SCOTLAND’S Finance Secretary has rejected tycoon Jim McColl’s allegation that the botched Ferguson Marine ferry deal was rushed into “for political purposes”.
Kate Forbes said the billionaire, who was initially given the contract to build the two vessels, had a “vested interest” in criticising the government.
The minister also dismissed claims that it was cabinet colleague Keith Brown who was responsible for agreeing the risk heavy contract, rather than her disgraced predecessor Derek Mackay.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr McColl, the former boss of the Ferguson Marine shipyard, who was a former adviser to the Scottish Government and fervent supporter of Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum, said the decision to overrule concerns over financial safeguards, was for the “optics”.
He said the timing of the announcements was “for political gain”.
Mr Mackay - who was forced to resign from government over a sleaze scandal involving a teenager - announced that Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) was the winner of a £97m contract to build two new ships for the state-owned ferry network CalMac (CMAL) at the SNP’s party conference.
Ferguson's bid was the most expensive of the six yards that tendered but outscored them on "quality".
However, the new firm didn’t have the finance to put in the normal safeguards or guarantees for a public project of this scale - leaving the government at risk.
Despite CMAL wanting to walk away as “there were too many risks involved to award the contract” and making their objections clear to Transport Scotland at the time, they were overruled by the Scottish Government.
Last week First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon said the decision to ignore those concerns and go ahead with the deal was ultimately taken by Mr Mackay.
However, last week it was revealed that Mr Brown - who was Infrastructure Secretary in 2015 - signed off on the deal - as then Transport Minister Mr Mackay was on holiday.
Ms Forbes told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland that it was Mr Mackay who “obviously negotiated the procurement with Ferguson” and “signed off on the final process.”
She added: “I think the important point here and this is why I'm answering questions on your show several years after this was first agreed, is that the Scottish Government takes collective responsibility. The Audit Scotland report is an independent in-depth review. It's entirely fair and justified. And the delays, the cost overruns and the impact on island communities are entirely unacceptable. And we take collective responsibility for that.”
Asked about Mr McColl’s claim that the deal was rushed through for “optics”, Ms Forbes said: “I fundamentally disagree with that. And again, I would say if we're serious about learning the lessons of this whole situation, we base that analysis on facts in the independent Audit Scotland report and not the opinions of somebody with vested interest, in a Sunday newspaper.
“The timetable does not stack up. Ferguson was publicly announced as the preferred vendor in August 2015. I think the conference you're referring to was sometime in October, the election wasn't until the following May. And this whole process was months if not years in the making.”
Ms Forbes also rejected Mr McColl’s claim that the ultimate cost for the two ships could be £400 million.
“Jim McColl may say a lot of things,” she said. “I prefer to base my analysis and my forecast on the facts.
“The latest updated cost forecast is up to £206 million. That takes into account a number of things. It takes into account new warranties, it takes into account the latest schedule, and it takes into account the cabling issue that I’ve already referred to.”
“I have no idea what he has based that on, at all,” she added.
The yard fell into administration in 2019 before being saved by the Scottish Government, before cost overruns and delays were revealed by then finance secretary Derek Mackay in December of that year.
Mr McColl claimed the Scottish Government would be better off making Hull 802 – the second ferry due to be delivered – watertight in its current form and selling it off before starting a new ferry entirely.
Ms Forbes said: “We have got a new chief executive in post at the yard. Who brings with him four decades' worth of experience. He has seconded in some individuals from CMAL with again significant experience.
"So between CMAL, the new management at the yard and officials, we have a significant body of analysis, of data, and evidence to base our decisions on, and our decision right now is to proceed as fast as possible to complete these vessels for the sake of communities that rely on them.”
Ms Forbes said the recommendation from the experts was to “proceed with completing these vessels and that it will cost up to £206.3m.”
Responding to Ms Forbes’s interview, the Scottish Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Graham Simpson said: “The SNP can’t seem to decide who’s to blame. From one day to the next, their story is changing. Now it seems to be all Derek Mackay’s fault again. This is becoming a farce.
“It was truly cringe-worthy to hear Kate Forbes try to dodge responsibility and claim that the problem with the ferries was only the construction, and nothing to do with the government contracts that arranged the construction.
“She seems to be suggesting there were no flaws in a procurement process that has so far cost Scottish taxpayers £250 million while failing to deliver any ferries.
“This is the worst political spin the SNP have come out with in years.
“Kate Forbes couldn’t even say how much these disastrous mistakes will ultimately cost taxpayers. She couldn’t rule out the costs escalating further by tens of millions more.
“This car crash interview adds even more pressure to the SNP over the ferries scandal.
“Nicola Sturgeon must urgently appear before the Scottish Parliament to respond to Jim McColl’s claims that this contract was personally signed off by her for political purposes.”
Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie accused Ms Forbes of "trashing the reputation of Jim McColl".
He said: "The Scottish Government should now just confess that they gambled hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to get them a cheap headline.
“We have heard the repeated denials from Kate Forbes who wasn’t a minister at the time, now we need to hear from SNP politicians who were responsible for this cynical misuse of public funds. John Swinney, Keith Brown and Nicola Sturgeon must give evidence to a public inquiry under oath.
“Islanders who are angry they don’t have a reliable ferry service deserve answers.”
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