A HOLYROOD committee has accused the deputy leader of the SNP of being “evasive” over the CalMac ferries fiasco and suggested he may have broken the ministerial code.

In a searing letter, the Public Audit Committee said Keith Brown provided “disrespectful” and “unsatisfactory” answers to questions on what he knew about the scandal.

It said it was “extremely disappointed” by his repeated failure to provide sufficient information and his “unwillingness to engage” was insulting to them and the parliament.

Committee convener Richard Leonard also reminded Mr Brown, who is the Justice Secretary, of his duties under the Scottish Ministerial Code, including accountability, openness and justifying his actions to the public and parliament.

“We now find ourselves in the regrettable position of questioning whether these requirements have been followed in this case,” Mr Leonard said.

READ MORE: Holyrood inquiry 'concern' over Keith Brown responses on ferry fiasco

It would be considered a resignation issue for Mr Brown to have broken the code - however that would require Nicola Sturgeon, as First Minister, to find him guilty.

The five-member committee has a Labour convener, with two Tories and two SNP MSPs.

The committee’s scathing verdict on Mr Brown follows its repeated attempts to discover his part in the award of the contract for two CalMac ferries in late 2015.

At the time, Mr Brown was the economy secretary and involved in the issue because the then transport minister, Derek Mackay, was on leave.

The contract was awarded to Ferguson Marine, the last commercial yard on the Clyde, for a fixed price of £97million, despite severe misgivings behind the scenes.

The state-owned ferry procurement body, Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL), wanted to retender the order because Ferguson’s could not provide an industry standard guarantee that would have protected taxpayers in the event of problems with delivering the boats.

The deal proved a disaster, with rows between the yard and CMAL over costs and design changes, and eventually Ferguson’s went broke and was nationalised in 2019.

The two ferries are currently around £150m over budget and five years behind schedule.

The Herald:

Giving evidence to the Committee last month, Ms Sturgeon vehemently denied the deal had been a dodgy “jobs for the boys” arrangement influenced by Ferguson Marine being owned at the time by one of her economic advisers, the engineering tycoon Jim McColl.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon denies disastrous CalMac ferries deal was 'jobs for the boys'

In response to the committee’s written questions, Mr Brown supplied just 150 words of answers.

On November 10, Mr Leonard said he had failed to explain what information Mr Mackay, who signed off the deal, may have shared with him, and wrote demanding more details.

However Mr Brown declined, saying in writing that he was “content” that he had already answered the three questions put to him by the committee, and had done so accurately.

“I do not have any further information to provide,” he said.

READ MORE: Keith Brown: SNP deputy leader ducks more ferry inquiry questions

Mr Leonard and the committee have now written to Mr Brown for a third time and given him until January 6 to improve his responses.

In today’s letter, Mr Leonard said: “The Committee considered your most recent correspondence dated 28 November in relation to the abovementioned report at its meeting on 1 December 2022.

“We had asked you to revisit the answers you provided to the three questions we posed in our original letter of 29 September. 

“In your letter of 28 November, you indicated that you were content that the responses you provided were accurate and that you did not have any further information to provide.

“The Committee finds your responses to be both unsatisfactory and evasive. 

“By way of example, we asked for details of the information that was shared with you by the former Minister for Transport and the Islands [Mr Mackay], before he went on leave, about the status of the procurement of the ferry vessels, including any concerns. 

“You failed to answer that specific question, referring instead to a submission you received from Transport Scotland when the Minister was on leave. This was not information we asked for, as it is already in the public domain.

The Committee is extremely disappointed by your failure, once again, to provide sufficient answers to the questions we sought to help inform our scrutiny despite our best efforts. 

“Your unwillingness to engage constructively with the Committee is disrespectful to both the Committee and the Parliament.

“You will be aware of the requirements placed upon you, as set out in the Scottish Ministerial Code: 2018 edition in relation to Ministerial Conduct including—

• 1.3 (b) Ministers have a duty to the Parliament to account, and be held to account, for the policies, decisions and actions taken within their field of responsibility;

• 1.3 (d) Ministers should be as open as possible with the Parliament and the public, reflecting the aspirations set out in the Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament. They should refuse to provide information only in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and other relevant statutes.

• 1.6. Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Ministerial Code and for justifying their actions to Parliament and the public.

“We now find ourselves in the regrettable position of questioning whether these requirements have been followed in this case. The Committee is now turning its attention to producing a report of our scrutiny, which will be published in the coming months. 

“I expect we will wish to consider in this report the level of engagement we have had with Scottish Ministers and stakeholders during the course of our work, and how this is reflected in our conclusions and recommendations.

“The Committee would consider any further evidence you wish to give. The deadline is 6 January 2023.”

Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: “Keith Brown must come clean. He cannot continue to dodge critical questions about what he knew and when in relation to his government’s ferries fiasco.

“His lack of detailed responses are not only an insult to the committee, they are the latest example of a senior SNP figure believing they are above parliamentary scrutiny.

“Like his boss Nicola Sturgeon – whose failure to produce minutes of a key meeting looks to be a breach of the Ministerial Code – Keith Brown is displaying a marked lack of transparency.

“His refusal to respond to perfectly reasonable questions sums up the SNP’s ‘secret Scotland’ and once again reaffirms why we must have a full public inquiry into the ferries scandal.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Mr Brown has already been very clear that he has provided the committee with all information and documentation on this matter that he is aware of. He will respond to the letter in due course.”