Islanders ‘badly let down’ by ‘ferry fiasco riddled with failures’

SCOTLAND’S islanders have been “badly let down” by “a ferry fiasco riddled with failures in governance, transparency, accountability, communication and record-keeping”.

That’s the conclusion of the Scottish Parliament’s public audit committee in its report into the construction of Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed “Hull 802”.

The committee has called on the Auditor General for Scotland to complete a forensic analysis of how £128 million of public money was spent by construction company Ferguson Marine.

The report blasted the “serious failings” of Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland, including the “weak and toothless” programme steering group it led.

The majority of the committee considered that both outgoing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to publicly announce the preferred bidder when considerable negotiations were still required and the decision to proceed in the absence of a full guarantee weakened ferry owner Caledonian Maritime Assets’ position when the standard of Ferguson Marine’s work “became an issue”.

Richard Leonard, the committee’s chair, said: “The people of Scotland have been badly let down by this project.

“There have been collective failures at government and agency level from the start.

“It has been dogged: by a lack of transparency; by ineffective governance arrangements; by poor record keeping within the government; and by baffling communication failures.

“Throughout our scrutiny, we took a wide range of evidence, navigating our way through many conflicting perspectives to reach the conclusions set out today.

“We had to battle to get some of the information we needed. Sadly, despite our best efforts, some questions remain unanswered.”

He added: “We recognise the efforts by the Scottish Government to protect jobs at Ferguson Marine and commend the workforce for their resilience during what has been and continues to be an extremely challenging time.

“Their experienced voices should have been listened to from the outset.

“It is vital that lessons are learned.

“That means much needed reform of governance arrangements for future vessel projects – but it also means a change in the way the government and its agencies conduct themselves and are accountable to parliament and the people.

“That is a challenge for the permanent secretary and the new First Minister.”

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