Forbes accuses Mccoll of ‘shifting the blame’ on ferries scandal

Kate Forbes has attacked the former owner of the Ferguson Marine shipyard (FMEL) as having a “clear interest in shifting the blame” around the ongoing ferries fiasco.

Answering questions from MSPS in Holyrood, the finance secretaryemphaticallyrejected accusationsfromthetycoonthe deal for hulls 801 and 802 were rushed for political purposes.

Mrmccolltoldthebbcyesterday that there had been a “fabulous propaganda exercise" by the SNP to shift blame on to Ferguson’sforthefiveyeardelay to the vessels which were supposed to go into service in 2018.

He claimed then-infrastructures minister, Keith Brown, signed the contract, though the Scottish Government have said it was signed by the chief executive of CMAL and Mr Mccoll himself.

Ms Forbes said it was “entirely wrong” the contract award was “rushed”, stating that the timetable did not “support that notion” and that all procurement processes were followed.

Attacking Mr Mccoll, she added: “Contrary to what Mr Mccollsaidthismorning,itwas thechiefexecutiveofcmaland Mr Mccoll himself who signed the contract. This is a man with a clear interest in shifting the blameonotherswhentheroute course ultimately to the delays of these important vessels was the construction under FMEL.”

In 2019, the shipyard was nationalised by the Scottish Government in a bid to save jobs, but the construction of the two ferries have been beset by delays. Central to the issues with the contract was the lack ofafullbuildersrefundguarantee which would have allowed the government to claw back money spent on the vessels in the event of a delay.

However, FMEL said they were not able to offer a full refundguarantee,whichraised concerns amongst CMAL.

Theseconcernswereignored by the government, but no documentary evidence exists to statewhy,ascathingauditscotland report on the fiasco states.

Ms Forbes told MSPS: “There were no concerns raised at the point of announcing the preferred bidder in August 2015, and that is why the preferred bidder was announced based on the advice of CMAL, FMEL clearlyscoringthehighestscore overall. When concerns were raised, mitigations were put in place, that is all very well documented in the report.”

Ms Forbes also contradicted Mr Mccoll’s claim that he did not know of CMAL’S concerns around the contract, claiming that FMEL were “crystal clear” about the concerns raised.