Concerns are being raised by Deputy First Minister John Swinney over a procurement process for two west coast ferries, after new information has come to light.
A documentary to air on TV tonight claims the process of awarding a £97million contract for west coast ferries “may have been rigged”.
Documents obtained by the BBC’s Disclosure team are said to indicate that successful bidder Ferguson Marine Engineering benefited from preferential treatment.
The two ferries are still being built for Scottish Government ferry-owner CMal for the government-owned ferry operator CalMac routes.
The ferries are five years late and at least £150 million over budget.
The paperwork to secure the ferries from Ferguson Marine Engineering was signed off by the then transport minister Derek Mackay in August 2015.
Irregularities
The BBC documentary says it has uncovered evidence of a number of irregularities. It alleges that:
- Cmal may have broken its own rules by allowing Ferguson to go ahead with its bid despite being unable to provide evidence of a builders refund guarantee. This is a mandatory financial safeguard.
- Ferguson was the only bidder that obtained a 424-page document from a design consultant setting out CalMac’s technical requirements. Other bidders had to rely on a more limited 125-page specification.
- A key section of Ferguson’s bid was mostly cut-and-pasted from this longer design document.
- The shipyard was allowed to significantly change its design halfway through the tender by developing a variant mentioned but discounted in its original submission.
- This change also allowed it to reduce its price by nearly £10m, making it more competitive.
- The BBC alleges that Cmal assessors held a “confidential” meeting with Ferguson, the only bidder to receive an in-person meeting
The Port Glasgow shipyard fell into administration in August 2014. The ferry was bought a week before the independence referendum in October 2014 by Jim McColl, a businessman who sat on First Minister Alex Salmond’s council of economic advisers.
The following year his new firm, Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL), won a £97 million contract to build two dual fuel LNG (liquefied natural gas) vessels for state-owned ferry operator CalMac.
Particular focus has fallen on the failure of Ferguson Marine to offer a builder’s refund guarantee, which would have protected public money once construction ran into problems.
It was not until after the yard had been made the preferred bidder in the tendering process that its inability to offer the guarantee came to light.
The ferry project has been hit with problem after problem and the yard has been nationalised after going back into administration.
The delays have added to pressure on CalMac’s old and increasingly unreliable fleet. With no spare tonnage and regular breakdowns of older vessels, island communities say they are buckling under the strain of an unreliable ferry service.
Former shipyard owner Jim McColl will say in the programme that “with hindsight” having the CalMac document put Ferguson in a strong position.
Unreliable fleet
In an interview to be aired this evening, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the information presented by BBC Disclosure would be investigated further.
He said: “It is material that I take seriously, about which I have concerns, which raises fundamental issues for me about the fairness and the appropriateness of the tender process.”
He said he was not aware of any interference by ministers or civil servants in the procurement process.
Cmal said in a statement that new information contained in the programme would need to be “carefully investigated”.
It added that some staff employed at the time had now left.
It said its board had voiced concerns to Transport Scotland about the contract award to Fergusons, particularly in relation to the lack of refund guarantees, which were well-documented.
The Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed hull 802 are expected to be completed next year, with the cost some two-and-a-half times the initial £97 million.
The Great Ferries Scandal will be broadcast on BBC One Scotland at 8pm tonight, Tuesday September 27.
Conversation