FERRY BOSSES GAGGED BY SNP
New twist in £230m ships row as Government is accused of ‘lying’ over secret payouts to four senior managers
SENIOR bosses at a nationalised shipyard were forced to sign gagging orders by the Scottish Government to ban them from discussing the £230million ferry fiasco.
Four members of Ferguson Marine’s management team signed pay-off agreements which included clauses preventing them criticising SNP ministers.
The yard was taken into public control after it entered administration as a contract to build two CalMac ferries spiralled out of control.
The scottish Government was accused of trying to cover up the payments after it initially tried to claim they did not exist.
It later admitted the payments’ existence but tried to suggest they were signed prior to it taking control.
Jim McColl, the former owner of the site and an economic adviser to Nicola sturgeon, accused the scottish Government of ‘lying’ about some of the details and using its taxpayer-funded Pr machine to spin the truth.
Delays and cost overruns with the £97million ferry contract led to a dispute between
Ferguson and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), which is responsible for CalMac ferries and harbours.
It commissioned the contract for the vessels – the Glen Sannox and its unnamed twin. Two of the agreements name Macrocom, a Scottish Government entity set up by ministers to manage the Port Glasgow yard when it was in administration, as a signatory.
The document handed to one of the bosses is titled a ‘settlement agreement’. It states ‘all circumstances leading to the termination of the employee’s employment will remain confidential between the parties and their appointed representatives’.
A section goes further by preventing the individual making any ‘detrimental or derogatory statements’ about the yard operator or any group company, its employees or directors or any ‘associated persons, shareholders or investors’, a clause which prevents them criticising ministers or CMAL bosses.
Salary and other payments to the four men were conditional on them agreeing these terms.
The Mail has learned four Ferguson Marine bosses – who have since left their posts – were handed the secrecy deals: finance director Tom Cousins, business development manager Jim Clark, head of procurement Ian Kelso and chief naval architect Chris Dunn.
Negotiations on the value of the agreements took place with Tim Hare, who was appointed by the Scottish Government as ‘turnaround director’ at the site.
When asked about the deals, the Scottish Government initially said: ‘No staff have been asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement.’ But when the Mail confirmed its full knowledge about the deals, the Government acknowledged agreements are in place but tried to claim it was not involved.
Mr McColl, a former owner of the site and a member of the First Minister’s Council of Economic
Advisers, said: ‘What they are telling you – that they didn’t make the decision – is a lie. It was Tim Hare and the Government because they wanted rid of them.
‘To say they were not in control is wrong. Macrocom was the managing agent and that was who was in control. That was the Government.
‘[Ex-finance secretary] Derek Mackay was up there doing his grandstanding in August and making his statement the Government
had saved the yard. They then put in their own management team. They are just playing with words and manipulating the truth. This is a front to cover up what they’re doing. They do this with everything now – they have a PR machine to twist things.’
Scottish Tory transport spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘The fact the SNP Government has tried to cover up these agreements is a complete disgrace.’
After the Mail confirmed details of the individuals who received the deals, the Scottish Government issued a new statement.
It said: ‘The Scottish Government has not asked any staff to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). At the start of their employment at FMEL [Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd] – prior to the Scottish Government taking control – senior management signed confidentiality clauses as part of their conditions of employment with the previous owner of the business.
‘To ensure that former members of the FMEL management team were able to engage openly with the parliamentary inquiry into the construction and procurement of ferries in Scotland, the Scottish Government secured the agreement of the FMEL administrator to release former FMEL employees from their contractual confidentiality obligation for that purpose.’
In a further statement, the Scottish Government said: ‘Standard confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements are not the same as NDAs.
‘Confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements are about ensuring the facts and terms of the settlement remain confidential and do not restrict former employees from taking part in processes such as parliamentary inquiries.’
Comment – Page 16