The Scottish Government has announced a “missing” document on the CalMac ferries contract has been found after an investigation.
Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth stated that the email proved that one of her predecessors, Derek Mackay, approved a key decision to give contract to the Ferguson Marine shipyard.
However, the public spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, said that there still was not enough documentary evidence to explain why this decision was taken.
The government has come under criticism after the cost of building two ferries at the yard in Port Glasgow soared to least £250m – two-and-a-half times the original £97m budget.
The estimated delivery of the two vessels, Glen Sannox and Hull 802, has also been pushed back by five years and the yard had to be brought into public ownership.
In its initial report, the argument wasn't over who signed the document, it was about the lack of evidence to explain the reasons behind the decision.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) - the Scottish Government’s ferry procurer - had raised issues with the contract before it was approved, after Ferguson Marine said it could not offer a full refund guarantee; but the decision was taken to move ahead with the deal regardless.
The email sent on 9 October 2015, written by Mackay’s private secretary and previously unreleased, said: “The minister is content with the proposals and would like (them) to be moved on as quickly as possible please.”
Mackay was responding to a note from the CMAL board which laid out the new contract arrangement, featuring a refund guarantee of just 25% – with the board saying it felt it was its “absolute duty” to alert ministers to the risks associated with awarding the contract.
However, an email sent later on the 9 October revealed that the now Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who was then also serving as finance secretary, asked for communication of the final decision to be delayed until he could be briefed, as he was involved in the sign off.
“Might it be sensible to wait until he and DFM have spoken (5pm) to ensure there are no financial or procurement issues that he might want further reassurance on?” read the email. “Unless there is a critical deadline, my sense is that it we should hold fire for a few hours.”
Once Swinney had been briefed, the official added: “He now understands the background and that Mr MacKay has cleared the proposal. So the way is clear to award.”
Criticism mounted after the government could not locate an email showing which minister approved the deal.
In a statement to MSPs, Gilruth said she had some “good news” to share with the Parliament.
“I have that good news literally here in my hand, the missing document has been found, ministers were advised of this by officials shortly before noon today and I want to take the first available opportunity to give parliament this news.
“The document is an email that makes clear who approved the decision to award the contract to build vessels 801 and 802 to Ferguson shipyard.”
She said the email was sent by the Office of the Minister of Transport, adding: “I hold in my hand that irrefutable documentary evidence that this decision was made rightly and properly by the then transport minister Derek Mackay.”
Gilruth said the email had been “buried” in an unnamed official’s electronic files. “This email destroys the opposition's ridiculous conspiracy theories that another minister made this decision and it destroys their unfounded speculation that there was a ministerial direction given.”
Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby said the emails “raise more questions than they answer”.
He said: “It is a disgrace that this document was not given to Audit Scotland originally, it begs the question what other information has been kept from them and the public.
“We still don’t have a shred of information about why this decision was made, and now these documents show that it was cleared by John Swinney.
“We can see here that multiple ministers agreed to plough ahead with this dodgy deal, wasting millions of pounds of taxpayer cash on a contract that the experts warned them against – but we still don’t know why.
"We still need real answers for the taxpayers, islanders and shipyard workers who have all been so badly let down.”
Scottish Tory MSP Graham Simpson said: “I hate to break it to Jenny Gilruth, but the ‘missing document’ she claims to have discovered is nothing of the sort.
“The missing document we and the Scottish public are seeking is one that tells us why the SNP awarded it to Ferguson, given they were expressly advised not to.
“Simply revealing another email in support of the SNP’s desperate ‘operation blame Derek Mackay’ is not going to cut it.”
A spokesman for Audit Scotland, said: “The email confirms that ministers approved the award of the FMEL contract.
“But there remains insufficient documentary evidence to explain why the decision was made to proceed with the contract, given the significant risks and concerns raised by CMAL.”
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