can to limit the cost impact."

Committee member Jeremy Purvis questioned the handling of the latest cost rise.

"There doesn't seem as if there was a competent handling of this process from the early notification to the actual final figures being presented," he said.

But Paul Grice, chief executive of the Scottish parliament, said that if he stepped aside it would "certainly not help" the completion of the project.