Transport Scotland accused of 'hampering' ferry fiasco probe

The SNP's deputy leader Keith Brown came under scrutiny over the scandal, having originally approved Ferguson Marine as preferred bidder for the disastrous £97m contract in August, 2015 while Mr Mackay was on leave.

Neither ferry has been completed and total costs are expected to more than quadruple from the original £97m cost, while their delivery has been delayed by over five years as issues with design and build continue.

But new emails have emerged from Transport Scotland suggesting Mr Mackay was fully aware that Transport Scotland intended to seek ministerial approval for the award of the two shipbuilding contracts by ferries owner and procurer Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited to Ferguson Marine, the shipyard firm run by then independence-supporting Mr McColl.

The emails uncovered show that Mr Mackay contributed to the media announcement over the preferred bidder status.

READ MORE: 'ScotGov could have bought boat for £9m cost of CalMac ferry charter'

Richard Leonard, convener of the Public Audit Committee, whose report into the Ferguson Marine ferry fiasco rebukes the departing First Minister over her involvement, said the emails corroborate conclusions made the report and contradicts evidence provided by the former Minister, that he was not involved during this time.

And has criticised Transport Scotland for failing to provide the information in good time and "hampering" scrutiny work.

Three days before the announcement, Mr Mackay was sent a draft of a media release where he backed the preferred bidder development saying it proves that Scottish shipbuilding can succeed in a competitive market, with the [Ferguson Marine] team submitting the highest quality bid that offered best value for money.

“The vessels themselves will be ‘dual-fuel ferries’, allowing them to use cleaner fuel and future-proofing them for the advent of tighter regulations around sulphur emissions,ensuring they will be able to benefit the communities that need them for decades to come.”

His private secretary then emailed an extra line for his quote about "how this is strengthening the ferry fleet and to say that this is a 'significant investment'."

Then First Minister, Alex Salmond, personally intervened to save the yard in 2014 and persuaded Mr McColl, a member of his council of economic advisers, to take it over just a week before the Scottish independence referendum.

It is the latest twist in the ferry affair that came nearly a year after a missing email detailed that Mr Mackay approved Ferguson Marine being given the final approval the following October - despite concerns surfacing from the Scottish Government-owned CMAL that the normal financial safeguards were not in place.

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During evidence sessions in September, last year, Mr Mackay said the decision over preferred bidder status was made while he was on annual leave. He said Mr Brown made the decision.

He was asked if prior to him going on annual leave he got the impression that the preferred bidder status would likely be awarded to Ferguson Marine and whether he was comfortable with that direction of travel.

He replied: No, I do not think that there was any suggestion of that. As you would expect, I would have been briefed that submissions would be forthcoming to ministers. However, I was on annual leave, which is just a matter of fact. I was advised that papers would be forthcoming at some point. Of course, the timing of when submissions would have been presented to us for decision was in the hands of civil servants."

He was asked if he was aware of any cabinet level discussions about the decision to award preferred bidder status to Ferguson Marine.

He said: "No. At that point I was not a member of the cabinet. I was appointed to cabinet when I became finance secretary in 2016, so I am not aware of what discussions there may have been in cabinet."

READ MORE: Ferguson Marine: Finance chief embroiled in bonus payments row quits

Mr Leonard has written to Michelle Quinn, the interim chief executive of Transport Scotland saying the uncovering of the new evidence, which was the result of an Freedom of Information review, was "unacceptable" four months after being originally requested and a day after finalising its report.

Mr Leonard said: "The committee is also disappointed that the same level of rigour involved in this FOI review was not applied to a parliamentary committee’s request for the same information.

"It is also regrettable that it was not possible to include this new information in our report which was published. Had this evidence been made available when requested, it would have informed our report findings on the preferred bidder announcement. We therefore consider that the late receipt of this information has hampered our scrutiny work.

"As you will be aware, our report raises concerns about the way in which Transport Scotland has engaged with the Ccmmittee during our scrutiny of the 801 and 802 vessels project. We faced challenges in securing accountable officer attendance to give oral evidence and received late and incomplete information with little or no explanation.

"This caused the committee to question the level of respect and regard for accountability to the Scottish Parliament that is held by your organisation. The late sharing of this new evidence has further compounded this view."

He pointed out that the protocol agreed by the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government states that the Scottish Government should provide a response within two months of the publication of a Scottish Parliamentary committee report.

"As the Scottish Government’s executive agency for transport, we expect Transport Scotland to be central to the preparation of this response," said Mr Leonard.

"The committee urges Transport Scotland to reflect carefully on the many concerns we raise in our report, and set out what action it intends to take to ensure that its obligations to the Scottish Parliament, as set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, are fully understood and respected."

A Scottish Government spokesman said it would study the findings of the Public Audit Committee "carefully".

“Changes have already been put in place to address many of the issues raised. This includes working with the shipyard’s senior management team to improve governance and accountability and revising processes for vessel procurement," said the spokesman.

"The Scottish Government is committed to transparency and has proactively published more than 200 documents on its website. We have co-operated at every stage of the PAC inquiry, as well as those previously undertaken by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee and Audit Scotland.

“Ministers have apologised for the delay to the ferries and the distress and difficulty caused. We are committed to their completion, securing a sustainable future for the yard and supporting our island communities that rely on this type of vessel on a daily basis.”