No update after CEO sacking

Wellbeing Economy Secretary Mairi McAllan has said she does not have sufficient detail to update MSPs on further potential delays to the overdue ferries at Ferguson Marine, after the shipyard’s CEO was sacked earlier this week.

Ms McAllan told Holyrood that David Tydeman’s sacking was a matter for the state-owned shipyard’s board, and they had been considering addressing “performance-related issues” since February.

The SNP minister sought to reassure MSPs on the expertise of John Petticrew, who replaces Mr Tydeman as interim chief executive and who will oversee the remaining work on Glen Sannox and its sister ship Glen Rosa.

She said she understood islanders’ frustration around ferry delays as CalMac’s existing fleet comes under pressure and vowed to leave “no stone unturned” to secure a future for the yard.

On Tuesday, it emerged that Mr Tydeman had been sacked after intimating that further delays to the Glen Sannox were “likely”. He had earlier said the vessel would be handed over in late May but it seems this deadline can no longer be met.

Ms McAllan answered an urgent question on the matter in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

She said: “The islanders are uppermost in my mind, and that’s why I’ve been very clear that delays are entirely unacceptable.”

Discussing the delays and cost overruns for the two ferries, she continued: “I do not have sufficient information in order to update Parliament with the specificity that I would want to bring to the chamber.

“I was formally notified on Monday of potential delays – potential delays crystallising – but the new executive team and the board will now interrogate those.”