Rows over ‘secret’ £15m loan to ferry firm run by Sturgeon adviser
MSPS have voiced concerns after it emerged the Scottish Government has now loaned almost £50 million to a struggling business owned by a billionaire adviser to Nicola Sturgeon.
Ministers announced earlier this year they had loaned £30m to ferry builder Ferguson Marine, the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde.
However it has now emerged that the government also gave a £15m loan to the firm, owned by Monaco-based engineering tycoon Jim Mccoll, in September last year.
The information was shared with Holyrood’s finance committee but withheld from the taxpayers who ultimately supplied the funds because of “commercial confidentiality”.
At the time, Ferguson Marine was struggling to meet the deadline for filing its annual accounts.
It was due to lodge its statements for 2016 by September 30 2017.
It failed to do so, and has still not filed them with Companies House, meaning its last full-year public financial disclosure dates back to 2015.
Mr Mccoll, who sits on the First Minister’s council of economic advisers, bought Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow after it went bust in 2014.
The following year Ferguson’s won a £97m Scottish Government contract to build two new “dual fuel” ferries for government-owned Calmac, securing work for the 150 staff.
However the contract has not gone smoothly, with the two vessels delayed from summer and autumn of this year to summer 2019 and spring 2020.
In June, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay announced a £30m loan to Fergusons to help the firm “diversify” into low-carbon marine projects and decommissioning work.
However, Mr Mackay made no mention of the fact he had already loaned Ferguson up to £15m just nine months previously, and this had all been fully drawn down by April.
That information only emerged after the Scottish Government was asked under freedom of information law if it had given any public funds besides the declared £30m to Ferguson Marine or to Mr Mccoll’s Clyde Blowers empire, which ultimately owns the enterprise.
A government spokesman added: “Scottish shipbuilding has a long and proud history, and it is essential we continue to support the industry to thrive and reach its full potential.”
Tory MSP Jamie Greene said: “This is a significant sum of public money secretly provided to a private company and the SNP has conspicuously failed to announce it or explain it.”
Labour MSP Colin Smyth linked the cash to a “fundamental problem” with the delayed ferry orders, adding: “More and more taxpayers’ money is being poured in and these latest revelations show there has been a lack of transparency from government.”
Ferguson’s has blamed unforeseen complexities with the ferry order for delays, pushing up costs.
A spokesman said: “As we work with to resolve these claims with [Calmac owners] CMAL, the Scottish Government has provided us with two commercial loans in the amount of £15m and £30m. These also support diversification of the business and the securing of new contracts.”