The Scottish Conservatives are today (Wednesday) calling on the SNP Government to finally come clean on why they ignored expert advice and awarded a contract to build two ferries to Ferguson Marine.
The party will lead a debate on the ferries fiasco in Parliament, following claims from the Scottish Government that the paperwork outlining the reasoning behind the decision “cannot be located”.
While arguing that the lack of documentary evidence may break the law, Shadow Transport Minister Graham Simpson will challenge ministers to verbally reveal their rationale for the award, because it’s “inconceivable” they can’t recall it.
The cost of building the two ferries at the now-nationalised yard is currently two-and-a-half times over the original £97 million budget, while, in the best-case scenario, they will be delivered five years late.
The Scottish Conservatives will call on the SNP to reveal its plans for running and procuring Scotland’s ferries in future, amid fears the depleted CalMac fleet and unreliable service will only fuel the depopulation of our islands.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Graham Simpson MSP, said: “The SNP’s continued cover-up over their catastrophic contract award is only dragging out and deepening this scandal.
“The government’s claims over the missing document - explaining why they overruled CMAL’s advice and gave the contract to Ferguson - don’t bear the slightest scrutiny. Whether no written record was ever kept or it has been destroyed, it appears they may well have broken the law.
“But in a sense the paperwork is a red herring. Ministers can simply tell us their reasoning. After all, it’s inconceivable that Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, Keith Brown and co can’t recall why they gave the contract to Ferguson – unless they’ve all developed selective amnesia.
“We’re not talking about a bog-standard rubber-stamping of a decision by officials; we’re talking about a huge government procurement programme in which ministers decided to expressly go against their experts’ recommendations.
“Nicola Sturgeon claims she wants to be transparent and has nothing to hide. If so, she must answer a very simple question.
“The reason all of this matters is because taxpayers are picking up an enormous tab for SNP incompetence, while our island communities are being appallingly let down by an ageing, sub-standard CalMac fleet as they wait for new ferries that are already five years late.
“These are lifeline services for islanders and we risk accelerating depopulation unless they improve radically.
“The First Minister must stop treating the public like fools and finally come clean.”
Notes
The motion being brought forward by the Scottish Conservatives is as follows:
*S6M-04319 Graham Simpson: Ferry Procurement—That the Parliament believes that the way the Scottish Government has been running ferry services has been a scandal; calls on the Scottish Government to say why it awarded the contract for ferries 801 and 802 to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited against the advice of its own experts; is concerned about why 15 stage payments were agreed for each ferry; notes concerns that the deal may have broken EU state aid rules; further notes concerns that the lack of documentary evidence to explain the contract award could be in breach of the law; is disappointed that the Scottish Government failed to listen to the experienced workforce who had concerns about the management of the yard; believes that the yard could have survived without the orders for vessels 801 and 802; agrees with the view of the majority of people in Scotland who think that the Scottish National Party administration has done a bad job of running ferries; is concerned that this will contribute to island depopulation, and calls on the Scottish Government to spell out how it plans to run and procure ferry services in the future.