SCOTTISH and UK ministers rejected Glasgow's bid for a billion-pound Green Freeport even though the city's application scored higher in the official process than all but one of the other bids.
According to the official scoring sheet, the Clyde Green Freeport came second out of the five Scottish applications.
Despite this, UK and Scottish ministers snubbed the west coast consortium and picked third-placed Inverness and Cromarty Firth along with winner, Firth of Forth.
In the scoring sheet sent out to bidders, seen by The Herald, the two governments claim it was in part because it “delivered a fair spread across Scotland."
That’s despite both successful ports being on the east coast.
They also said the Highland bid “scored higher on the decarbonisation criteria” which was a priority for the governments.
READ MORE: Edinburgh won freeport bid despite claims it was 'ineligible' following council snub
While Clyde was awarded a “medium” for “promote decarbonisation and a just transition to a net zero economy,” Cromarty Firth received a “medium/high.”
In total, across the six criteria, the northern bid won two highs, two medium/highs and two mediums.
However, Glasgow was awarded a high mark in three criteria, medium/high in one and two mediums in another.
While the Glasgow bid was awarded high for “deliverability of proposal effectively at pace” and “level of private sector involvement in the proposal" the Cromarty bid received medium in both.
Glasgow MSP Pauline McNeil demanded answers as to why the city's bid was not selected.
The MSP said: "I was appraised of the high quality content of the Glasgow Clyde Green Freeport bid and I was surprised that it did not succeed.
"Following the announcement I asked Scottish Government Ministers on three occasions why the Glasgow Clyde bid was unsuccessful.
“It is now clear why I did not get an acceptable response to that question. We now know that Glasgow was side-lined in favour Cromarty despite our bid achieving a higher score and being more deliverable.
"Glasgow was second fair and square so I want answers as to why it wasn’t selected. furthermore why would any Government leave the entirety of the West of Scotland without a Freeport.
“Levelling up was one of the criteria these bids were to be scored on, but despite Glasgow having some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country and being the city which suffered the longest Covid lockdowns in Britain, the Scottish Government have deliberately chosen not to provide much needed investment in the region.
"As a Glasgow MSP I am very worried about the consistent failure of the Scottish Government to invest in Glasgow and the west.”
READ MORE: Snubbed Clyde Freeport 'reviewing legal options' against UK and Scottish ministers
The scoring sheet also reveals that all of the other bids were far behind the Firth of Forth, which won five highs and one medium.
However, there have been questions over the capital's success.
All five groups needed to show that they had a “firm written commitment” from their local council.
While all the other bids managed to secure that backing - including Clyde Green Freeport which took in eight councils - the City of Edinburgh Council was less decisive in their support for Forth.
Although they initially seemed to back the bid, the authority formally withdrew their support in November, with the Labour leader of the authority accused of “bypassing democracy and dodging scrutiny” for not first asking for the permission of councillors.
Officials were forced to tell both governments that their letter of support had been “premature”.
It was only at a subsequent full council meeting on December 15 that councillors finally, formally backed the bid.
However, the deadline for the contest closed at 10am on 20 June.
Last month we reported that the private sector partners in the Glasgow bid had consulted a KC and are reviewing the legal options.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Both Governments followed a fair, open, and transparent selection process in deciding the Green Freeport sites, and we worked closely with the Scottish Government to prioritise bids that scored highly for decarbonisation when choosing between applications.
"The selection of bids has also been spread across Scotland.
“Cromarty Firth and Inverness Freeport are estimated to create 25,000 jobs and generate £4.8 billion in investment for the area, with a focus on floating offshore wind, nuclear and hydrogen that will drive a transition to net zero by 2045.”
Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow Council said: “We’ve always been clear the process was deeply flawed, but we’ve moved on from this.
“The decision was disappointing, but our focus now is on getting both governments to provide the Glasgow City Region with the investment and the powers it needs and should have to maximise its economic potential – without the artificiality of staged competitions between different parts of the country.
“We have a track record of delivery that speaks for itself.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
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