JIGSAW compilers know the frustration that comes with the realisation that, with only one or two spaces remaining on the board, there are pieces missing to complete the picture. Senior figures in GlasgowCity Council were circumspect, in public, when confirming yesterday that the final piece in the ambitious sporting jigsaw they had been assembling assiduously for the city and Scotland was being withheld but, in private, there was no hiding their anger at being thwarted in their ambition.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been identified as the villains in this piece. Reservations about the relocation of sportscotland from Edinburgh to Glasgow have caused the party to break ranks with Labour, its coalition partner at Holyrood, on the proposal. The Herald has learned that Glasgow officials had been told to expect an announcement about the relocation earlier this week but that it had been postponed because of the LibDems. The consequences are, potentially, very damaging for Scotland's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Glasgow has been selected as the venue and the city will compete with Halifax in Canada and Obuja in Nigeria for the glittering prize.

The decision will be made next year so, clearly, time is of the essence to submit the best bid possible. The LibDem position risks leaving Glasgow, and Scotland, with a bid that is not as strong as it should be. The other parts in the jigsaw are in place. The new GBP44m national indoor arena, which could accommodate sportscotland without difficulty, is to be built in the east end of the city. A rail link and station are to be re-opened which would benefit not just athletes and spectators but also sportscotland staff commuting from Edinburgh. Then there is corridor communication, which enables people to interact and make decisions under one roof: by far the best option.

Alan Pascoe, the Olympic medallist, believes sportscotland's relocation would put Glasgow's bid in a better light with the Commonwealth Federation. The move enjoys widespread support, although not among sportscotland staff. Their opposition is perhaps understandable. There are personal consequences for staff. But Glasgow is not the end of the earth (really). The LibDems deny they are blocking relocation because they believe Glasgow is benefiting too much from Labour-dominated executive policies. Rather, they say, their concerns about cost-effectiveness and equity as they apply to the proposed move are sufficient to justify their position.

That might be so, but it is hard not to view their obduracy as anything but the latest example of the inability of the Scottish Parliament, and its civil servants, to rise above territorial considerations that pit Glasgow against Edinburgh. It is long past time these rivalries were consigned to history, where they belong.

We should, instead, be looking to the future, one in which civil service dispersal is a dynamic for economic and social change to break the cycle of deprivation and poverty in disadvantaged areas (not just in Glasgow). The sportscotland relocation should come into that category.

Relocation to areas where dispersal can have the biggest impact sends out the clearest message to the staff involved as to the task ahead, and their role in delivering change. It is worth recalling that the potential to regenerate was a major reason for an independent study concluding recently that sportscotland's headquarters should be in Glasgow. The last space in the jigsaw is waiting to be filled. It is time the LibDems saw the bigger picture and did their bit to complete the jigsaw.