Ferries fiasco Swinney was consulted before contract awarded to Fergusons
SCOTLAND’S controversial ferry building contract was cleared by the then transport minister Derek Mackay, but only after a final consultation with Deputy First Minister John Swinney, it has been revealed.
Whilst current Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth painted Mr Mackay as the “fall guy” who signed off on the contract to Jim Mccollled shipyard firm Ferguson Marine, new papers reveal it had first to get a level of clearance from Mr Swinney.
Ms Gilruth was accused of treating the Scottish Parliament with “contempt” after claiming to have found a “missing” email that showed that the ferry fiasco contract was believed to have been finally approved by Mr Mackay.
But what Ms Gilruth did not say is that a series of emails reveal that Mr Swinney had final involvement before the contract was approved.
Audit Scotland found that ministers went ahead with granting the contract in October, 2015, despite concerns raised by the Government’s ferry procurement body, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, over a lack of financial guarantees that placed them at risk.
SCOTLAND’S controversial ferrybuilding contract was cleared by the then-transport minister, Derek Mackay, but only after a final consultation with Deputy First Minister John Swinney, it has been revealed.
While current Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth painted Mr Mackay as the “fall guy” who signed off on the calamitous contract to Jim Mccoll-led shipyard firm Ferguson Marine, new papers reveal that it had to get a level of clearance from Mr Swinney first.
Ms Gilruth was accused of treating the Scottish Parliament with “contempt” after claiming to have found a “missing” email that showed that the ferry fiasco contract was believed to have been finally approved by Mr Mackay.
But what Ms Gilruth did not say is that a series of emails reveal that Mr Swinney had a final involvement before the contract was approved.
Audit Scotland found that ministers went ahead with granting the contract in October, 2015, despite the concerns raised by the Government’s ferry procurement body, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), over the lack of financial guarantees that placed them at risk.
Auditor General Stephen Boyle raised concerns about “missing evidence” over why ministers took on the financial risk of proceeding with awarding the controversial £97 million order to Ferguson Marine without mandatory refund guarantees from the shipbuilder.
The email was discovered at noon just before a debate on the contract which has seen two lifeline vessels still not delivered, running over five years late and more than double the budget.
Speaking to MSPS, Ms Gilruth said: “I hold in my hand that irrefutable documentary evidence that this decision was made rightly and properly by the then transport minister Derek Mackay.”
But further documents show that Mr Mackay’s approval had been discussed with the Deputy First Minister John Swinney first, while there was a request to ensure there were no “banana skins” before the award was finally made.
An email on October 9, 2015, from the ferries division of the Scottish Government to Gordon Wales, the Scottish Government director of financial management, and director of procurement and property Ainslie Mclaughlin stated that Mr Mackay’s sanction would be passed on to CMAL “this afternoon” with a view to them signing a contract with [Ferguson Marine] asap.
But three minutes later, Mr Wales in an email copied to Transport Scotland asked if it “might be sensible” to wait until Mr Mackay and Mr Swinney had spoken “to ensure there are no financial/procurement issues that he might want further reassurance on”.
He added: “Unless there is a critical deadline, my sense is that... we should hold fire for a few hours.”
Just over an hour later, Mr Wales emailed Mr Mclaughlin to ask him to drop a note in the system to “confirm the absence of banana skins after your call with DFM please (worth letting him know the intention is to tell CMAL immediately)”.
It is not clear whether that “note in the system” has been disclosed.
An hour and a half later, Mr Mclaughlin responded to Mr Wales, saying: “Just finished my call with DFM. He now understands the background and that Mr Mackay has cleared the proposal. So, the way is clear to award.”
Nicola Sturgeon has previously denied there was a government “cover-up” over missing documents and said that “anybody can go on to the Scottish Government website and see the sheer quantum of paperwork and recording of decisions around this issue.”
In the years since the contract was awarded, the yard has been saved from administration by the Scottish Government, and the estimated delivery of two vessels has been pushed back by at least five years, along with an increase in costs from £97m to at least £250m.
The Glen Sannox and the as-yetunnamed Hull 802 are now expected to be completed between March and May 2023 and between October and December 2023 respectively.
It has been suggested that the transparency failure was a breach of the Public Finance and Accountability Act and the affair has been reported to Police Scotland.
I hold in my hand that irrefutable documentary evidence that this decision was made… by Derek Mackay